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Report by Andreas Griewank (April 2012)
I am writing from the university of Thiess Senegal.
During the last year I wasted considerable time through my involvement in
AIMS Senegal and the VACAMO proposal in the Trilateral
American-French-German Program. The president of AIMS considered the two
as rival initiatives and had me removed from AIMS as well as keeping half
the money from the VACAMOS proposal. Now he seems to have fallen from
grace himself and in any case AIMS will have to set up good relations with
the new Senegalese government. I have written a long report on this and
can fill you in on details of interest over a glass of wine.
Yesterday I attended an open air concert by Youssou Ndour in Dakar on
the occasion of the presidential changing of the guard in Senegal. I
was one of very very few pale faces in jammed crowd that was clearly
elated. As it grew denser and denser I eventually made my way out
deperately holding onto my belongings. That was even before the great
man started his act and today I read in the paper that there were 40
wounded. It seemed clear that even a minor stampede could kill
hundreds.
I had landed here on Tuesday after the Sunday election and was
worried that disputes about accumulating results might erupt exactly
in those days. Fortunately the old man conceded hours after voting
ended and everybody seems elated. Tomorrow is the national
independence day, so there will be more celebrations. All this is
sort of a vacation trip to get away from Berlin for a few days.
Naturally I have also talked with potential VACAMOS partners and I
will meet Mary Nieuw Niane, a well known mathematician who was
rumored to become Minister of Higher Education later this week.
I also visited Mongolia, China and Russia mainly for the attendance
of conferences but some specific collaborations as well.
For the big International Symposium on Mathematical Programming in
August in Berlin I am responsible for the support of participants
from developing countries. We got a grant of 1500 Dollars from IMU
and 2000 Euro from GAMS Development Corporation. Used the money
mainly to halve or waive the registration fee of 300+ and 150 Euros
for staff and students respectively.
I have two PhD students from North Africa/West Asia who I have a very
hard time graduating. They had a week background and have not really
caught up.
Currently there are various calls for grants out from the EU and the
German government. Specifically, EduLink just came out and ACP-ST is
expected soon. I participated in a preparatory workshop for
prospective applicants by the DAAD in Nairobi last fall and used the
opportunity to climb Mount Kenia (exactly: Point Lenana (4985 m) for
people in the know ). Lets stop on that high note
Andreas
PS (April 21, 2012).
I mentioned at Limoges a new program by the German ministry of
education that offers funding for a wide range of activities in
Subsaharan Africa including training and even hardware for
Information Technology, which could for example be concerned with
access of libraries etc.
The link is
http://www.bmbf.de/en/furtherance/18242.php
Money can be spend on Africans (e.g. scholarships) and Germans, so one
would need a German partner for sure. The deadline for the submission of
a
preproposal is June 15.
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Last modified: April 23, 2012