Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2009 APS March Meeting
Volume 54, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 16–20, 2009; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Session B6: Panel Discussion: Physics in Africa |
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Sponsoring Units: FIP Chair: Abebe Kebede, North Carolina A&T University Room: 406 |
Monday, March 16, 2009 11:15AM - 11:51AM |
B6.00001: On the differences between theories of conventional and high temperature superconductors Invited Speaker: After years of successful application of the pseudo and model potential representation of electronphonon interaction to conventional (BardeenCooperSchrieffer) theory of superconductivity, we have developed a generalization (called ``isosuperconductivity'') that not only explains the differences between conventional and highTc in the cuprates and other materials but has enough predictive power to permit the current search for room temperature superconductors. We present a review of more than 30 years of effort and progress report on current research activities in this field. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 16, 2009 11:51AM - 12:27PM |
B6.00002: Physics in Africa: The Case of South Africa Invited Speaker: South Africa plays a special role in building science throughout Africa. The areas of science, particularly those related to physics, which are being developed, will be described together with the involvement of other African countries. Data will be presented that demonstrate the high attrition rate that exists especially in the science track PhD pipeline and highlight the bottleneck at the honors (fourth year) level. Programs designed to overcome this will be presented, and their success discussed. Thoughts on how to go about expanding the interactions between US scientists and South African scientists as well as with African scientists will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 16, 2009 12:27PM - 1:03PM |
B6.00003: Physics in Africa: The Case of Senegal Invited Speaker: For many years, the research activity in Senegal has been managed through the division of the Ministry of Education. In 2004 the current government established a full-fledged Ministry of Research. This has led to a renewed focus on the organization of the funding of research in Senegal. One important issue to underline is the lack of a budget line devoted to research in most of the local institutions, distinct from support for academic purposes. As a result, the research activity is funded through direct support from the government or thanks to international programs. The main tool for the government to support key research directions is the FIRST program, with a yearly budget of \$700,000 US. For the last call for projects, up to 12 projects have been funded, which translates to about \$58,000 US per project. The other option for research funding lies in different international programs specifically aimed at institutions within the least developed countries. The dominant ones are provided by the French-speaking community, the French-supported AIRE, the European Union framework and ICTP Abdus Salam Centre. In this general context of limited resources, physics is the least supported discipline both in terms of researchers and active laboratories. As a result, particular efforts have to be made to increase the impact of physics and the role of physicists so as to enable them to claim their proper role as the major player in making science and technology the driving forces in the development process of Africa. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 16, 2009 1:03PM - 1:39PM |
B6.00004: Physics in Africa: The Case of Congo Invited Speaker: We will present a review on the state of research and education in physics in the Republic of Congo, one developing country in Central Africa. Special emphasis will be placed on the School of Science of the Marien NGouabi University located in the capital, Brazzaville. We will also discuss the impact of the Physics Department within this University as a whole. One of the main problems in Africa is the serious lack of equipment to provide adequate hands-on trainings for students and for faculty to perform forefront research. To illustrate strategies for the development of Physics in the continent, we will describe some ongoing inter-continental collaborations between our university and some neighboring countries, along with some ways for expanding the framework of the interactions between US and African physicists. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 16, 2009 1:39PM - 2:15PM |
B6.00005: Panel Discussion |
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