Leeds-led astronomy training programme welcomes new cohort across Africa
The latest round of the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) Basic Training Programme kicks off across eight African countries next week.
The STFC-funded project, led by Professor Melvin Hoare from the School of Physics and Astronomy, aims to train a new generation of radio astronomers across sub-Saharan Africa.
The award-winning project, which has been running since 2015, offers 60 fully funded places per year, giving students the opportunity to learn from experts across academia and industry.
In the Basic Training Programme, students analyse data, use high-tech telescopes, and learn how to apply these skills to address development challenges in their home countries.
On 15 June, the first module in computer training begins across the eight partner countries for the current cohort: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia. This intensive one-week course is led by experts from the Centre for High Performance Computing in South Africa, together with local tutors.
Over the next year, the students will complete further training modules in: Practical Optical Astronomy in Kenya, Practical Radio Astronomy in South Africa or Ghana, and then Data Reduction Training back in their home countries.
Upon completion, trainees receive a certificate of completion and will have the skills necessary to apply for places in astronomy at the master’s or PhD level, or to use their new skills to aid the development of related high-tech industries in their home countries.
Naomi Asabre Frimpong, who completed the Basic Training during the project’s very first iteration in Ghana, went on to complete a DARA-funded PhD at the University of Manchester. She then secured a position at the Ghana Science and Research Institute and is now Deputy Director for the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach. She said that the skills she has leant because of DARA have given her “an edge over other scientists” in her home country.
“The problem-solving techniques I learnt as part of the training are invaluable to the wider economy of developing nations,” she added.
Professor Melvin Hoare said that DARA’s main aim is to provide students with vital transferrable skills to boost economic growth in their respective nations. He said: “How do you tell the difference between a developing country and a developed country? Big science goes on all the time. For every 30 Leeds undergraduates studying physics, maybe half a dozen will go on and do a PhD, and then one might choose academia for their career. Where have all those others gone?”
“They’ve gone out with high-level maths, computing – transferrable skills from their degree – into the economy to help drive economic growth. Why should it be any different in a developing country?”
The current phase of the DARA project (Phase 3) runs until March 2027.
About DARA
Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) is a joint UK-South African development project, led by the University of Leeds. The project aims to develop high-tech skills using radio astronomy in several African partner countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius, and South Africa.
DARA grew out of the understanding that radio astronomy encompasses all the STEM skills that underpin developed economies.
The project aims to train a new and diverse generation of young people to engage with these skills and play a leading role in developing self-sustaining space-sector hubs in their own countries.
DARA has been developing collaborations and training programmes since 2015. The current phase runs 2024-2027 and is funded by the UK’s International Science Partnership Fund, via STFC.
