YAS_NA 2020 - This event has been postponed until further notice
The first meeting dedicated to young African scientists in North America
From 27th to 29th may 2020, the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) will host the conference YAS_NA 2020 - Young African Scientists in North America / Jeunes chercheurs africains en Amérique du nord. Its aim is to give African master students, PhD candidates and post-doctoral scientists who are expatriate in North America information and elements to choose if they want to carry on their scientific career in Africa. We verified the relevance of this approach thanks to the YASE 2018 conference.
About 25,000 young African scientists are currently preparing a PhD in North America (160,000 in Africa itself). While the need for scientists and engineers in Africa is growing, how many of them will contribute in the coming years to the scientific and technological development of their countries?
Often isolated in their laboratories, not always aware of the specificities of scientific employment in Africa, they wonder and worry. When they return to Africa after some years spent in North America, how can they enter the higher education and research system? How can they maintain international collaborations? How can they remedy to the lack of experimental means in their home countries? What actions can be taken in North America to support the scientific development of African countries?
Conferences, panels and discussions in YAS_NA 2020 will be devoted to these questions and many more. The 250 attendees, master students, PhD candidates and post-doctoral scientists, will meet and exchange informations and perspectives, and will begin to create networks. They will also listen to leading African researchers and representatives of public institutions and companies and ask them questions : that will improve their knowledge of the development of research and of scientific employment in Africa.