Advancing Open Science in Africa – three organizations collaborate to increase awareness and education

NAIROBI — The Association for African Universities (AAU), the Public Library of Science (PLOS), and the Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa) today announced that they will collaborate to increase awareness and provide training around Open Science practices and Open Access publishing in Africa. 

“We are eager to collaborate with PLOS and TCC Africa to improve knowledge about Open Science and increase levels of adoption and practice at member institutions,” said Professor Oyewole, Secretary General of the Association of African Universities. “This partnership will also enable us to identify challenges to Open Science adoption while simultaneously supporting effective implementation. This partnership is another proof of the AAU’s commitment to build the capacity of its members so they infuse internationally acceptable research and data management practices into their operations.”

“We already work closely with PLOS, and we are excited about teaming with AAU,” said Joy Owango, Executive Director, Training Centre in Communication. “All three organizations will play key roles in the communication of, and education in, Open Science practices.”

“This partnership extends our work with TCC Africa and fits perfectly with our mission to work at a local level, within communities, while listening and learning, so that we can understand and reflect local needs and values with regards to Open Science policies and practices,” said Roheena Anand, Executive Director of Global Publishing Development, PLOS. “Our work with AAU and TCC Africa will not just benefit African researchers and institutions, but will also help inform activities on a global scale.”  

The objectives of this collaboration will primarily be achieved through capacity-building regional workshops carried out across the continent. The launch of the initiative, on April 26, 2022, will be virtual, and is an invitation to the Presidents, Vice Chancellors, Rectors, Deputy Vice Chancellors, Directors of Research and Libraries of African Universities to inform them of the intent of this collaboration. 

The initiative will be supported by the participation of representatives from UNESCO, who will talk about the global Open Science recommendation, and the International Science Council. 

All three organizations are heavily invested in an Open future and want to work with stakeholders across the scholarly communication ecosystem of Africa to promote and increase uptake of Open Access and Open Science more broadly. 

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About the Association for African Universities

Founded in Rabat, Morocco on November 12, 1967, The Association of African Universities (AAU) is an NGO based in Accra, Ghana. The mission is “to enhance the quality and relevance of higher education in Africa and strengthen its contribution to Africa’s development”. While serving as the “voice of higher education” on the continent. With over 400 member institutions across Africa, AAU provides a forum for cooperation and exchange of information on higher education and research policies, creating spaces for research, reflection, consultation, debates, co-operation and collaboration on issues pertaining to higher education

AAU possesses the unique capacity to convene higher education institutional leaders and policymakers from all parts of the continent and on key issues related to African higher education and development. AAU provides leadership in the identification of emerging issues and support for debating them and facilitating appropriate follow-up action by its members, partners, and other stakeholders. Read more about AAU here

About the Public Library of Science

PLOS is a nonprofit, open access publisher empowering researchers to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication. Since our founding in 2001, PLOS journals have helped break boundaries in research communication to provide more opportunities, choice, and context for researchers and readers. For more information, visit http://www.plos.org.

About the Training Centre in Communication Africa

The Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa) is the first African-based training center to teach effective communication skills to scientists. TCC Africa is an award winning  Trust, established as a non-profit entity in 2006 and is registered in Kenya.  TCC Africa provides  capacity support in improving researchers  output and visibility through training in  scholarly and science communication. 

TCC Africa’s mission is to contribute to the increase in profile, locally, and internationally, of African science, and its impact on the life of Africans, by improving skills in technical communication in all forms, at academia and other relevant forums, in Africa.

Our objective is to train. support. empower. researchers  through capacity in improving their research output and visibility.

CONTACTS

For AAU: 

Abednego Corletey

Association of African Universities

Africa Universities House, Trinity Avenue, 

East Legon, Accra P.O Box AN 5744, Accra-North, Ghana

Email: acorletey@aau.org; Info@aau.org;

For PLOS:

David Knutson

Sr. Communications Manager, PLOS, USA

651-260-8288

dknutson@plos.org

For TCC Africa:

Public  Relations Team

Training Centre in Communication

(Through the School of Biological Sciences Linkage) 

Gecaga Institute Bldg.,

Chiromo Campus, University of Nairobi 

EMAIL: pr@tcc-africa.org ,info@tcc-africa.org