AIMS Collaborates With Google To Pursue Joint Research Interests In Africa

The African Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Ghana has signed a Masters Sponsored Research Agreement (MSRA) with Google Research, with the goal of pushing scientific research forward in fields such as artificial intelligence.

As part of their continued commitment to collaborate and improve computing and technology in Africa, the agreement aims to strengthen the collaboration between the two institutions.

“This cooperation excites us since it will provide AIMS researchers and students with a fantastic opportunity to strengthen their collaboration with Google experts.” AIMS is the continent’s largest network of postgraduate training centers in mathematical sciences and applications. Our objective to inspire brilliant young Africans to be innovative leaders in science and technology is something we are very proud of. We make sure that our students and alumni are grounded in reality and motivated to achieve greatness by working together to address Africa’s big challenges.” — AIMS Chief Executive Officer, Lydie Hakizimana

The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is an African network of Centers of Excellence in mathematical sciences for postgraduate education, research, and public engagement.

AIMS is supplying the STEM pipeline by training African students for a Master’s in Mathematical Sciences, including a co-operative option with a direct link to industry, and was founded in 2003 in South Africa and later replicated in Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon, and Rwanda under the Next Einstein Initiative. Students accepted to AIMS receive full scholarships and have the opportunity to work closely with tutors and lecturers from across the world. The faculty consists of volunteer professors from the world’s top universities, including Nobel Laureates and Fields Medalists.

In 2018, Google joined AIMS as a founding partner of the African Masters in Machine Intelligence (AMMI) Program, which has successfully trained over 100 students in AI and data science. The AMMI program, which is widely regarded as Africa’s greatest Artificial Intelligence (AI) education, has been successfully implemented in three AIMS Centers: Rwanda, Senegal, and Ghana.

“We began our cooperation with AIMS in 2018, when the African Master’s in Machine Intelligence was launched, and we are pleased to continue our financial assistance.” I was reminded of Africa’s great potential during my visit to the AIMS Ghana Campus last week, and we’re excited to deepen our collaboration with AIMS by signing the Master Sponsored Research Agreement, which will enable research and leadership sponsored programs to develop young tech talent in Africa. AI is a magnificent tool that offers us the capacity to alter the world and will assist us in building in Africa, for Africa, and for the globe.” – Prof. Yossi Matias, Google’s Vice President of Engineering and Research.

Several AIMS researchers, including some AMMI alumni, have spent the last three years in Google Research’s AI Lab in Accra. Abigail Annkah, a member of our AMMI Program’s first cohort, joined Google Research in Accra as a Research Software Engineer, and her contributions to GoogleMaps have resulted in the mapping of millions of buildings and square kilometers of previously unmapped roads.