Chem4Energy: a consortium of the Royal Society Africa Capacity-Building Initiative

Marietjie J. Ungerer; Evans Adei; Theopolina Amakali; Cecil H. Botchway; Likius S. Daniel; James Darkwa; Nelson Y. Dzade; Foster Mbaiwa; Mary Mensah; Maipelo Nyepetsi; Banothile Makhubela; Claire E. Mitchell; Oluwasegun Emmanuel Olaoye; Olayinka A. Oyetunji; Meenakshisundaram Sankar; Fortunate P. Sejie; Jacobina Sheehama; Richard Tia; Veikko Uahengo; Aleksandar Zivkovic; Nora H. De Leeuw

doi:10.1098/rsfs.2024.0001

Chem4Energy: a consortium of the Royal Society Africa Capacity-Building Initiative

Marietjie J. Ungerer, Evans Adei, Theopolina Amakali, Cecil H. Botchway, Likius S. Daniel, James Darkwa, Nelson Y. Dzade, Foster Mbaiwa, Mary Mensah, Maipelo Nyepetsi, Banothile Makhubela, Claire E. Mitchell, Oluwasegun Emmanuel Olaoye, Olayinka A. Oyetunji, Meenakshisundaram Sankar, Fortunate P. Sejie, Jacobina Sheehama, Richard Tia, Veikko Uahengo, Aleksandar ZivkovicNora H. De Leeuw

Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The Africa Capacity-Building Initiative is a Royal Society programme funded by the former UK Department for International Development to develop collaborative research between scientists in sub-Saharan Africa and the UK. Initially, four institutions were involved in the Chem4Energy consortium: Cardiff University in the UK and three African partners, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, the University of Namibia and the University of Botswana, soon also including the Botswana International University of Science and Technology. The Chem4Energy research programme focused on 'New materials for a sustainable energy future: linking computation with experiment', aiming to deploy the synergy between state-of-the-art computational and experimental techniques to design and optimize new catalysts and semiconductor materials for renewable energy applications, based on materials that are abundant and readily available in African countries. The Chem4Energy consortium has achieved ambitious research goals, graduated seven PhD students and delivered a high-quality cross-disciplinary training programme in materials science and simulation techniques relevant to renewable energy applications. Since 2021, the extended consortium, including North-West University and the Centre for High-Performance Computing in South Africa, has remained active through an annual Chem4Energy conference series, with the sixth meeting taking place in Namibia in April 2025.

Original language	English
Article number	20240001
Number of pages	18
Journal	Interface Focus
Volume	14
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2024.0001
Publication status	Published - 9 Aug 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s).

Funding

We recognize with great thanks the Royal Society FCDO Africa Capacity-Building Initiative (grant no. AQ140028) that made this programme possible. In particular, we thank Laura Doriguzzi-Bozzo, Natasha Bevan and Tallulah Flaxman and other colleagues from the Royal Society International team for all their input, support and guidance during the project. We also gratefully acknowledge the Centre for High-Performance Computing in South Africa for its support in the form of internships, hardware, training and access to high-performance computing resources. The Chem4Energy consortium was awarded a grant by the Royal Society in 2015 for their project entitled \u2018New materials for a sustainable energy future: linking computation with experiment\u2019 under the Africa Capacity-Building Initiative (ACBI), funded by the UK Department for International Development (now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office). The focus of the Chem4Energy research capacity-building activities\u2014and the ACBI programme more generally\u2014was to train a cohort of PhD students and associated researchers in-country, as part of an equal partnership between the UK and African institutions. This approach avoided the need to bring early career researchers out of their country with the very real risk that they would not return, adding to the unsustainable brain-drain suffered by many countries in the Global South. We recognize with great thanks the Royal Society\u2013FCDO Africa Capacity-Building Initiative (grant no. AQ140028) that made this programme possible. In particular, we thank Laura Doriguzzi-Bozzo, Natasha Bevan and Tallulah Flaxman and other colleagues from the Royal Society International team for all their input, support and guidance during the project. We also gratefully acknowledge the Centre for High-Performance Computing in South Africa for its support in the form of internships, hardware, training and access to high-performance computing resources.

Funders	Funder number
Royal Society
Royal Society International
Department for International Development, UK Government
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office	AQ140028

Keywords

Capacity building
Collaboration
Sustainable energy

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Ungerer, M. J., Adei, E., Amakali, T., Botchway, C. H., Daniel, L. S., Darkwa, J., Dzade, N. Y., Mbaiwa, F., Mensah, M., Nyepetsi, M., Makhubela, B., Mitchell, C. E., Olaoye, O. E., Oyetunji, O. A., Sankar, M., Sejie, F. P., Sheehama, J., Tia, R., Uahengo, V., ... De Leeuw, N. H. (2024). Chem4Energy: a consortium of the Royal Society Africa Capacity-Building Initiative. Interface Focus, 14(4), Article 20240001. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2024.0001

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Ungerer, MJ, Adei, E, Amakali, T, Botchway, CH, Daniel, LS, Darkwa, J, Dzade, NY, Mbaiwa, F, Mensah, M, Nyepetsi, M, Makhubela, B, Mitchell, CE, Olaoye, OE, Oyetunji, OA, Sankar, M, Sejie, FP, Sheehama, J, Tia, R, Uahengo, V, Zivkovic, A & De Leeuw, NH 2024, 'Chem4Energy: a consortium of the Royal Society Africa Capacity-Building Initiative', Interface Focus, vol. 14, no. 4, 20240001. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2024.0001

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T2 - a consortium of the Royal Society Africa Capacity-Building Initiative

AU - Ungerer, Marietjie J.

AU - Adei, Evans

AU - Amakali, Theopolina

AU - Botchway, Cecil H.

AU - Daniel, Likius S.

AU - Darkwa, James

AU - Dzade, Nelson Y.

AU - Mbaiwa, Foster

AU - Mensah, Mary

AU - Nyepetsi, Maipelo

AU - Makhubela, Banothile

AU - Mitchell, Claire E.

AU - Olaoye, Oluwasegun Emmanuel

AU - Oyetunji, Olayinka A.

AU - Sankar, Meenakshisundaram

AU - Sejie, Fortunate P.

AU - Sheehama, Jacobina

AU - Tia, Richard

AU - Uahengo, Veikko

AU - Zivkovic, Aleksandar

AU - De Leeuw, Nora H.

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N2 - The Africa Capacity-Building Initiative is a Royal Society programme funded by the former UK Department for International Development to develop collaborative research between scientists in sub-Saharan Africa and the UK. Initially, four institutions were involved in the Chem4Energy consortium: Cardiff University in the UK and three African partners, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, the University of Namibia and the University of Botswana, soon also including the Botswana International University of Science and Technology. The Chem4Energy research programme focused on 'New materials for a sustainable energy future: linking computation with experiment', aiming to deploy the synergy between state-of-the-art computational and experimental techniques to design and optimize new catalysts and semiconductor materials for renewable energy applications, based on materials that are abundant and readily available in African countries. The Chem4Energy consortium has achieved ambitious research goals, graduated seven PhD students and delivered a high-quality cross-disciplinary training programme in materials science and simulation techniques relevant to renewable energy applications. Since 2021, the extended consortium, including North-West University and the Centre for High-Performance Computing in South Africa, has remained active through an annual Chem4Energy conference series, with the sixth meeting taking place in Namibia in April 2025.

AB - The Africa Capacity-Building Initiative is a Royal Society programme funded by the former UK Department for International Development to develop collaborative research between scientists in sub-Saharan Africa and the UK. Initially, four institutions were involved in the Chem4Energy consortium: Cardiff University in the UK and three African partners, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, the University of Namibia and the University of Botswana, soon also including the Botswana International University of Science and Technology. The Chem4Energy research programme focused on 'New materials for a sustainable energy future: linking computation with experiment', aiming to deploy the synergy between state-of-the-art computational and experimental techniques to design and optimize new catalysts and semiconductor materials for renewable energy applications, based on materials that are abundant and readily available in African countries. The Chem4Energy consortium has achieved ambitious research goals, graduated seven PhD students and delivered a high-quality cross-disciplinary training programme in materials science and simulation techniques relevant to renewable energy applications. Since 2021, the extended consortium, including North-West University and the Centre for High-Performance Computing in South Africa, has remained active through an annual Chem4Energy conference series, with the sixth meeting taking place in Namibia in April 2025.

KW - Capacity building

KW - Collaboration

KW - Sustainable energy

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DO - 10.1098/rsfs.2024.0001

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SN - 2042-8898

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JO - Interface Focus

JF - Interface Focus

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ER -

Chem4Energy: a consortium of the Royal Society Africa Capacity-Building Initiative

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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