OUR WORK

We believe that the next Einstein will be African and that he or she will develop solutions that will cross borders and change lives.

The first AIMS centre was created by South African-born physicist Neil Turok in 2003 to transform higher education in Africa by using mathematical sciences to tackle global challenges. Neil and AIMS’ supporters are driven to uncover Africa’s own Einstein. We believe Africa can become a world-leading continent but only if its young people become innovators, using their minds to advance human society and their continent.

Mathematical science’s applications range from modelling, optimization, statistics, big data and machine learning (artificial intelligence) that can be applied across all sectors: urban planning, communications, transport, energy and health, to describing the tiniest subatomic particles we know of, like Higgs boson or indeed the entire cosmos. It underlies every modern technology. Yet, it is completely cross-cultural and free to share. Applied math is a foundation for the growth of science, technology and development across Africa. AIMS focuses on training, research and public engagement to apply science as a tool for socio-economic development in Africa.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has certified and endorsed AIMS as the first and only network of centres of excellence for Mathematical Sciences in Africa, propelling AIMS into the global dialogue on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education for development. As of 2017, we have centres of excellence in South Africa, Sénégal, Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzania and Rwanda.