scitech watch #2/2012
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The official S&T electonic newsletter of the French Embassy in Pretoria.TRANSCRIPT
SciTech WatchThe official almost bi-monthly electronic newsletter of the French Embassy in South Africa
No. 2/2012
On the cover
signal flags on aircraft carrier
Photo courtesy of Thad Zajdowiczhttp://www.sxc.hu/photo/904044
In this issue …
PRESS RELEASE
* More than €10 Million envisioned for EUROPE-AFRICA Collaboration
BURSARIES & SCHOLARSHIPS Research and studies in France
* Bursaries for Masters Students 2012 – 2013 * 2012 SAFe Think Programme
NEWS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN FRANCE
* CEA-LETI Alliance Launches First Startup * For Sustainable Diets * Ecole Centrale of Beijing Awards its First Engineering Degrees * VAIMOS, the Smart Sailing Robot Sets a New Distance Record * MYRTE or How to Store Solar Energy as Hydrogen * Fractures in Brittle Materials Are Not as Fast as Expected ! * A Certain Kind of Memory in the Endocrine System * A Milk and Dairy Product Technical Institute in Franche-Comté
OUT AND ABOUT Events to diarise
* SIG La Lettre 2012 Encounters - The Event for Geomatics Professionals * Microwave & RF * 1st International Scientific Conference of the Centre for Teaching and
Learning Scholarship
Press Release
More than €10 Million envisioned for EUROPE-AFRICA Collaborationwww.erafrica.eu
The latest ERAfrica consortium meeting has recently been held in Alexandria, Egypt. The meeting attendees signalled their support for a number of research topics to be funded as part of an ERAFRICA joint call for proposals: Renewable Energy, Interfacing Challenges (i.e. research projects concentrating on a combination of two or more global challenges at the interface point between them), and Idea-
Driven Research (that is, new ideas in any discipline, particularly marked by innovative thinking).
PRETORIA, 24 JANUARY. The great library of Alexandria (Egypt) hosted the latest consortium meeting of the European Commission-sponsored ERAFRICA project, held on 18 and 19 January 2012 and attended also by a number of non-consortium members, from both Africa and Europe, interested in participating in the project’s eventual funding of joint research projects. In one of the venue’s so-called “floating rooms”, suspended high above the massive main repository and its endless shelves of books, long lines of computer terminals and library patrons coming and going in otherworldly silence, the meeting attendees signalled their support for each of the proposed research topics, selected two months before in Lisbon, eventually to be funded as part of an ERAFRICA joint call for proposals. To general satisfaction each topic attracted not only sufficient interest but also enough of a preliminary financial commitment (in excess of €2 million each) to justify its retention as subject for investment, the final list of themes to be funded consisting of: Renewable Energy, Interfacing Challenges (i.e. research projects concentrating on a combination of two or more global challenges at the interface point between them), and Idea-Driven Research (that is, new ideas in any discipline, particularly marked by innovative thinking). Given that the total amount already pledged comes to about €8 million, and that a number of consortium members and other interested parties have not yet signalled the exact scope of their anticipated investment, it is now all but certain that the eventual amount of funding to be allocated to joint projects under the banner of an ERAFRICA call for proposals will exceed €10 million.
Read more >>
For more information, please consult the ERAFRICA website at: www.erafrica.eu or contact ERAfrica on [email protected]
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BURSARIES & SCHOLARSHIPS Research and Studies in France
Bursaries for Masters Students 2012 – 2013
In order to deepen the knowledge pool and boost the increasing number of mutually beneficial research collaborations undertaken by their academic body, France and South Africa are committed to establishing fruitful partnerships between their universities while simultaneously building a vast network of academic and professional contacts. This partnership aims to facilitate scientific, as well as academic exchanges between French and South African higher education institutions, thereby increasing human capital in these countries.
“My learning experience in France went beyond the classroom and my
studies.” – Thembani, bursary recipient 2010
______________
Within this context of bilateral university cooperation, the Embassy of France launched its bursary programme in 2011. In addition to the aim of facilitating the international mobility of students, the programme has as objective to promote future Franco-South African research collaborations. The 2012/2013 French academic year is set to commence in September and, in time for this exciting event, the Embassy has just announced a call for bursary applications for this period. Under this call for applications, the French Embassy is currently inviting South African students wishing to continue their tertiary education at Masters level in France, to apply for its bursary programme.
Eligibility criteria
* Candidates must hold a Bachelor’s or an Honour’s degree, depending on the academic year that the candidate is enrolling for (Master 1 or Master 2). He / She must have entered into contact with the university or institute of choice prior to application.
* The duration of the grant is one year, once renewable should the student elect to continue with the Master 2 programme at the same institution, on the condition that the candidate successfully completes the first year of Master’s studies (M1).
* Preference will be given to students who wish to continue their studies in the fields of Natural Sciences and Engineering.
About the bursary
About the bursary Some facts and figures
The Masters bursary covers :− annual study fees− round-trip airfare− health insurance− a monthly stipend to towards living costs− Schengen visa fees
France is currently the 3rd most popular destination in the world for foreign students and the favourite non-anglophone destination.
With 135 South African students actively enrolled at French higher education institutions, France ranks as the 7th most popular destination for South African students seeking to study abroad.
Since its inception in 2011, altogether 10 South African students have had the opportunity to further their tertiary studies in France, funded entirely by the French government through the French Embassy’s bursary programme.
To request application forms or any additional information regarding the bursary programme
and studies in France, contact:
Ms Elzette MathysUniversity cooperation officerTel no : +27 (0) 12 425 1721E-mail : [email protected]
Applications deadline is 31 March 2012. Successful candidates will be notified in June.
Embassy of France 250 Melk Street, New Muckleneuk, Pretoria www.ambafrance-rsa.org
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BURSARIES & SCHOLARSHIPS Research and Studies in France
The SAFe Think programme was launched in 2010 with the view of strengthening the connections between South African academic institutes and Think Tanks and their French counterparts, specifically in the fields of Human and Social Sciences. By assisting research partners in establishing sustainable cooperation, the French government aims at facilitating the integration of South African research and policy-oriented institutions into French, European and francophone African scientific networks.
SAFe Think is both directed at South African students and researchers :
The graduate programme seeks to fund outstanding students wishing to undertake a Master’s degree at a French University. The programme further finances international collaborations of PhD candidates and researchers currently employed by one of our partner Think Tanks.
The bursaries cover tuition fees, living costs, a roundtrip airflight ticket, visa fees and full medical and social insurance.
IMPORTANT iNFO
**Application deadline**
18 March 2012
Downloads
SAFeThink brochure >>
2012 application forms for Masters and Research bursaries
Our Partners
The French government is pleased to launch the 2012’s edition of the SAFe Think Programme !Applications for these funding opportunities are made through our partner research and policy-oriented institutes. Selection is carried out by the French Embassy, together with the South African Think Tanks involved in the project.
Contacts
Ms Cyrielle MAINGRAUD
[email protected] /[email protected]
Follow SAFeThink on Facebook >>
News in Science and Technology in FranceE-Tech France Number 266
CEA-LETI Alliance Launches First Startuphttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69029.htm
From right to left: Caltech President Jean-Lou Chameau , CEA-LETI Director Laurent Malier, Professor Michael Roukes, Kavli Nanosciences Institute, Analytical Pixels
Technology (APIX) CEO Jean-Pierre BraunCrédits : CEA
Forged in June 2006, the adventure undertaken between Grenoble based CEA-LETI and the Kavli Nanoscience Institute of the California Institute of Technology, the famous Caltech in Pasadena, California, materialized in January the following year with the launch of the Alliance for Nanosystems VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration).
The purpose was to expedite the marketing of measurement systems based on nanometric components. Last December 6, some five years later, Analytical Pixels Technology (APIX), the first startup to emerge from the research of the Alliance, was officially created.
Read more >>
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For Sustainable Dietshttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69030.htm
In a situation of climate change where humanity is faced with a food & nutrition challenge, so-called 'sustainable' diets can obviously only be the outcome of sustainable agriculture. Although extensive research and thought
has been put into the latter over the past years, sustainable diets [1] albeit a major topic for the years to come, has not yet acquired the renown of its 'elder'. Clearly, the book published by Editions Quae called Pour une
alimentation durable (for sustainable diets) is timely, indeed. The work is the outcome of research called duALine (French acronym for diet sustainabil...
Read more >>
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Ecole Centrale of Beijing Awards its First Engineering Degreeshttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69031.htm
This January 7, the first official degree-awarding ceremony for the 75 engineers of the first Nicole Bru class at the Ecole Centrale of Beijing was held at the People's Palace in Beijing. French Minister of Transport Thierry Mariani and three Chinese ministers attended.
The graduate engineers, who had been recruited after the 2005 baccalaureate, were also awarded the Beihang Master diploma from the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Read more >>
Contact the University
Alexandrine Urbain
+33 (0)1 41 13 13 10
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VAIMOS, the Smart Sailing Robot Sets a New Distance Recordhttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69032.htm
Mid-January, VAIMOS (French acronym for autonomous sailing boat with embedded instrumentation for ocean surface measurements) completed a trip of one hundred and five kilometers or fifty-six point seven
nautical miles between Brest and Douarnenez. VAIMOS beat the earlier distance record (98km or 53 nautical miles) for a sailing robot that had been held by Breizh Spirit from the ENSTA Bretagne school of engineering
since September 2011. Designed in partnership with ENSTA Bretagne, IFREMER and LPO (Laboratory for Ocean Physics), a Joint Research Unit under the authority of CNRS, IFREMER, IRD…
Read more >>
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News in Science and Technology in FranceE-Tech France Number 266
MYRTE or How to Store Solar Energy as Hydrogenhttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69033.htm
This January 9, at the Centre de Recherches Scientifiques Georges Peri (Georges Peri Center for Scientific Research), University of Corsica, the MYRTE (French acronym for Renewable Hydrogen Mission for
Integration into the Electric Grid) latform was inaugurated. The outcome of a partnership between the University of Corsica, CEA (French Nuclear and Alternative Energies Commission) and Hélion,
the project will be running a full-size test of a one-of-a-kind facility that will be capturing solar power, storing it as hydrogen and re-injecting it into the power grid when needed. Read more >>
[ return to index ]Fractures in Brittle Materials Are Not as Fast as Expected !http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69034.htm
Microscope viewof a network of imprints left by nucleation, growth and microcrack coalescence during the rapide fracture of a Plexiglas sample. Image size: 2.5 x 3.5 mm. Right: digital reconstruction of the observed
networkCrédits : CEA-CNRS
Scientists have to know the propagation speed of a crack and understand its underlying factors to predict the breakage behavior of brittle materials such as glass that breaks through crack propagation. Until now, theoretical knowledge was based on maximum speed equal to the speed of surface acoustic waves in the material, called Rayleigh wave speed. However, CEA-IRAMIS (InstitutRayonnement Matière de Saclay, Saclay Matter Radiation Institute) researchers working with colleagues at two other laboratories, the Glass Surface…
Polarized light microscope view of a microcrack mark on a rapid breakage surface of a Plexiglas sample
Crédits : CEA-CNRS
Read more >>[ return to index ]
A Certain Kind of Memory in the Endocrine Systemhttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69035.htm
The plasticity of biological systems allows organisms to adjust their physiological dynamically in response to changing environmental conditions. The process is usually associated with the immune system
at the cellular level. At the level of tissues, several years ago, the process was linked to the brain, and has been at the center of advanced research in neurobiology. However, aside from the two systems that
that provide long-term information storage, until now, nothing indicated that other cells could work in the same manner. However, a team of INSERM and..
Read more >>[ return to index ]
A Milk and Dairy Product Technical Institute in Franche-Comtéhttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69036.htm
The missions of Actilait, the Technical Institute of Milk and Dairy Products, are to gain a clearer understanding of and to optimize farm, locally-made or industrial products from ruminant milk, control and enhance the products. The national organization,
which can be found in 10 French départements and which has extensive operations in Franche-Comté, actively participated in the birth of the Vitagora competitive cluster and its cheese sector. Since
committed to the development of several cluster accredited projects, such as FROMSANTE, COLZAUPROT, COAG and rece...
Read more >>
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OUT and ABOUT Events to diarise
SIG La Lettre 2012 Encounters - The Event for Geomatics Professionalshttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69037.htm
From April 3 to 5, the Ecole Nationale des Sciences Géographiques (ENSG) will be hosting the 2012 SIG La Lettre Encounters, organized by SIG la Lettre, the standard-setting monthly in the field, in Marne-la-Vallée. The yearly encounter of geomatics professionals will focus on 'Optimizing Geographic Data'.The union between geography and IT, i.e. geomatics, involves all the fields of land planning, in the broadest sense of the terms. Geomatics is now making its way into every field, either to define a territorial coherence scheme, choose the setup of a service center or store, understand the e...
Read more >>
[ return to index ]Microwave & RF
http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69038.htm
On April 3, 4 & 5, 2012, the First Microwave & RF, an event dedicated to the community of hyper frequencies, radio frequencies, wireless and optic fiber will be held in Paris. The program includes an exhibition of the latest innovations, 6 conference cycles focusing on technical and technological changes and on the unavoidable theme of Electromagnetic Compatibility… Read more >>
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OUT and ABOUT Events to diarise
1st International Scientific Conference of the Centre for Teaching and Learning Scholarship20th – 22nd November 2012, Southern Sun Cape Sun Cape Town, South Africa
“Nursing Scholarship Contributions to Meeting Health-related Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs)”
1st CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
The University of the Western Cape (UWC) invites abstracts for the 1st International Conference of the Centre for Teaching and Learning Scholarship to be held in Cape Town, South Africa. The conference theme “Nursing Scholarship Contributions to Meeting Health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)” offers nursing and midwifery scholars and practitioners an ideal opportunity to share research findings and best practices in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Abstracts that address any of the following sub-themes of the conference are invited:* Meeting the Challenge of the Millennium Development Goals in Nursing and Midwifery Education* Innovations in Nursing and Midwifery Practice, Research and Management* Best Practices in reducing maternal and child mortality rates in resource limited settings* Best Practices in combating HIV transmission and management of HIV related infections in resource
limited settings* Best Practices in combating TB and malaria in resource limited settings* Best Practices in partnerships for achieving Health-related MDGs* Best Practices in Nursing and Midwifery education and Training
Interested in submitting an abstract ? Technical specifications and information
Abstracts can be submitted on-line (www.uwc.ac.za/centals) or via e-mail ([email protected]) by no later than the 15th of June 2012.
Authors will be informed by the Scientific Committee whether their papers/posters have been accepted by no later than 15th July 2012.
Although every effort will be made to comply with presenters’ preferences, the final decision on whether a presentation should be given as an oral or a poster presentation will rest with the Scientific Committee.
Abstract Submission Instructions
* Abstracts must be limited to 300 words and must be in English.
* Information presented should not be published prior to the Conference.
* Abstracts are sought for oral presentations and poster presentations.
* Please indicate the most appropriate sub-theme in the Abstract Submission Form.
* Abstracts are evaluated on the substance and clarity of content and relevance to the conference sub-themes
Abstracts submission forms can be downloaded at www.uwc.ac.za/centals
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For more information on Scientific and University Cooperation between France and South Africa, kindly contact :
Dr Pierre Lemonde, Attaché for Science and Technology at the French Embassy in Pretoria 012 425 1713 [email protected]
or Ms Bianca Naudé, Assistant to the Department for Cooperation 012 425 1710 [email protected]
Stock images used in this newsletter courtesy of
All other photos are the property of the institutions or individuals mentioned below the image and are subject to copyright.