The African Union Commission is committed to supporting the use and development of science in Africa and, since 2008, has been running the Kwame Nkrumah African Union Prize for Scientific Excellence (AUKNASE).
Application deadline: 25 November 2020 (at 17:00 Addis Ababa time)
Offered annually? Yes
Eligible countries: African countries
To be taken to (country): Addis Ababa
About the Award: The AUKNASE programme is implemented at national level for young researchers, regional level for women scientists and continental level open to all scientists. The continental level is the highest level of the programme. The aim is to give scientific prizes to Africa's leading scientists for their scientific achievements and valuable discoveries and breakthroughs.
Under this programme, prizes are awarded to the best African scientists in each of the following two sectors
- Life and Earth Science and Innovation; and
- Basic Science, Technology and Innovation at national, regional and continental levels.
Type: Competitions/Prizes
Eligibility: To be eligible for the African Union Science Prize nominees will be African scientists who:
- have made notable achievements, demonstrated by the number and quality of their publications, the number of postgraduate research students trained, the applicability of the scientific work to Africa's challenges and its patentability. The award aims to recognise those who demonstrate excellence in research that is relevant to the continent's development needs.
- Only member states of the African Union (AU) can take part in these Awards;
- Nominees will be Africans resident in any of the AU member states and can only be nominated for achievements based on work carried out in an African country.
- For the CONTINENTAL Award: Candidates must have a doctorate, if the nominee is an academic at a university they must have at least an Associate Professor position. There is no age limit for this award. The nominee must fulfil at least four of the following:
- Must have published in journals (at least 20 articles with an impact factor greater than 1.0)
- Must appear as senior/corresponding author in at least 15 of the 25 articles
- Must have a minimum H-index of 25
- Must have at least two international or four national patents registered
- Must have supervised or co-supervised at least 10 PhD students
- Must have won an international grant as principal investigator
- Must have written a review article in their field of specialisation
- For the REGIONAL AWARD: for Women Scientists, candidates must have been nominated with a doctorate, if they are an academic at a university they must have at least an Associate Professor position. There is no age limit for this award. The nominee must fulfil at least three of the following:
- Must have published at least five articles in journals (with an impact factor greater than 1.0)
- Must appear as senior/corresponding author on at least three of the five articles
- Must have at least an H-index of 5
- Must have at least one or two national patents registered
- Must have supervised or co-supervised at least 5 PhD students
- Must have won an international grant as principal investigator
- Must have written a review article in their field of specialisation
Appointment criteria: Online nominations will be invited from any institution on the continent, from universities, research institutions, professional bodies, academies, industrial establishments, and so on. Nominations can be received from:
- individuals who may be senior individuals of the same or higher rank than the candidate;
- Heads of institutions who may have their own formalised procedure for appointment, chairs of committees who review the achievements of scientists in their institutions;
- The nominator is necessary to show the importance and impact of the research. The focus will be on the quality of the work and not necessarily the number of publications. The nominator should provide a narrative presentation (up to five pages) of the importance, relevance, quality and impact of the work. A full CV as well as 5-10 copies of the best publications should be submitted with the nomination form.
- All appointments successfully completed in the online system will be automatically recognised
Premium amount: The African Union's Kwame Nkrumah Prize for Scientific Excellence (AUKNASE) will be awarded to
organised on three levels:
- Continental level where two USD 100,000 prizes are awarded to pioneering African scientists
- Regional level where two African women scientists from each of Africa's five geographical regions receive US$ 20,000 each, and
How to apply: The Nomination Form with all supporting documents must be posted via physical mail to the following address (NOT by fax or e-mail):
To:
The Officer
in charge AU Kwame Nkrumah Awards for
Scientific Excellence 2018
Edition,
Department of Human Resources,
Science and Technology
African Union Commission Roosevelt Street P. O. Box 3243 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
NB: On the back right-hand side of the envelope, enter the following information:
[From: Applicant's full name, contact and e-mail addresses] Specify which level you are applying for: Continental Award or Regional Award and "add the Following Note" ["AUKNASE /Will not be opened before the Opening Session"].
Kwame Nkrumah African Union Form of Nomination -En
