The ASESMA Story
The African School on Electronic Structure Methods and Applications (ASESMA) is a series of workshops held every two years in different African countries, designed to foster a collaborative network for research and higher education within Africa. Initially it focused on sub-Sharan countries. Now participants are drawn from across the continent through a competitive process, with outstanding lecturers and young mentors from across the world including Africa.
Sponsors
ASESMA is supported by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) which provides funding, administration and active, dedicated organizers. It was endorsed as a series from 2010 to 2020, and extended to a new cycle 2020-2030, by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) Commissions on Physics Development, Computational Physics, Physics Education and the Structure and Dynamics of Condensed Matter. It is also supported by other international organizations and industries listed on the website.
Computational Science
The core guiding principle is that computation makes it possible world-class research with modest investment, and it is an essential part of education for the future. Modern computing and machine learning are key aspects. The skills acquired are useful for teaching at the university level and are transferable to other disciplines. The participants are the teachers who will educate future generations of Africans!
The ASESMA Approach
The focus of ASESMA is computational methods and applications of electronic structure, chosen because it is an important field that is narrow enough to build up a network for joint work and collaboration, yet broad enough to span the range from fundamental physics to applications in materials science, chemistry, biology and many other fields. In each workshop participants learn basic theory and computational methods with hands-on computing, and projects, many in areas of current research that can be continued after the school. The main applications are to materials that are crucial for many areas of technology, including solar energy, storage and the vast reserves of minerals and materials in Africa.
Vision for the future
ASESMA has shown that it is possible to build a network across Africa with world-class research. It already is expanding to involve more chemistry and materials science, and increasingly biological systems. These are steps toward fulfilling the vision of building African Networks for Computational Materials and Biological Sciences.
The greatest need now
In order to carry out the vision, there needs to be funding for students and research in Africa, for ASESMA participants to attend meetings, and for collaborations and visits to international institutions that are all essential for scientists to participate fully in the global community.
Articles about ASESMA
“Material progress in Africa," N. Chetty, R. M. Martin and S. Scandolo, Nature Physics 6, 1 (2010).
“Raising the scientific level and networking in Africa," T. Feder, Physics Today 64, 28 (2011).
”Mentoring a Generation of Materials Scientists in Africa,” George Amolo and Richard M. Martin,
Newsletter of the Forum for International Physics of the APS (Spring 2015).
http://www.aps.org/units/fip/newsletters/201502/index.cfm
"Theoretical Physics is Much More than Equations: Origins of the African School for Electronic Structure Methods and Applications",
by Richard M. Martin, APS News, December 2016,
https://www.aps.org/archives/publications/apsnews/201612/international.cfm
Article in University of Illinois Physics Department Newsmagazine