The African Light Source has signed its first formal partnership document — a Memorandum of Understanding with LAAAMP, the Light sources for Africa, the Americas, Asia and Middle East Project. A lamp, after all, is a light source, and this alliance unites two efforts that share the same ambition.
THE AGREEMENTA first formal alliance
This Memorandum of Understanding marks the AfLS’s first partnership document. LAAAMP is an organisation with a basket of major activities that powerfully advance several currently under-developed regions towards light source science. Its ultimate ambition is to see these regions grow towards establishing their own regional advanced light source facilities.
LAAAMP focuses on deep training, the production of educational and outreach material, an audit role, and other roles tied to its goal of broadening the footprint of access, usage and full participation in light source based science for everyone, equally.
SHARED PURPOSEA broad, inclusive home
Many organisations, institutions and individuals overlap strongly with the African Light Source Foundation. The AfLS is a broad, inclusive home, uniting many efforts coherently towards its goals. LAAAMP straddles many regions beyond Africa and has important overlaps with the AfLS — indeed, the two even share some members.
The goal is full global participation in science, for development, for all.
What LAAAMP stands for
LAAAMP is the Light sources for Africa, the Americas, Asia and Middle East Project. It is a child of three of science’s great global bodies — the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), and the International Science Council (ISC) — a fact that evidences the truly global nature of science.
THE ROAD AHEADWorking together
Going forward, the AfLS and LAAAMP can jointly seek funding for large-scale, deep training in Africa — especially for young, emerging scientists — with LAAAMP managing the training arrangements. Together they can strategise on the most effective programmes to develop across the continent and how those programmes should evolve over time.
The aim is to build networks of collaboration and excellence across the entire community, carrying the goal of training all the way to full global participation in science — for development, for all.
The full agreement
The complete text of the Memorandum of Understanding between the African Light Source and LAAAMP sets out the shared commitments described above, including joint fundraising for training, programme strategy, and the building of collaborative networks across Africa and beyond.
