DARA - Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy Phase 3

This project is to continue, deepen and expand the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) project.

DARA is a human capital development programme with the principal aim to develop high tech skills in radio astronomy in the eight developing African countries that partner with South Africa in the hosting of the mid-frequency telescope of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The first two phases utilized the Newton Fund and delivered a basic training to over 300 young people as well as Masters and PhD level training. This proposal is once again a bilateral UK-SA project bidding for Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding as part of the Tomorrow's Talent strand of the new International Science Partnership Fund (ISPF). In this new phase we will extend the HCD pipeline to establish postdoctoral fellows in African partner institutions for the first time. The aim is to complete the establishment of radio astronomy research groups in each partner country so that their citizens can fully engage with the SKA project. We will also continue the basic and Masters level training programme. This third phase will also encompass elements of the DARA Big Data sister project to deepen the training in machine learning techniques required to analyse SKA data and embed synergies with Earth Observation data. We will also continue and expand our partnership with the space sector to showcase how the skills of radio astronomy can be utilized to address development challenges in Africa. The industrial partners also bring entrepreneurship and business start-up experience. Overall, the DARA project addresses the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in terms of increasing high tech skills, research activity and international cooperation.