11 December 2015 – Plenary Session Doctoral Scheme – Reaching out beyond Europe Testimonial of an untypical curriculum – Research in West-Africa Luc Siebenaller.

11 December 2015 – Plenary Session

Doctoral Scheme – Reaching out beyond EuropeTestimonial of an untypical curriculum – Research in West-Africa

Luc Siebenaller – NGO “Le Soleil dans la Main”

Synergies to fuel Researchers’ CareersLuxembourg, 10 – 11 December 2015

organised by

Research activities (Geology)

*) 2002-2004: Master (Nancy, France)

*) 2005-2008: PhD – Geology of Naxos Island, Greece (Nancy, France)

*) 2008-2010: Post-doc – North-American Cordillera, USA/Canada (FNS grant, University of Lausanne, Switzerland)

*) 2011-2013: Post-Doc – West-African Exploration Initiative (WAXI), (FNR-AFR grant, Institute for Research and Development (IRD), Toulouse, France).

*) 2013-2014: Continuity post-doc IRD @ 50%

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1. Curriculum2 parallel projects merged after 12 years

Personal project (NGO)

*) 2002: Co-founder of non profit organisation “Le Soleil dans la Main” – Sustainable development projects in rural regions in Burkina Faso

*) 2005-2012: President of organisation

2009: Milestones: “Prix mérite Jeunesse” award and approval as an NGO.

*) 2013-2014: 50% Project coordinator

Since 09/2014: Executive director NGO & Capacity building theme manager (WAXI – research project)

www.waxi2.org www.asdm.lu

Research activities (Geology)

General skills:

- Different projects multi-disciplinary

- Project Planning & Management- Student Coaching – 10 PhD students- Large network through WAXI-project

(industry, governments from West-Africa, universities, research institutions, etc)

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1. CurriculumSkills development

Personal project (NGO)

General skills:

- Knowledge of West-Africa- Complex and difficult context management- Project Planning & Management- Administration and Finance- Team management (>30 employees)- Networking with other NGO’s

Fieldwork in West Africa

Coaching of 10 PhD Students (mostly Africans)

Research project designing

Administration, project and team management of NGO

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1. CurriculumTime-consuming activities

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1. CurriculumIssues for co-funding

Needed extra-time to develop my careerConsequence: only 8 peer reviewed publications between 2007-2014

however 16 peer reviewed publications in 2015 Achieved excellence in a particular context: combining research and

training activities with sustainable developmentPublication in another field : “New models in Geoscience higher education in West-Africa” (submitted)

Statement 1: Co-funding difficult to obtain if eligibility criterions are mostly based on the number of peer reviewed publications

*) A network of 60 African & International Organizations.

*) Bilingual English-French public-private consortium

*) Coordinated by AMIRA International

*) Focus on the Tectonics & Mineral Resources of West Africa and capacity building via courses and scholarships

*) First Stage ran 2006-2007.

*) Second Stage ran March 2010 until May 2013

*) Third stage September 2014 until August 2018

Provides a powerful networking forum that includes major stakeholders in West Africa:

• Industry

• Geological Surveys and Ministries of Mines

• Universities and other institutions

• Aid agencies6

2. WAXI project Introduction

10 years of experience7M US$

7

Liberia Mali

Senegal TogoGhana

Niger Burkina FasoGuinea

Sierra Leone

11 Sponsors in kind (Geological Surveys)

36 Sponsors

22 Research and Capacity Building

Partners

Project Broker & Coordinator

Mauritania

Côte d’Ivoire

*) A network of 60 African & International Organizations.

*) Bilingual English-French public-private consortium

*) Coordinated by AMIRA International

*) Focus on the Tectonics & Mineral Resources of West Africa and capacity building via courses and scholarships

*) First Stage ran 2006-2007.

*) Second Stage ran March 2010 until May 2013

*) Third stage September 2014 until August 2018

Provides a powerful networking forum that includes major stakeholders in West Africa:

• Industry

• Geological Surveys and Ministries of Mines

• Universities and other institutions

• Aid agencies8

2. WAXI project Introduction

10 years of experience7M US$

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2. WAXI project Capacity Building – Issues

Australian Listed Companies Universities teaching Geology

Crucial need of qualified exploration and mining geologists + technical staff

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2. WAXI project Capacity Building - Issues

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2. WAXI projectCapacity Building – Issues

1960

Today

1960 1967 1974 1981 1988 1995 2002 2009 2016

Independence African Mining Vision

Post-independance International Scholarships

Focus on Primary and Secondary Education

Focus on Ministry Organisations

Return to Higher Education by WB, AfDB

17% 7%

Cold War Ends

WB Expenditure

Important gap in higher educationsupport programs (including PhD bursaries)

WAXI training

Gap in geoscience higher education and research over time

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1. WAXI projectCapacity Building - Issues

Observation:

Senior lecturers and researchers (50 – 65 years old) Going to be retired in the next 10-15 years

Age

dist

ributi

on in

WA

Uni

vers

ities 65

6055504540353025

Important lack of senior lecturers and researchers (aged 35 – 50) Consequence = not enough senior lecturers/researchers to cover all fields in geoscience for teaching and research managment

Junior lecturers/assistants and researchers (aged 25 – 35)including PhD students Who will assume transfer of knowledge ? Senior lecturers are opressed by managing tousands of students

20-25: thousands of students

Obtain geoscience Bachelor and MSc diplomas to find a job in exploration & mining sector

How to ensure quality of training and Curriculum development facing a continous lack of human resources?

Challenge

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2. WAXI projectCapacity Building: What has been done so far

Student Scholarships and Research Support: 2010-2013: 31 graduate research projects, 52% African 2015: 16 new PhD/MSc projects for African students started

MScPhDPDF

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2. WAXI projectCapacity Building: What has been done so far

17 laboratory and field training courses for 281 participants with 90% African participants over a total period of 80 days were organized

Research & Technical Training Courses – Research & Resource Management courses

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2. WAXI projectSynergies between research funding (COFUND) & Development aid ?

Poverty / unemployment / climate change: African migration map

Statement 2: In times of political instabilities, threat of radicalisation/terrorism, war, climate change and inferred population migration, Europe needs to act now. A global holistic approach including social aspects where research funds such as COFUND could create synergies with sustainable development funds (national cooperation agencies, international aid agencies and NGO’s) could create new opportunities for African and other third countries to develop their academic institutions to a level of international excellency.

This would be especially helpful for domains like geology, agriculture, resource management, ICT, medicine and sustainable energies where there is a real demand and corresponding labour market to be developed.

We need to find ways to stop the brain outflow from development countries and create a suitable environment for a critical mass of researchers. The more we fuel only our research, the bigger the gap will become.

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Thank you for your attention !

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2. WAXI projectMore Capacity building – coherence with needs

Setup of pilot project for student bursaries: field laboratories

1

2

2

3

33

3

44

- Steering committee & advocacy work- Contract: 5 years of teaching @ Uni- Internat. & Intra-african collaborations

1. Pilot project Burkina Faso: 2016 (Need funding: WAXI, ASDM & ?)2. Extension of pilot project (Ghana & Ivory Coast): late 2016 need funding)3. New CB project based on project 1 & 2 (Senegal, Mali, Guinea, IC): 2017 need funding)4. New CB project based on project 1 & 2 (Niger, Togo?, BF): 2017 need funding)