A University of Glasgow student is using her maths and computing skills to train young scientists in Africa.
Sofiat Olaosebikan has held several workshops in Rwanda and Nigeria to teach and empower young minds.
In her first two-week long workshop she trained over 100 undergraduate and postgraduate students in computing programming.
Her work is being supported by students and staff at the University of Glasgow.
Sofiat’s fellow PhD researchers and teaching assistants volunteered their own time and expertise to travel to Africa with her to work as tutors in the workshops.
Sofiat, a PhD Computing Science student at the College of Science and Engineering in Glasgow, said: “There are lots of problems in Africa that need to be solved.
"My goal is to raise an army of intellectuals that are going to contribute to the development of Africa.
'Frontiers of science'
“I want to empower young scientists in Africa with the skills to help them bridge the gap between their pre-existing knowledge and real-world scientific problems.
"I believe that this will help them grow to become innovate thinkers who will push Africa forward on the frontiers of science and technology.
“I am a good example of one such African scientist who was empowered by the opportunities I have been given.
"This initiative was born out of a strong desire to give back to the community by helping other young scientists in Africa and show them what is possible.”
Since 2018, Sofiat with the support of the University’s School of Computing Science, has delivered computer programming workshops in Nigeria and Rwanda through her PWSAfrica project – which stands for Programming Workshop for Scientists in Africa.
She added: “For my team and I, the experience and the impact we have been able to make was worth all the effort to set up this initiative.
"For some of those that we worked with, they saw where I am right now as something they couldn’t achieve.
'Ability'
“But me standing in front of them teaching them something that they aspire to know and the fact I was also in their shoes only a few years ago, they tell me felt like an inspiration to them.”
Professor Chris Johnson, Head of the School of Computing Science, said he is fully supportive of PWSAfrica and the work being carried out by his students and colleagues: “The University is not an inward-looking institution.
"It shouldn’t be just about the campus or the building you are based in.
"It should be about your ability to get out, to influence how people think and how people learn in different countries.”
Ifeoma Okoh took part in the Nigerian workshop in 2018, and this year returned to PSWAfrica as tutors in Rwanda.
Ifeoma said: “Sofiat has brought so much empowerment to us from the UK to Nigeria.
"We have so much potential in Nigeria but sometimes it is the opportunity to actually show that which is missing.”
Rachel Sandison, Vice-Principal, External Relations commented that: "We are incredibly proud of Sofiat’s achievements and ambitions, and are delighted that we can provide the supporting framework to make these dreams a reality.”
