The dynamism of a collaboration rewarded

Strengthening north/south collaborations

"It all began with the CARI symposium, which will be celebrating its tenth edition in 2010," explains Marie-Claude Sance-Plouchart, manager for the Africa and Middle East area. "This event and the programmes and projects that followed (Sarima, Arima Journal) have allowed the continent’s  researchers  to find out about each other and create a real community of mathematicians and computer scientists, a community that is very dynamic and open to collaborations with Europe. This makes research in Africa a more attractive proposition for students and young researchers”. These programmes have strengthened the network structure based on centres of excellence and jointly supervised PhD thesis. As a result, the African teams have now attained critical mass. "Over the last two years, we have taken things to another level by launching multilateral programmes in which African countries are fully-fledged partners, also contributing financially. We have moved from cooperation to partnership" And this is a real first: universities from the programmes participating countries are contributing to a fund in order to finance trips by their researchers to overseas laboratories and visits by guest researchers and their European counterparts.

This is the case with the Euro-Mediterranean 3+3 programme, which has been running since 2005, and the International Laboratory for Research in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics (LIRIMA), created in 2009. "Lirima is groundbreaking. It is structured like an international laboratory. It is directed by world-renowned Cameroonian scientist Maurice Tchuenté, assisted by Moroccan mathematician Rajae Aboulaïch, who is a founding member of the Moroccan Applied Mathematics Society (SM2A) and the Maghreb Network for Trends in Applied Mathematics in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco (Tamtam). " Their presence lends the Laboratory credibility and enhances its international profile. The next stage is to open this community up to English-speaking African countries and to the rest of Europe, and to convince African governments to fund the CARI symposium, which remains an unmissable event for scientists wishing to meet their colleagues from the continent..

Euro-Mediterranean 3+3: working towards greater regional cooperation

The EuroMediterranean 3+3 Program aims at strengthening collaborative research projects between scientific institutions of the Mediterranean area by supporting mobilities and organisation of joint meetings.
The EuroMediterranean 3+3 Consortium is presently composed of 14 partners :

• Algeria: The Algerian Ministry for Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS);
• France: Inria, INRA, CIRAD;
• Italy: Politechnico di Milano (POLIMI); University of Cassino;  CNR; Univ. of Pisa;
• Morocco: the Moroccan Centre for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST);
• Spain: BCAM; Univ. Deusto; Madrid Institut for Advanced Studies (IMDEA);Univ. Malaga;
• Tunisia: The Tunisian Ministry for Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS)

In order to promote extended exchanges between the countries of the Mediterranean area, the Consortium welcomes for the present call for projects the possibility to include in the program, partners from Egypt and Greece (the Direction of International Affairs of Inria can facilitate the identification of potential partners in Egypt). Projects including Egyptian or Greek partners may receive additional funding corresponding to the exchanges planned between Egypt, Greece and the partners of the Consortium.

The projects are selected for a total duration of 4 years with a mid-term evaluation. Funding will be granted on an annual basis. The rule for the mobilities is that each partner supports the travel expenses of its researchers as well as the living expenses of the visiting researchers.

The applications will be reviewed by independent scientific experts and the final selection will be made by a joint committee made up of representatives from the International Relations Departments and Research Departments of the Consortium’s partners.

SARIMA : continuity of thinking

SARIMA I was a project initiated by Inria and the ICPAM (International Centre for Pure and Applied Mathematics), supported by the French Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and financed by the Priority Solidarity Fund. It was run by a Scientific Interest Group (GIS SARIMA). Active from 2004 to 2008, it relied heavily on the knowledge of the CARI network, and aimed to achieve sustainable consolidation of scientific capabilities in computer science and applied mathematics in Africa. The programme was a great success.

In an effort to match the success of SARIMA I, Inria is playing an active role in GIS SARIMA II, set up in 2010, which comprises 25 French and European partners (Switzerland, Luxembourg) and  has set itself the task of creating a "SARIMA Foundation under the auspices of the Fondation de France", in order to engage  industrial partners  and raise  funds  to finance high-level jointly-supervised thesies for the best mathematics and computer science students in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa, thus avoiding a "brain drain".

CARI : a non common conference ?

The CARI, the African symposium on computer science research, is held every two years and brings together African and international researchers working in computer science and applied mathematics. Set up by Inria, the University of Yaoundé 1, and the United Nations University in 1992, it is supported by other French partners, such as Cirad and the IRD, and international organisations including the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), the United Nations University (UNU) and the ICPAM (International Centre for Pure and Applied Mathematics).

The CARI has rapidly evolved beyond the restrictive framework of a conventional symposium to become a valuable tool for development and high-level training, supported by a strong scientific and financial partnership between French  research centres and international organisations. Thus, the permanent committee, made up of a panel of African researchers and a panel of representatives from partner organisations, has developed other activities, such as schools, the award of post-doctoral grants, assistance with cooperative projects between African universities, and the development of a network of  African universities and research laboratories,  notably through technical support for Internet deployment. The experience and network developed through the CARI have been vital in the development of Sarima. This event is soon to be funded by African countries and opened up to English-speaking Africa.

LIRIMA: a joint Franco-African laboratory

Definition 

The LIRIMA is a network of project teams hosted by institutional partners, either in Africa or France, or even, ultimately, in other European countries.
   
 The following institutions are currently stakeholders alongside Inria in the Agreement to create the International Research Laboratory:

• University of Yaounde I, Cameroon 
• Gaston Berger University, Saint-Louis, Senegal 
• Ouagadougou University, Burkina Faso 
• Antananarivo University, Madagascar 
• Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS-DGRSDT), Algeria
• National Centre for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST), Morocco 
• Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS), Tunisia

Involvement in the LIRIMA is open to new members, and the process for their inclusion is outlined in the Agreement. The network is based at the University of Yaoundé I. There will be no reception centre for scientists other than partners’ existing laboratories.

Objectives 

The aims of this international research laboratory are to:

• Promote high-level scientific output in the fields of computer science and applied mathematics, in relation to the issues of economic and social development, thanks to an active and structured partnership between its members, by means of Franco-African research teams and synergies between African teams; 
• Encourage structured cooperation at a doctoral and post-doctoral level, specifically by promoting the joint supervision of theses, as well as by organising regional doctoral schools; 
• Structure and unify scientific relations by providing an official framework for meetings, discussions and work for the scientific communities involved; 
• Promote the practice of scientific evaluation and the dissemination of scientific and technical information within the communities involved;
• Support and strengthen North-South and South-South research projects by providing structure for existing networks and by opening them up to other French- and English-speaking partners;
• Open up to European projects and vice versa.

How it works

The LIRIMA is made up of Project Teams based on the IPT model. These teams include scientists from Africa and France working on scientific projects in the fields of computer science and applied mathematics. Priority is given to projects relating to applications with an impact on African societies: healthcare, management of natural resources, network security, development and deployment of low-cost applications, etc. However, theoretical research work is also included. Teams are attached to one of the laboratory’s partner organisations and may include members from several sites, with scientific logic taking precedence. Nevertheless, each Project Team must include at least one (1) Inria researcher.

The partners are collectively responsible for the laboratory’s policy. The decision-making body is the steering committee on which all partners are represented.

The scientific council is made up of figures from inside and outside the laboratory; it is a consultative body entrusted with advising the steering committee on the general scientific direction of the laboratory.

The laboratory’s scientific life is managed by a laboratory council, which reports to the steering committee. The laboratory council is made up of members of the laboratory’s Project Teams.

Project Teams have a research programme that is defined when they are established, evaluated at fixed intervals (mid-term and when projects are renewed after 4 years). Their composition is clearly defined when they are established. 

Financial resources

All partners have agreed to support the LIRIMA through the provision of financial, material and human resources. Each partner allocates and manages the budgetary resources equating to its contribution under the terms of the Agreement.

In particular, the LIRIMA's funding structure provides support for placement opportunities.
 The rule applied, as it is in many international exchanges, is as follows:

• the country sending a researcher on a placement pays for the researcher’s travel
• the country hosting a researcher on a placement pays for the researcher’s accommodation.

Currently, the LIRIMA is composed of 9 teams.

ALOCO

 Component-based software architecture

• ENSP / University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon
• Team Manager : Claude Tangha
• Partner project-teams at Inria: S4 and SmartTool

ANO

 Computational Analysis of Partial Differential Equations and Optimization

•  EMI (Mohamadia Engineering School) / CNRST, Rabat, Morocco
• Team Manager : Rajae Aboulaïch
• Partner project-team at Inria: OPALE

 EPIC

 Inverse Problems and Control

• University Tunis El Manar, ENIT/LAMSIN, Tunisia
• Team Manager : Amel Ben Abda
• Partner project-teams at Inria : APICS, DEFI and SAGE

 GRIMCAPE

 Modeling, Analysis and Simulation in Epidemiology and Immunology

• University of Douala/University of Yaoundé I Science Faculty, Cameroon
• Team Manager : Samuel Bowong
• Partner project-teams at Inria: MASAIE and ANUBIS ; UMMISCO –IRD

 IDASCO

 Distributed Computing for Complex Systems Analysis

• University of Yaoundé I Science Faculty, Cameroon
• Team Manager : Maurice Tchuenté
• Partner project-teams at Inria: MESCAL and D-NET

 M2IP2S

 Mathematical and Computer Modeling of Water and Ecosystem Problems in the Sahel

• University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
• Team Manager : Stanislas Ouaro
• Partner project-team(s) at Inria: MODEMIC and EDELWEISS

 MASECNeSS

Management and Security of Network and System Services 

• ENSP / University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon
• Team Manager : Thomas Djioto Ndie
• Partner project-team at Inria: MADYNES

MOMAPPLI

Mathematical Modeling and Applications

• University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon
• In Germany: Max-Planck Institut, Golm
• Team Manager : Norbert Noutchégémé
• Partner project-team at Inria: SAGE

 ICST-Madagascar

• ESPA, University of Antananarivo, Madagascar
• Team Manager : Lala Andriamampianina
• Partner project-team at Inria: MODEMIC

ICST Algeria Programme

The ICST Algeria  programme aims to foster the emergence of new partnerships and new cooperations between Algerian  research teams and Inria project teams. Research activities leading to the award of qualifications are a priority for the North African teams.
 Each project proposed must involve one or more Algerian teams and one or more French teams. These teams must conduct research on Computer Science, Control and Applied Mathematics and at least one of them must be an Inria project-team.  No thematic priority is set. Each project proposed must be jointly directed by two permanent researchers or research-lecturers, one belonging to a French institution and the other to an Algerian institution.

• The duration of each project will be 12 months, which may be extended once by a further 12 months after assessment. Each proposal will be made simultaneously in Algeria and in France.
• Financial support will be provided only to cover the costs of travel between the two countries for the researchers involved in the project.
• The joint Franco-Algerian committee is responsible for the process of assessing project proposals. They meet at the end of each year to select the projects based on the following criteria:

1. The scientific quality of the project 
2. The pertinence of the actions proposed, the feasibility of the objectives and the applicability of the results 
3. The qualifications stemming from the research 
4. Knowledge transfer
5. The expertise and experience of the participants in each country 
6. Industrial cooperations

The final number of projects selected will depend on the overall budget available each year. Five projects have been selected in the call ICST Algeria 2011.

You can download the application form on this page.