The first 10 PhD students selected in the 100 PhDs programme!

These first 10 talented students will benefit from a financial support, from the co-supervision of an EPFL professor, and from summer/winter schools organized at UM6P. The final objective of the programme is to create the proper conditions for them to produce outstanding PhD research. More generally, the programme will contribute to the emergence of a new generation of talented young researchers in Africa and to nurture excellence in the academic sector throughout the continent.

The 10 selected applicants are:

Maurane Gaelle Fokam Fokam, from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Polytechnique de Yaoundé in Cameroon. Gaelle will accomplish her PhD entitled “Caracterisation and study of the properties of a composite material reinforced by banana leaf fibers with natural resin”, under the supervision of Prof. Bienvenu Kenmeugne and the EPFL co-supervision of Prof. Véronique Michaud. She will also benefit from the scientific advice of the Prof. Jean-Philippe Ansermet.

Shimaa Heikal, from the American University in Cairo, Egypt. Shimaa will accomplish her PhD entitled “Piloting a research registry for dementia: The Egyptian Dementia Network (EDN) registry”, under the supervision ofProf. Mohamed Salama and the EPFL co-supervision of Prof. Hilal Lashuel.

Lou Tinan Ange-Laetitia Tra, from the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques (CSRS) in Côte d'Ivoire. Lou will accomplish her PhD entitled “Optimisation and management of sewage sludges in non-collective sanitation in lower incomes settings. The case of Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire”, under the supervision of Prof. Kouassi Dongo and the EPFL co-supervision of Dr. Jérôme Chenal.

Maurine Andanje, from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), in Kenya. Maurine will accomplish her PhD entitled “Bioplastic Development, Characterization and Optimization of 3D Printing Process Parameters”, under the supervision of Prof. Wamai Mwangi, and the EPFL co-supervision of Prof. Sandro Carrara.

Amal Machtalay, from the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco. Amal will accomplish her PhD entitled “From mean-field games to agent-based models (and back) through Markov Chain aggregation”, under the supervision of Prof. Ahmed Ratnani and the EPFL co-supervision of Prof. Daniel Kressner.

Joseph Jjagwe, from the Makerere University in Uganda. Joseph will accomplish his PhD entitled “Iron oxide based Nanocomposite bio-adsorbents for water treatment”, under the supervision of Prof. Peter Wilberforce Olupot, and the EPFL co-supervision of Prof. Sandro Carrara.

Issa Coulibaly, from the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco. Issa will accomplish his PhD entitled “Communication-efficient techniques for federated learning”, under the supervision of Prof. Hajar El Hammouti and the EPFL co-supervision of Prof. Anne-Marie Kermarrec.

Brandon Bisschoff, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Brandon will accomplish his PhD entitled “Constraining the intergalactic magnetic field with magnetohydrodynamic simulations”, under the supervision of Prof. Yin-Zhe Ma and the EPFL co-supervision of Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib.

Abderahmane Hamdouchi, from the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco. Abderahmane, will accomplish his PhD entitled “Analyze the behavior of plants in smart Agriculture using deep Learning and IOT” under the supervision of Prof. Leonardus Vergutz and the EPFL co-supervision of Prof. Josie Hughes.

Geoffrey Mwendwa, from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in South Africa. Geoffrey will accomplish his PhD entitled “Correlation of Ferroic Orders in Multiferroic Rare-earth Composite Thin Films”, under the supervision of Prof. Daniel Wamwangi and the EPFL co-supervision of Prof. Jan Hugo Dil.

The large number of applications received on the first selection phase (more than 850) demonstrated the significant interest in the 100 PhDs programme throughout Africa. Importantly, many excellent female candidates sent an application, which is reflected in the share of women represented amongst the selected applicants (50%). We are convinced that this trend will be similar for our next calls for proposals (the next one should be opened early 2023). We invite you to follow us on our social media to be kept informed.

There is a lot of excitement for the start of the research projects, and the EXAF teams at UM6P and at EPFL are looking forward to working together with these talented scientists.