INVITATION TO MEDIA

WHAT: The African Union Kwame Nkrumah Awards for Scientific Excellence (AUKNASE) 2019 Edition.

WHEN: Monday, February 10, 2020

WHERE: Nelson Mandela, Plenary Hall,

WHO: H.E Mousa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson African Union Commision and H.E Prof. Sarah Anyang Agbor, AU Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology.

The prestigious scientific award will be presented to the winnres at the closing cermony of the 33rd African Union summit.

The objectives of Scientific Award is to:-

1. Award and honour outstanding African scientists for their achievements and discoveries in science, technology and innovation;
2. Promote scientific development in Africa through recognition of excellence among African scientists, women, men and younger researchers, to encourage them to persevere their research or academic careers, and nurture their ambitions;
3. Popularize and promote public understanding and participation in the implementation of the Agenda 2063, through Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy1 for Africa.
4. Raise the profile of science,technology and innovation sector in African Union Member States, Regional Economic Communities so that science, technology and innovation effectively contribute Africa’s sustainable development, poverty alleviation and integration efforts.

The Scientific Excellence Programme is in three levels:

1. Continental Level where two awards of USD 100,000 are given to African pioneer scientists.
2. Regional Level where two African women scientists per each of the five geographical regions of Africa are given USD 20,000 each.
3. National Level dedicated to young African researchers, where two prizes are given per country and the value of the prizes is determined by the African Union Commission

Scientific awards are one-time monetary prizes that are given to outstanding African scientists for their scientific achievements and valuable discoveries and findings. They are not lifetime achievement awards. The two categories are:-

1. Life and Earth Sciences and Innovation: embraces all sciences related to the planet earth, covering (but not limited to) the following disciplines, geology, geophysics and geodesy. On the other hand, we regard Life Sciences to encompass all sciences that have to do with 'organisms', like plants, animals and human .This may be Agro-technology, Animal Science, Plant Science, Biotechnology, Biology, Environmental Sciences, Food Sciences, Medicine, and Tissue Engineering to mention a few;

2. Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation: this category will consist of all other sciences, technologies and innovations excluding those covered within Earth and life Sciences category. These may include, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics, civil etc), Artificial Intelligence, Material Sciences, Manufacturing and Production Technologies, Metallurgy, Textiles, Energy and Innovations, etc

Learn more about STISA https://au.int/en/documents/20191009/science-technology-and-innovation-s...

For further information please contact:
For further information please contact:
Faith Adhiambo| Communications Officer- Agenda 2063 | African Union Commission I E-mail:ochiengj@african-union.org

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I

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Learn more at: https://au.int/summit/33