REMARKS BY THE MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, HONOURABLE MOSIBUDI MANGENA, AT THE AIMS LAUNCH OF THE RESEARCH CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE IN THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES, AIMS, MUIZENBURG, CAPE TOWN, ON 12 MAY 2008

Programme Director;

Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen

The AIMS Research Centre of Excellence in the Mathematical Sciences is an important extension to the already highly successful postgraduate training programme in the mathematical sciences.

We are privileged to have among us today some of the world’s most distinguished engineers and scientists, including Michael Griffin, Head of NASA, Stephen Hawking, arguably the most famous living scientist, David Gross, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2004, as well as George Smoot, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2006.

We also have a number of very senior business executives, from some of the leading international companies operating in Africa, including Barclays, McKinsey, Nokia and SUN Microsystems.

Naturally, we have all become inquisitive as to why such a distinguished delegation has chosen to come to this rather tiny institute, located in a little seaside suburb of Cape Town? Why this same tiny institute has attracted the attention of the world’s leading science journals, like Nature, Science, Physics Today and Physics World?

Indeed, why have so many of the world’s most outstanding lecturers come to teach here, and why have they described theirs as the experience of a lifetime? In like vein, why are the most brilliant students from all over Africa now applying for a place to study here, with over six applications being received for each available place?

Again how do we account for the success of the first 160 graduates from the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), who with very few exceptions, have continued to excel in Masters and PhD Programmes at leading institutions?

We must also ask, ladies and gentlemen, why the NEPAD recognised AIMS as a Centre of Excellence, just two months after it opened, in November 2003.

Finally, the reason for the African Ministers of Science and Technology to have asked this tiny institute to coordinate the development of the mathematical sciences for the whole of Africa also begs the same question.

The answer to all these questions is a simple one - Something very revolutionary is happening here.

First, AIMS is driven by a truly Pan-African and world vision. Today the institute boasts an enrolment of 53 students, which includes 20 women, from 20 different African countries. At AIMS, the cultural richness and diversity of Africa is celebrated, and is a constant source of strength and pride. As well as recruiting students from all countries in Africa, AIMS recruits lecturers from every continent. In bringing these exceptional people together, it is building a global network of AIMS alumni and supporters, serving as an example of how the development and sharing of knowledge can lead to global peace, progress and economic growth.

Second, AIMS uses science and mathematics as a critical bridge. Brilliant young people world wide are interested in scientific knowledge and how it can be used to improve the world. Their shared passion overcomes language and cultural barriers.

Third, AIMS is by no means like a standard university. I am reliably informed that the style of teaching and learning here is quite unique. Lecturers and students live and work together, in a 24-hour learning environment. The focus is on solving problems, working in groups, thinking creatively and innovatively rather than the rote learning style which is all too common in mainstream educational institutions. In other words, Ladies and Gentlemen, AIMS has been designed to prepare students for real research, for collaboration with colleagues, and for solving real life problems rather than just passing exams.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, AIMS is a highly dynamic institution which is constantly renewing itself. We are here this afternoon to launch the new AIMS research centre, the Research Centre of Excellence in the Mathematical Sciences.

The centre will focus on applications of mathematical science to problems of special relevance to Africa, research areas in which scientists working in Africa can make vital contributions to the continent’s progress and in the process become world-leaders in their own fields. The Centre of Excellence will attempt to pioneer programmes in novel, interdisciplinary areas where it can complement longer-term research programmes at universities and research institutions.

In addition, the centre will form collaborations with industry, government, and non-governmental organisations in order to assist with mathematical modelling tasks, such as data analysis and model construction, which are becoming more and more essential in every sphere. I am particularly impressed by AIMS plans to seed the formation of mathematical consultancy initiatives, which will encourage AIMS graduates to apply their skills to real-life problems, and help to create new spin-off companies in the way that Stanford seeded Silicon Valley and the Indian Institutes of Technology seeded the formation of the IT industry in India.

Without belabouring the point, this year the AIMS research centre will run a programme in financial mathematics, which is trying to link sophisticated mathematical techniques to risk management and the real behaviour of the stock markets. This area is of critical importance to Africa. The global economy is to a large extent governed by financial markets, and unless every African country has its own pool of experts able to give good financial advice, its economy will be at the mercy of every new economic event, such as the credit crunch, dotcom boom or the vagaries of the oil bubbles, occurring in the developed world.

Furthermore, the research centre will also run a programme in biomathematics, including the modelling of diseases such as HIV infections, tuberculosis and malaria, which are impacting negatively on Africa. I have learnt that several world-leading research centres, including the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS) in the US, and a National Network of Mathematical Experts in Canada (MITACS) are closely involved, alongside centres such as the South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA).

But that which makes the AIMS Research Centre unique is its Pan-African focus, its innovative spirit, as well as its global network of collaborators.

In closing, Distinguished Guests, allow me to add a few more words about the AIMS ambitious expansion plans. For the last few years, and in collaboration with my Department, AIMS has been working with partners across Africa to develop a plan for building a network of AIMS-like Centres all over the continent. I am delighted to announce that the next AIMS Centre, AIMS (Abuja) will be opening in the capital of Nigeria in July, and that some of the first graduates from AIMS, now completing their PhDs, are planning to go there as lecturers. New AIMS Centres are being discussed in Ghana, Uganda, Madagascar, Sudan, Botswana, Rwanda and Ethiopia.

If indeed AIMS can grow into the Pan-African institution we envisage, consisting of a network of Centres of Excellence operating in close partnership, this will represent an extraordinary example and model for the continent as a whole. The spin-offs from these Centres would most certainly be immense, ranging from encouraging schoolchildren to study science and mathematics to seeding new companies and thereby contributing to much-needed continent-wide economic growth.

We remain committed to the objective of recruiting Africa’s brightest maths and science graduates, helping them develop as independent problem-solvers, creative thinkers and doers, and excellent teachers as opposed to being just ivory tower academics.

We are certain that among our products there will be people of rare talent capable of revolutionary advances, as scientists, educators, wealth-creators and active participants in the global knowledge economy. Together, they will form a powerful network working together for progress towards African educational and economic self-sufficiency.

Indeed the salvation of our beautiful continent depends on the efforts, commitment and determination of men and women, who given the opportunity, embrace it with both arms. Such is the calibre of the people the AIMS Research Centres of Excellence are hoping to produce; women and men who are determined to help Africa break through the barriers that have held her back and down for so long. Africa’s time has come to reclaim her rightful position in the sun, and once more indelibly etch her place in the annals of time.

Finally, it is now my singular honour and pleasure to officially launch this AIMS Research Centre of Excellence. May it achieve and surpass all the goals it has set for itself.

I thank you for your attention.