About the Research Centre
Overview
AIMS Rwanda holds a Research Centre with Chairs focusing on areas including Data Science, discrete mathematics and probability, and optimization on water system network. The research centre is well-positioned to lead Africa into the 4th industrial revolution.
It shares facilities with Quantum Leap Africa (QLA) which seeks to prepare Africa for the quantum revolution. QLA attracts students and researchers in the quantum science domain from all over the world and has recruited a Research Chair in Data Science and its applications.
Research at AIMS Rwanda also focuses on fields like climate modelling, plant-interactions, human disease modelling, computational immunology, quantum physics/science, applied mathematics, and Bayesian methodology. Research team members comprise of postdoctoral fellows, visiting researchers, MSc, PhD students and interns.
The centre is ideally positioned to respond to current and emerging trends/challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and food security. Recently, a COVID-19 pool testing method was developed and has been successfully used by Rwanda and beyond, to track people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as well as to identify possible asymptomatic people within communities. This algorithm was developed by the AIMS Research team, under the leadership of Prof Wilfred Ndifon, the AIMS Chief Scientific Officer, in partnership with the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC).
Research Chairs
The AIMS Rwanda Research Centre is equipped to lead cutting-edge research and host regular research conferences, workshops and initiatives, under the leadership of the Lead Scientists and Research Chairs.
Research Fellows
AIMS Rwanda currently hosts two Resident Researchers and seven Post-doctoral Researchers.
Research Conferences and Workshops
The AIMS Rwanda Research Centre regularly hosts conferences, research schools and workshops to foster collaborations with local and international research institutions and exchange opportunities for exchange between senior and junior researchers.
Publications
The Research Centre, through local and international collaborations, has published 850+ articles in internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals, the most recent being “A pooled testing strategy for identifying SARS-CoV-2 at low prevalence” published in Nature Magazine. The article was co-senior authored by AIMS Chief Scientific Officer, Prof Wilfred Ndifon and AIMS Founder and Board Chair, Prof Neil Turok.