This online training course, open to all, is aimed at research players wishing to develop an economic activity based on their scientific results or related to their work. To be followed on FUN-MOOC from April 15, 2024!

The MOOC "Science and entrepreneurship: the fundamentals" is designed to help young scientists and research workers from all over the world enter the world of entrepreneurship. In particular, it aims to raise awareness among doctoral students, researchers and teacher-researchers, as well as engineers, technicians and those in charge of commercialization and innovation, of the tools needed to start a business based on research results. Through the video presentations of expert economists, company directors, financing specialists (particularly in Africa) and business coaches, it reviews the principles of validating a need and a market, the steps leading to the prototype of a solution , and how to present it in order to approach strategic partners, particularly financial and technical ones.

At the end of this course, learners will be able to :

  • how to design and finance a research-action project with innovative potential,
  • measure their market potential and validate the needs of their beneficiaries or users,
  • define their value proposition and test their business model,
  • prototype and present their solution to strategic partners, particularly financial and technical.

Participants who complete all modules and pass the quizzes will be awarded a training badge . Doctoral students can apply to their doctoral school to have the 30 hours of teaching time taken into account in their training.

This initiative is supported byInstitute of Research for Development (IRD) and Kedge Business School. It is co-financed by the ACE Partner program (World Bank, AFD, AUA, IRD, Inria).and received technical support from theCheikh Hamidou KANE Digital University (UN-CHK, formerly the Université virtuelle du Sénégal) and the contribution of a steering committee comprising theAssociation of African Universities (AAU)the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), d'Expertise Francefrom AFD CampustheAfrica Centre of Excellence on Technology Enhance Learning (ACETEL, Nigeria) and African Center of Excellence on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture (CEA-CCBAD, Côte d'Ivoire). This is the 2e MOOC in the IRD's "Cross-disciplinary skills for research careers" series on the FUN-MOOC platform. The MOOC will also be offered in English (from May 13) and Spanish (1st semester 2024).

Coordination and pedagogical engineering: Gaëlle Courcoux (IRD), Julien Dupont, Victoire Ennesser and Yannig Lavocat (Kedge Business School)

Images : Cheikh Hamidou KANE Digital University (UN-CHK), We up Learning and Emile Rivet

Graphic design and post-production: WeUp Learning

Find out more and register: https: //www.fun-mooc.fr/fr/cours/science-et-entrepreneuriat-les-fondamentaux


First edition of the Innovation Trophies, launched by IRD

The Trophées de l'Innovation will reward young researchers with innovative, high-impact projects in developing countries and overseas France.

For this first edition, 44 eligible applications were received. The project leaders came from 13 different countries, with the African continent well represented, with 37 entries in all. The top three countries were Burkina Faso with nine entries, Côte d'Ivoire with eight, and France with seven.

In terms of project themes, agroecology, sustainable food systems and biodiversity are the most represented, closely followed by risks and crises, and health. 

6 projects selected

From some forty applications, six have been selected to compete for the Innovation Trophies. Two trophies will be awarded by the final jury. Discover the portraits of those who may win the Innovation Trophies on November 28. 

During the first week of October, they will take part in a four-day coaching session in a southern country, and on November 26, in a pitch coaching session in Marseille, and will present their project to the final jury atEMERGING Valley, on November 27 and 28.

Two winners will receive a prize of 10,000 euros to finance the development of their project, a promotional kit, and support from professionals to launch their project.

IRD


The fruit of institutional collaboration between the World Bank, the Association of African Universities (AAU), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and INRIA, the ACE Partner project promotes the influence and sustainability of thematic research networks made up of African Centers of Excellence mobilized around national and regional development issues in West Africa.

ACE Partner supports 4 thematic networks bringing together 23 African Centers of Excellence in 8 countries: Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Guinea and Burkina Faso.

ACE Partner
= A pan-African science of excellence at the service of sustainable development.
= A pooled higher education offering tailored to local expertise needs.
= A community of knowledge linked to the socio-economic sector.

Drawing on the diversity and richness of its research networks, the ACE Partner program has developed a series of training modules for researchers and research players.
Open to all, these training courses can be delivered on request and can be tailored to each structure.

?TO FIND OUT MORE

Mamadou DIALLO: mamadou.diallo1@ird.fr
Research Professor, Regional Coordinator and ACE Partner Training Officer


DOWNLOAD THE TRAINING CATALOG

Mining activity is growing exponentially in West Africa at all levels. This dynamism in the mining sector raises a number of concerns in line with sustainable development objectives.

What are the stakes and challenges of future mining activity in West Africa, for which minerals and which development model?

We will try to answer these questions during an exchange: Thursday March 23, 2023 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm - Live Storm via the link https://bit.ly/Mineresponsable

Mining, a development sector in West Africa, is a source of direct and indirect job creation. For some of the region's countries, mining is the lifeblood of the economy, helping to offset, for example, poor sales and/or fluctuations in the global cost of agricultural raw materials.

While this sector is a major source of foreign currency and economic development, it is currently facing a number of issues and challenges that need to be understood and addressed as part of a territorialized sustainable development trajectory that takes into account the demand for essential resources in African countries, and the legitimacy of countries in choosing their own development models.

Some relate to local and international market issues, the nature of resources and reserves, and questions of governance, safety and transparency.

Others are environmental (degraded natural ecosystems); social (inequality of mining revenues between the players involved); impact on human health, lack of local inclusion, conflicts of use.
So, what are the minerals of the future for West African countries (nature of essential resources)?
How can public decision-makers, private operators, the populations involved and researchers work together to overcome the challenges of responsible mining, in the face of ever-increasing local and international pressure to extract minerals that are having an ever-greater impact on society, in a context of limited primary reserves (minerals, water, energy) and a commitment to sustainable development based on solidarity?

Speakers:

  • Dr. Diaka SIDIBEDiaka SIDIBE, Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, Guinea.
  • Patrice EBAH, Lawyer, AMR2D Network Coordinator, INPHB, Côte d'Ivoire.
  • Fabrice COLIN, Research Director, associated with Mohamed V University in Rabat, Morocco, Scientific Referent for the AMR2D Network.

As part of the ACE Partner project, IRD, AFD, the World Bank, INRIA and the Association of African Universities are working to improve knowledge of national and regional mechanisms for academic excellence in West Africa. With this in mind, IRD is proposing to set up a student observatory, the aim of which is to collect data and testimonials on the major challenges facing higher education and research in West and Central Africa.

With this in mind, the ACE Partner project is proposing a survey on entrepreneurship and student mobility at the African Centers of Excellence (CEA). The survey will be conducted by Ms Hyunjee Kim (hyunjee.kim@etu.u-paris.fr), a student at the University of Paris.

She is currently preparing her Master's thesis as part of an internship at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement. The aim of this study will be to understand the entrepreneurial and mobility aspirations of CEA students.

All the data collected will be used in the scientific research program, with strict respect for anonymity and the protection of personal data. The questionnaire comprises 5 groups of questions and takes around 15 minutes to complete. If you're interested, we'd be delighted to let you know the results of the study once it's completed.

Thank you for your time!

This questionnaire is anonymous.

The record of your answers to this questionnaire does not contain any information that could identify you, unless you are explicitly asked to do so in one of the questions.

If you have used a code to access this questionnaire, please be assured that no information concerning this code can be recorded with your answers. It is managed on a separate basis where it will only be indicated that you have (or have not) completed this questionnaire. There is no way to match your code to your answers on this questionnaire.

Link to survey: https: //enquetes.ird.fr/index.php/942378?lang=fr