MASAMU

The mission of the Masamu Institute for Research, Training, and Advanced Studies (MIRTAS or simply the Masamu Institute) is to serve as a platform for the Masamu Program to elevate the human infrastructure and enhance research collaboration in the mathematical sciences and related areas within Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association (SAMSA) and US institutions and beyond.

A 10-day research-intensive Masamu Advanced Study Institute (MASI) is held in conjunction with the annual 4-day Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association (SAMSA) research conference each Fall. Other activities include Research Workshop, Career Development Workshop, High Performance Computing Workshop, STEM Education Workshop, Department Heads and Chairs and Senior Research Scientists Workshop, Colloquia, Kovalevskaia Research Grants, Faculty Exchange and Study Abroad Programs. The target audiences of the Masamu Advanced Study Institute are graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty (rank less than associate professor/senior lecturer) while the workshops are open to students, faculty, and other researchers in the mathematical sciences and related areas. MASI Convenings have been held in-person each year since 2011, except for 2020, 2021, and 2025 when they were held virtually.

In 2012, the Masamu Program with the support of the US National Science Foundation created the US-Africa Collaborative Research Network (CRN) that is housed in MASI and consists of over 100 research mathematicians and scientists from around the world grouped into research teams in pure and applied mathematics that work together throughout the year and attend annual MASI Convenings and SAMSA Conferences. The Masamu Program and MASI are managed by the Masamu Steering Committee consisting of representatives from Sub-Saharan Africa and US.

Masamu Program Outcomes

Participants have published research findings in journals such as Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine, Open Journal of Epidemiology, International Journal of Mathematics and Computational Methods in Science and Technology, and Journal of Biological Systems.

Participating students have completed dissertations and theses leading to PhD and MS degrees in mathematics and mathematical biology, and have received appointments to fellowship, postdoc, and faculty positions in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.

The US-Africa Collaborative Research Network (CRN) currently consists of 104 senior research mathematicians and scientists from around the world, 254% of initial number of 41 in 2012 and 26.8% more than 82 in 2019 (when the number had doubled), and we expect this number to continue to grow as a result of our continuing success, publicity, visibility, and recruiting efforts. Fifty-six of the researchers are from Sub-Saharan Africa, with 49 of them from the SAMSA region and 23 from South Africa; 40 are from North and South America, with 36 of them from US; 2 are from Asia; and the remaining 6 are from Europe. Participants hail from 64 colleges and universities (including 3 HBCUs as well as private and public liberal arts and research institutions) and research centers/ institutes/ national laboratories/organizations forming a total of 8 research groups: 3 in Pure Mathematics: (1) Algebra and Geometry, (2) Analysis and Topology, and (3) Discrete Mathematics (Graph Theory, Coding Theory, and Information Theory); and 5 in Applied Mathematics: (1) Biostatistics, (2) Health Economics, (3) Mathematical Biology (4) Mathematics of Finance, and (5) Numerical Analysis.

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent US federal agency created by Congress in 1950 “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…” In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing for America’s colleges and universities.