Webinar: The state of young scholars and scientists in Africa – new insights
This event is open to the public. No registration required. Click here to join on June 9 at 09:00 EDT.
On June 9, please join us for a webinar on the mobility, scientific performance and research impact of African scientists. Chaired by Catherine Beaudry (Polytechnique Montréal), former IDRC grant recipient, the webinar will feature three of her co-researchers: Seyed Reza Mirnezami, Leila Tahmooresnejad, and Bassirou Diagne.
Between 2015 and 2018, IDRC supported an Africa-wide study on the research performance and career decisions of young scientists across the continent. A team led by Catherine Beaudry and Johann Mouton conducted a massive data-collection effort, including bibliometric data on Africa’s scientific production as reflected in the Web of Science database (2005 to 2015), a survey of more than 7,500 scientists, and a further 260 interviews with survey respondents. Results from the first round of data analyses were collected in The Next Generation of Scientists in Africa (2018) http://www.africanminds.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AM-The-Next-Generation-of-Scientists-in-Africa-TEXT-WEB-11112018-1.pdf.
This webinar:
Catherine Beaudry and co-researchers Bassirou Diagne, Seyed Reza Mirnezami, and Leila Tahmooresnejad will share with us new insights from further analysis of the original project`s database, with a focus on three questions:
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What is the relationship between the position of individual scientists within co-authorship networks and their scientific performance?
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What is the effect of experiencing a research collaboration (between African scientists and their international partners) on African scientists’ research impact, measured by scores based on the number of citations and journal impact factor?
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What is the relationship between African scientists’ mobility and their performance, within a broad spectrum of geographical destinations, using data from a multi-country survey?
Each 15-minute presentation will be followed by a 10-minute Q&A.
Bio Notes:
Catherine Beaudry, a Rhodes Scholar, holds a master’s degree and a PhD in economics from the University of Oxford. She is a full professor at the department of mathematics and industrial engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, where she holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in the Creation, Development and Commercialization of Innovation and leads the Partnership for the Organization of Innovation and New Technologies (4POINT0). From 2015 to 2018, she led, together with Johann Mouton (Stellenbosch University, South Africa), a vast and comprehensive study on young scientists in Africa.
Bassirou Diagne is a PhD candidate at Polytechnique Montréal, in the department of mathematics and industrial engineering. Previously, he obtained his DESS in mathematical engineering from Polytechnique Montréal and his research master’s degree in probability and statistics from the Université Gaston Berger in Saint-Louis, Senegal. He is interested in the impact of researchers’ mobility and collaboration on their productivity, as well as in social network analysis of scientists.
Seyed Reza Mirnezami is assistant professor at Sharif University of Technology in Iran. He is mainly interested in the application of quantitative methods in public policy and administration. He completed a BSc in engineering and an MSc in economics at the Sharif University of Technology. Seyed also followed an MSc program in science and technology study at the University of Edinburgh. He obtained his PhD from the Université de Montréal in 2015. He then was a visiting fellow at Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. Project Link: https://academic.oup.com/jae/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jae/ejab008/6264844.
Leila Tahmooresnejad is a postdoctoral fellow in the department of entrepreneurship and innovation at HEC Montréal. Previously, she was a post-doctoral fellow under the Research Chair on the Creation, Development and Commercialisation of Innovation in the department of mathematics and industrial engineering at Polytechnique Montréal. She is looking into how to improve collaboration between scientists and inventors through examining scientific and innovative networks, university-industry collaborations, and the impact of government funding on universities. She holds a PhD in industrial engineering from Polytechnique Montréal, with a first degree in industrial engineering and a master’s degree in technology management. Project link: https://academic.oup.com/spp/advance-article/doi/10.1093/scipol/scab030/6215147?guestAccessKey=13c3b5d3-4d6c-413c-ad5c-fd58c92f57c7.