The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is an intergovernmental science centre involving eight nations in the Hindu Kush Himalayas – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. It has built extensive knowledge of the Himalayas, and its work has an impact that extends thousands of miles into China, Vietnam and Myanmar.
– Published in collaboration with the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS). 2016.
Publications
The work of the Centro Internacional de Física (CIF) – in English, the International Centre of Physics – ranges from astrophysics and optics to biotechnology and materials science. Founded in 1985, the centre has advanced scientific understanding, but also has produced important applications to support industry and improve the lives of the people.
– Published in collaboration with the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS). 2013.
The Institute of Marine Sciences on Zanzibar has followed an arduous path, beginning in the 1950s as part of a multi-country East African Marine Fisheries Research Organization. Today, the Institute is emerging as one of the leading marine research institutes in sub-Saharan Africa, thanks to strong collaborative ties with international organizations.
–Published in collaboration with the Science Initiative Group.
The Okavango Research Institute, on the edge of the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa, is a unit of the University of Botswana. It is dedicated to the study and conservation of one of the world’s largest and most intact inland wetland ecosystems: the Okavango Delta. In recent years, the institute's mission has been expanded to include the cultural, social and economic problems of the region.
– Published in collaboration with the Science Initiative Group.
In Uganda, new farming techniques tailored to local conditions and challenges are being developed. Biotechnology is being harnessed to produce crop varieties resistant to pests. At the centre of this development are the National Agricultural Research Laboratories (NARL), a key centre of Uganda’s vibrant agricultural research landscape. NARL is helping to build a healthier and more prosperous future for all Ugandans.
Located in Pakistan's financial centre and largest city, Karachi University's International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) is one of the developing world's finest research and training centres in its field. It carries out research, training, product development and service delivery in the chemical, biological and biomedical sciences. - Published in collaboration with the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS).
In 1938, a trawler fishing the waters off South Africa’s eastern coast caught a coelacanth, a fish thought to have become extinct 65 million years ago. If not for the living fossil, it is doubtful that Grahamstown would be the home of the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. Today, the institute is the continent’s undisputed leader in fish taxonomy, and its collection of fish specimens attracts researchers from around the world.
The Ifakara Health Institute is Tanzania’s foremost health research institution. After starting as a field research institute sponsored by the Swiss, it is today so well-equipped and -staffed that it wins funding from donors based on its scientific excellence.
The Institute of Medicinal Plant Development in Beijing seeks to ensure the continued existence of the valuable heritage of Traditional Chinese Medicine by applying the tools of modern science to ancient tradition. The principal aims of the Institute are to protect, develop and utilize medicinal plant resources using modern scientific techniques.
– Published with support of The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
While elsewhere in Africa the often-heated biotechnology debate continues to unfold, largely focused on genetically modified crops, researchers at the the Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS) are busy exploring biotechnology’s wider applications – in particular, seeking practical solutions to local and regional problems in agriculture, industry, health and the environment. Published with support of The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.