The Roadmap towards the African Light Source received a significant boost on 27 March 2019, when a series of presentations marked the launch of the START Programme — a major capacity-building and research-access partnership between African scientists and the UK’s Diamond Light Source.
The ProgrammeWhat START is
START stands for Synchrotron Techniques for African Research and Technology. It comes with a £3.7M grant to support capacity building and to provide African scientists with access to research at Diamond. The programme establishes deep capacity building, builds collaborative international networks, promotes excellent research and grows Pan-Africanism.
- Launch date
- 27 March 2019
- Full name
- Synchrotron Techniques for African Research and Technology
- Grant
- £3.7M for capacity building and research access
- Host facility
- Diamond Light Source, United Kingdom
Why START matters for the African Light Source
The START project is a very important part of the Roadmap to the African Light Source. By building skills, forging international collaborations and growing a community of synchrotron users across the continent, it helps create the next generation of research leaders and champions for an African Light Source.
The START vision embraced creating the next generation of research leaders and champions for an African Light Source.
Speaking at the launch, the Principal Investigator for Diamond, Prof. Chris Nicklin, pointed out that the START vision embraced creating the next generation of research leaders and champions for an African Light Source.
