DATE / TIME:

2015•05•26    12:45 - 15:00

Location:

Tokyo

On 26 May 2015, UNU-IAS, jointly with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and the National Research Foundation, South Africa (NRF), will organize a roundtable discussion on the challenges and opportunities in supporting young researchers engaged in education and research for sustainable development, especially in Africa.

This event titled Roundtable on Building Education and Research Capacity in Africa: How to Support Young Researchers for Sustainable Development will be organized as a side event of the Global Research Council (GRC) Meeting 2015. It will aim at providing an open and informal platform for exchanging views on how to promote capacity building of young researchers in Africa among the stakeholders of the research community, including research funding organizations, universities, research institutes and researcher groupings. Following a short video depicting sustainable development concerns in Africa, the roundtable will hear issue-raising presentations by two young researchers from Africa and representatives of GRC, and then engage in an open discussion on opportunities for supporting capacity building of young researchers, especially for sustainable development in Africa.

This event will be held in English.

The event flyer and programme can be downloaded here.

For a map to the venue, please visit the Hotel Okura website.

Programme

*Registration will begin at 11:45.

12:45–13:00 Opening Session

13:00–13:10 Part 1: Introductory Video: “Sustainability and innovation: Critical challenge for the next generation”

13:10–14:10 Part 2: Issues and challenges for building young researchers’ capacity for sustainable development

Moderator: Prof. Masafumi Nagao, UNU-IAS
Presenters:

• Dr. Devine Fuh, University of Cape Town (South Africa)
• Dr. Orleans Mfune, University of Zambia (Zambia)
• Dr. Eino Mvula, CEO, National Commission for Research, Science and Technology (NCRST) (Namibia)
• Dr. Julia Tagüeña Parga, Deputy Director General for Scientific Development, National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT) (Mexico)

14:10–15:00 Part 3: Opportunities for supporting capacity building of young researchers

• Presentation of a review of Japan-South Africa collaborative research activities under the joint JSPS–NRF support scheme for research
• Roundtable discussion
  Moderator: Dr. Aldo Stroebel, NRF, South Africa

Registration

This event will be open to a limited number of interested parties/experts. If you are interested in attending the meeting as an observer, please send an inquiry by using the REGISTER link above by 19 May 2015. Please note that spaces are limited and we may not be able to accommodate all applicants. Successful applicants will be contacted by the organizers by 20 May 2015.

Organizers

United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS)
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
National Research Foundation (NRF), South Africa

Supported by

Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in Japan