Open Technology Week#OpenTechCam2015

Cambridge, UK - July 26th, 2015

Open technology for scientific capacity development

Open Technology Workshop

Dr Jelena Aleksic and Dr Tom Baden

…/TReNDinAfrica

@TReNDinAfrica

trendinafrica.org

Who are TReND in Africa?

Courses and Workshops- Insect Neuroscience and neurogenetics- Building Extracellular Amplifiers- Molecular Biology- Bioinformatics approaches to NGS- Epigenetics and neurological disorders

Donations, Outreach and Innovation- Equipment donations shipped- Outreach projects supported- 3D printing lab equipment- TReNDberry Pi and Arduino Projects- Leveraging Open-Source Soft/Hardware

TReND in Africa: Founded 2011

Researchtraining

Research facilities

Cost- effective

model systems

Open source

Skills transfer programme

Outreach

2006

2010

Slater Fund

Department of Zoology (Cambridge), Richard Morris (London), Jim Haseloff (Plant sciences,Cambridge), FMI (Basel, with Gerit Linnenweber), Leon Lagnado (LMB, Cambridge), Bernardo Sabatini (Harvard), Berthold Hedwig (zoology, Cambridge), Jean-Paul Vincent (MRC, London), UCSD, Harvard University, Isabel Palacios (Cambridge), Dolores Martin (CSIC), Marta Vicente

How it all began

Where is TReND in Africa now?

Research training

Intensive practical-based schools:

• IBRO school on insect neuroscience and Drosophila neurogenetics (Uganda & Tanzania) – 5th starting in August.

• TReND school on molecular biology of brain ageing (Mekelle, Ethiopia) – 1st just finished

• TReND-ICIPE school on bio-informatics (Nairobi, Kenya) – Calls open, November 2015

• TReND school on “How to build your own equipment with open source resources” (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

• Human brain imaging and behavioural neuroscience course – being planned

• Equipment donations paired with short visits from experts upon request from partner Universities

Support research facilities andSkills transfer programme

Support research facilities andSkills transfer programme

• Important equipment donated so far to Universities in Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria

Optimising resources

Use of cost-effective model organisms• State-of-the-art genetics in Drosophila, Anopheles, Aedes

• Physiology methods in bees, grasshopers and crickets

The promise of computational biology

Bioinformatics: Low cost and scientifically powerful.

A lot of data and tools are freely availableIt is mainly expertise that is required to analyse and use them.

~£25

Lower overheads and need for specialised equipment make this a promising area for developing cutting edge, low cost research

Computers can also be low cost.

How we run our workshops

African-led- Researchers at participating institutions select the topics

and focus of the workshops for further technical training. - The workshops are run collaboratively.

Pan-African participation- The students attend our courses from across the African

continent. - As well as valuable technical training, this provides a

strong peer network and follow-on support.

Hands on / intensive- Our workshops provide immersive training in the most cutting-edge research techniques in molecular biology and bioinformatics.

The instructors- TReND is a network of volunteer scientists from top world

universities. - The trainers at our workshops are experts in their fields. Instructors were shipped

from worldwide

What our students say about us

“You have ignited in me a real passion. This is the best course I ever attended”

“Working on real data enhanced our grasp of the theory”

“The choice of topics were superb”

“The lecturers were knowledgeable andpassionate about their topics”

“The ‘do it yourself’ approach enabledthe students to learn the material

faster and better”

“The practical lessons were very well conducted and no-one was left behind”

“Very engaging. You wouldn’t leave a classwithout learning something.”

Participants= 30

30+ colleagues /participant = 900+

200+ students /participant= 6000+

Young people in outreach= 100+

1st year benefit= 7000+

TReND long-term impact

Impact, Benefit and Longevity

Enhanced knowledge and skills of African scientists- Acquisition of practical advanced research skills- Advance individual research projects- A new generation of molecular biologists and data analysts

Improved research capacity across Africa - Students from different academic institutions - Expertise and skills back to home departments

Improved undergraduate teaching - African scientists begin lecturing after undergraduate degree- Improved training & course materials for undergraduates

Outreach initiatives - TReND course alumni are keen to reach young people- Improved scientific education -> more African scientists- Drive towards scientific independence for Africa

Plus staff-taught participants

… as well as their colleagues and students.

Thank you!

Open Technology Week#OpenTechCam2015

Cambridge, UK - July 26th, 2015…/TReNDinAfrica

@TReNDinAfrica

trendinafrica.org