The University has played a leading role in securing almost £5 million for some of Africa’s brightest scientists.

The £4.7 million grant, awarded by the Wellcome Trust, will go to a consortium of institutes and universities from east and west Africa. It will finance research in ecosystem health and enable African scientists to further expand and develop their academic capacity and capabilities.  

Led by Professor Bonfoh of the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques in the Côte d’Ivoire, the African Research Consortium for Ecosystem and Population Health: "Expanding Frontiers in Health”, includes 10 other African institutes including those from Tchad, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda. 

Dr Sarah Cleaveland, a reader in Veterinary Medicine and one of the university's consortium coordinators, said Glasgow’s historical strengths in tropical and molecular parasitology and veterinary medicine played a crucial role in securing the funding.

She added: “This grant also builds on recent university investment in the form of new appointments in epidemiology and ecosystem health, as well the ongoing work of the Glasgow Centre for International Development (GCID).

“This funding will enable Glasgow to offer a wide range of research, training and support opportunities to members of this consortium, while at the same time opening up an exciting and mutually beneficial array of collaborative opportunities with many excellent African research institutes.” 

The Wellcome Trust’s African Institutes Initiative aims to build a critical mass of sustainable local research capacity across Africa, through strengthening its universities and research institutions. The £4.7 million award to the consortium is part of the Trust’s £30 million initiative. The consortium award will run over five years initially and will, thereafter, be renewable for a further five.

Professor Dan Haydon, who also played an important role in Glasgow’s bid, explained how the award would be split. “The money will fund 11 four year research fellowships in African Institutions, a cohort of PhD studentships, a series of post-doctoral fellows who will undertake post-graduate training in Africa. Training workshops, numerous exchange visits and meetings, 15 six month research sabbaticals will also be financed as will a large number of small equipment grants - to the tune of £500,000 per annum over four years.”

The university’s role in the consortium is led by Professor Peter Holmes from GCID and Dr Sarah Cleaveland, who also represents the Boyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health.

Core Institutes are as follows :

Centre Suisse de Recherche Scientifique and University of Abobo-Adjamé (Côte d’Ivoire) ;  Laboratoire de Recherche Zootechnique et Vétérinaire de Farcha, Tchad ; Ecole Inter-Etats des Sciences et Médecine Vétérinaires de Dakar University of Dakar, Senegal ; Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana ; Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania ; National Institute of Medical Research, University of Dar es Salaam, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Wildlife Research Institute, Tanzania ; and Makerere University, Uganda ;

Northern partners include: 

University of Glasgow, Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel, Switzerland; University of Bergen, Centre for International Health, Bergen, Norway.

For more media information please contact Eleanor Cowie, Media Relations Officer, on telephone 0141 330 3683 or email: e.cowie@admin.gla.ac.uk

For more information on GCID please see: http://www.gla.ac.uk/gcid/ and for the Boyd Orr Centre visit: http://www.gla.ac.uk/boydorr/

First published: 10 July 2009

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