Natural Sciences
Mak honours Prof. Leif Abrahamsson for his Contribution to the Development of Mathematics in E.A.
Makerere University has honored Prof. Leif Abrahamsson, for his contribution to the development of Mathematics in the East African region.
This was during the opening ceremony of the four-day Joint African-Nordic conference in Mathematics, an event organized to share research findings and take stock of the Nordic support for Mathematics in the region in the past two decades. The conference taking place at Makerere University started on Tuesday, 1st August and will end on Friday 4th August, 2023.
Prof. Abrahamsson, from the Department of Mathematics, Uppsala University started the network of Eastern African Universities Mathematics Program (EAUMP) to improve the state of mathematics, through Masters and PhD training. After setting up the network, mathematics became one of the International Science Programme (ISP)’s core programs.
Because of Prof Abrahamson’s efforts, to date, ISP support to Mathematics in the region ranges from visible capacity built at PhD, Masters and Postdoc levels.
In his remarks, Makerere University Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, noted that Prof. Abrahamsson’s project to support Mathematics in the region has lived up to its expectations and even gone beyond what was projected, including providing support to research groups and women networks in basic sciences.
“As part of establishing the everlasting memories of Prof. Abrahamsson, Makerere University will establish the Leif Abrahamsson permanent chair for supporting Mathematics in the Eastern Africa Region. To solicit for funding to support the region in Mathematics you need to use the name ‘Leif Abrahamsson’ to permanently get support for Mathematics,” Prof. Nawangwe said.
Prof. Nawangwe noted that the ‘Leif Abrahamsson’ Chair should target to raise at least $500,000 per year to support Mathematics in the region.
During the event, Science, Technology, and Innovations Minister, Hon. Dr. Monica Musenero Masanza, called upon Mathematicians to make mathematics speak to people. “Mathematics is the only subject that lies at the centre of any career choice, but most people do not understand it, that is why they treat it as just an academic subject and that affects development. If we are to have our economy grow, we have to appreciate mathematics,” Hon. Musenero said.
Speaking during the event, Prof. John Mango from the Department of Mathematics at Makerere University, thanked the Nordic taxpayers for supporting Makerere University.
“Makerere University and the regional Universities have enjoyed and continue to benefit from the generosity of the Royal Governments of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark in the areas of human resources capacity building, research, library services, technology and infrastructural development,” he said.
Prof. Mango noted the twenty years support by Nordic countries has made mathematics reach a higher recognition in the region and more research groups have been created and this has led to joint research projects. Countries in the attendance of the Mathematics Conference include; Austria, Botswana, Denmark, Ethiopia, Hungary, Kenya, Namibia, Norway, Rwanda, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Germany, USA, Zambia and hosts Uganda.
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