Career resources for African scientists

Olugbenga Samuel Oyeniyi sought a career with a stronger public-health focus after learning that Black men are twice as likely as white men to get prostate cancer.

Caleb Skipper describes how global health collaborations bring valuable transfers of knowledge to both sides of the Atlantic.

Demographic-prediction algorithms have various challenges, following best practices can minimize the harms.

Kokouvi Kassegne moved from Togo to China to pursue his passion for parasitology.

University partnerships that let PhD students split their time between two countries and keep jobs at home have many benefits.

Despite facing sociocultural and political barriers, vertebrate palaeontologist Khalafallah Salih returned home to train the next generation.

Research oncologist Peter Mulatya has a job that takes him from conducting clinical trials to long discussions with patients and families.

Running the Uganda Cancer Institute is a chance to put my vision for treatment into practice, says Jackson Orem.

Farmer and environmentalist Joshua Zake shares what he has learnt about advances in sustainable agriculture with small-scale farmers.

Paediatric-health researcher Mary Nyantaro wants more investment in and mentoring for the research workforce.

For Manzama-Esso Abi, moving abroad provided an opportunity to learn new skills that will benefit her research back home in Africa.

Cyril Boateng is helping to connect members of the African diaspora to their ancestral lands through geophysics research, using skills he acquired during a PhD and postdoc in China.

Success stories challenge negative narratives and media portrayals, and can inspire the next generation.

Government scientist Priver Namanya Bwesigye’s research career is focused on genetic engineering and Uganda’s staple food.

Why international researchers should be lining up to collaborate with women working in science across Africa.

Science-engagement initiatives in Africa disseminate knowledge and bridge the gap between research and the continent’s people.

The continent’s role in the global economy depends on development from within.

How networks can help to win research grants and equip labs in Africa.

Experience gained overseas can be used to develop home-grown solutions to local challenges.

Finding the right working culture pays dividends when trying to juggle academia and parenthood in Africa.

A whole-hearted commitment to the demands of a job can help women to thrive in male-dominated spheres in Africa.

Female mathematicians are inspiring young people in Africa to pursue careers in unconventional fields.

A clear vision and good delegation skills can help women to advance in their careers.

It might demand 12-hour days, but the chance to help shape African science makes it all worth it.

Rose Okoyo Opiyo says women need help balancing family demands if Africa is to narrow its PhD gender gap.

Kariuki Njenga talks about his work building a pan-African study to find emerging diseases quickly.

Six years after a statue of Cecil Rhodes was toppled, students and staff at the South African university are still working to improve equity and representation.

For decades, Africa has imported 99% of its vaccines. Now the continent’s leaders want to bring manufacturing home.

Dorothy Okello teaches computing to displaced people, and launches programmes to get more women into science, technology and business.

Rafiou Agoro’s early-career experiences in France and the United States inspired him to mentor colleagues in Africa and those whose careers also took them overseas.

Psychiatrist Dixon Chibanda trains teams of grandmothers to provide open-air counselling sessions in Zimbabwe.

Molecular biologist Christian Happi is working around the clock to get testing available throughout the continent.

Seven researchers from African nations discuss the career implications of developing their research at home or abroad.

PhD programmes in "the rainbow nation" mostly lead to academic careers, but reform is needed to boost collaboration and integration, higher education experts tell Julie Gould.

Medical physicist Iyobosa Uwadiae ignored sceptics who questioned her plan to pursue a doctoral programme in the African nation. Here is her advice.

Pursuing a career in science in Africa involves challenges not faced by researchers who remain in the high-income countries in which they studied.

Mary Bitta’s research develops and tests interventions to address the stigma of poor mental health in Kenya.

Workplace crèches and nursing rooms feature, alongside calls for more generous parental leave policies to keep women in science.

Two scientists whose careers took them away from Africa share thoughts on how to support colleagues back home.

Getting girls and young women interested in science careers should be given higher priority across Africa. Initiatives such as STEM Belle and STEM4HER are rising to the challenge.

The continent followed Western nations too closely in its early response to the coronavirus emergency, says Nigerian virologist Oyewale Tomori.

The widely used term risks becoming a buzzword for people who want to seem open-minded, warns Paballo Chauke.

Virologist Oyewale Tomori, whose career in science dates back to the early years of Nigerian independence, offers a personal perspective on the state of African science in 2022.