
Science and Development Network
News, views and information about science, technology and the developing world
Displaying 1-20 of 169 links
Less than one-tenth of all population-based research into dementia has been directed towards the two-thirds or more of all people with dementia who live in developing parts of the world — thus, the name "10/66".
Part of the Alzheimer's Disease International Network, 10/66 is a group of researchers who encourage active collaboration between research groups in different developing countries and between developed and developing countries. The research projects have included pilot studies to establish a method for diagnosing dementia in populations with very little formal education; qualitative studies to understand the experience of people with dementia and their carers; intervention studies that investigate whether local community health workers can contribute to care by identifying people who need help; and population-based studies to quantify prevalence and incidence in developing countries.
The 10/66 Group is part of Alzheimer's Disease International and is coordinated through Prof. Martin Prince from the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London.
The Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities provides rankings compiled each year from 2003 onwards. Universities are ranked using a combination of indicators of academic and research performance such as Nobel Prize winners, highly cited researchers and number of articles published in Nature and Science.
The authors explain how the data is compiled and present summary statistics by region and country, as well as a full list of the top 500 institutions worldwide.
Africa Harvest — founded by Kenyan scientist Florence Wambugu — supports policy development and scientific and institutional capacity building across East Africa and promotes the use of modern biotechnologies to help the region's farmers. The foundation's flagship project uses tissue culture technology to reproduce disease-free banana plants for distribution across East Africa.
It also runs a communication and advocacy programme to promote public acceptance of biotechnologies — especially genetic modification. The organisation publishes information about its tree-planting programme in Kenya and links to other African and international organisations working in biotechnology.
This site provides access to a suite of climate related observations, projections and predictions for the African continent. Of particular interest are the up-to-date seasonal predictions and the African monsoon bulletin. There is also a searchable archive of climate data and research activities detailed in French. ACMAD also offers 'on the job training' in climatology. The website is also available in French.
AMMANET promotes using genetic marker-assisted selection (MAS) technologies to accelerate African plant breeding efforts and deliver food security and economic growth. Over 100 African scientists established the network in 2003, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.
The network brings regional and international agricultural researchers together, publishing information about its activities and providing contact information of all its members. It also links to news, scientific articles and other useful resources on MAS.
The AMMA programme aims to study how the West African monsoon affects meningitis and malaria epidemics. While it focuses on one weather system, the climate factors it looks at can be generalised to other environments. For example, it examines how wind, dust, rainfall, temperature and humidity, amongst others, affect mosquito density and malaria or meningitis epidemics in people. The website also offers a key resource for researchers in the form of an open-access bibliographic database containing more than 250 scientific articles.
Launched in April 2003, this site outlines the Aga Khan University’s activities in medical and research ethics, and includes information about the research ethics committee, hospital ethics committee and bioethics group. Following receipt of a two-year developmental grant from the Fogarty International Centre / US National Institute of Health, the "Pakistan Bioethics Programme: Gateway to the Islamic World" is being developed. Plans are underway to offer a Masters in Bioethics, as well as certificate courses in research ethics, clinical ethics, bioethics education, and health equity, policy and ethics.
The Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS) plays an important role in reducing deforestation in the Amazon Region. FAS manages the Juma reserve, established by the Government of Amazonas in 2006, and runs the Bolsa Floresta programme that pays families and communities to contribute to sustainable forest management. The FAS website provides an introduction to the organisation, an overview of their programmes and links to relevant related documents.
TIMSS is an international study of science and mathematics achievement of schoolchildren carried out in four-year cycles. The purpose of the study is to help developing countries measure the science and maths scores of their students, compare these across participating countries and assess the impact of educational reforms. This achieved by putting in place and streamlining systems and processes to collect standardised academic achievement data. Sixty-one countries are participating in the 2007 study, including 15 Arab countries. The website hosts TIMSS-related documents for the Arab world including regional and country reports of the 2003 study.
ASB is a global partnership for research on tropical forest margins that operates as part of the Consultative Group for International Research in Agriculture (CGIAR). By including a broad range of stakeholders, ASB identifies and develops policies and practices that can achieve their vision of prosperous people and flourishing forests across the tropics. It publishes information on its work, policy briefs and working group reports.
The APMRN was established in 1995 as a research project of the Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme of UNESCO, with its secretariat located at the University of Wollongong, Australia. The APMRN is a collaborative organisation of researchers and scholars interested in all aspects of migration, who are organised through autonomous regional networks including Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The central focus of the project is the long-term role of migration and ethno-cultural diversity as factors in transforming the societies of the Asia-Pacific Region.