HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD: DROSOPHILA NEUROGENETICS, UGANDA.

Next time we meet, another year will have gone by. Racing developments in transportation and information technology are transforming our planet into one global community, able to convene and converse at whim’s fancy. But this globalization does not benefit everybody equally. Despite traditional geo-political barriers waning, in many poorer areas of the world access to higher education and information is still a scarce and valuable resource. But the developing world is rich in human capital, desperate to participate and contribute in the emergent global information society if properly supported.

Pivotal to long term success and stability in these societies is the presence of a group of highly trained local knowledge workers with a broad outlook. However, much Western aid targeted at the developing world aims to remedy the worst current symptoms, rather than establishing long term solutions. I therefore wish to amend a currently underrepresented approach in development aid: local empowerment. Specifically, I propose to provide top-level education to local elites in their home country with topic relevant to their individual situation. This in turn will enable them to carry forth their knowledge towards improving the individual situation of their local communities.

One key limiting factor in fostering higher education in the developing world is a local lack of highly trained personnel. To directly address this impasse, we organized and taught an intensive neuroscience course at Kampala International University, Uganda in Autumn 2011 (http://drosophila-uganda.blogspot.com/). With generous support from companies as well as non-profit organizations, we were able to provide up-to-date scientific equipment and knowledge to a selected group of students from Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Cameroon, Nigeria and Uganda. We highlighted how top-level scientific research can be performed locally with limited budget. Key are voluntary contributions, in particular by young university graduates. Privileged by their education received at the world’s top universities, many are driven to address some of the world’s greatest challenges. These individuals represent a vast teaching potential in all areas of higher education. Currently however, they lack accessible opportunities to realize this potential. Our project highlights what even a small group of dedicated individuals can achieve in less than one year, while otherwise in full time employment. What is needed now is a durable, global framework for these individuals to contribute towards higher education in the developing world. I therefore encourage governmental, corporate and private decision makers to consider investing into establishing a self-sustaining framework that would allow recent university graduates to volunteer towards international top level education. Already with minimal financial backing, the impact could be vast.