Teaching and research in natural sciences For development in africa
TREND in
Africa
What we do
We are passionate about supporting African biomedical researchers. We work with students and universities across the African continent.
Cutting edge training
Volunteering
Equipment donations
Open technology
Community outreach
Our community outreach programme is run entirely by African researchers and involves organising large community events to promote science in schools.
Science policy
We engage stakeholders in governments and funding bodies to push for better research support across the African continent.
our impact in numbers
Since its humble beginnings in 2011 TReND has run courses and outreach events with researchers and universities across the African continent. We have also collected and shipped equipment to boost the research capacity of our partner universities, and helped establish new research institutes.
course ALUMNI
Members of the Public Engaged
African partner universities
TONS of equipment shipped
Community Outreach Events
African countries
Our approach
Scientific development is pivotal for societies to innovate and solve their own problems for sustainable change. We are an international non-profit organisation devoted to promoting scientific research and education in Africa.
We believe in empowering and supporting African researchers and enabling scientific independence across the African continent. Our approach is African-led, and relies on a strong network of local partners for each project we deliver.
watch our tedx talk
One of our founders, Dr Tom Baden, talks about the origins and work of TReND.
From Our alumni
We are passionate about working with African researchers to help them fulfil their academic ambitions. Here is what our alumni say about us.
“TReND is one of the best things that ever happened to me in my career. Meeting with experts who were so generous with information and their skill is the most unselfish act I have ever witnessed in the field of science. This increased my confidence and curiosity to discover more. I finished the neuroscience summer school energized and knowing that I can do anything.”
“Working with TReND in Africa has been a life changing experience for me. Attending the intensive practical workshop empowered me with the resources necessary to obtain admittance into a prestigious scientific institute for a PhD study. Later, the support I’ve received as an alumna has given me the opportunity to develop creative ideas regarding research and the organization of scientific trainings. I am highly honored to be a part of TReND in Africa.“
“Building our own experimental equipment yielded a much deeper understanding of the principles underlying its design and a better awareness of its limits. It was a revolutionary opportunity for the entire science and biomedical science faculties of our university as the impact of the knowledge gained from this workshop is trickling down and achieving a wide impact.”
“The TReND Drosophila neuroscience course really helped in shaping my understanding of how human diseases are modelled in a cost effective way to learn about disease mechanisms and drug discovery. The course not only helped me get an A in my class, but also opened me up to neuroscience a field I had very little knowledge and awareness of. The experience I gathered has really contributed to my growth as a research scientist.”
Our Latest Work
To find out more about how we support scientific research in Africa, check out the links to our latest work below.
TReND in Nature News
Following our attendance at the GOSH2016 Open Hardware conference at CERN, Geneva last week we are pleased to see two of our Open Source lab equipment designs featured as the title image on Nature News’ conference Article. Link to Article here. Highlighted projects...
Establishing a new course in Science Communication
Last September, TReND welcomed 15 students to the first Scientific Writing and Communication Course. These scientists, selected from a very large number of applications came from six African countries including Malawi, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic...
Article about Bioinformatics course now online
We are delighted to see Jelena's report of our bioinformatics courses up on the Planet Earth Institute (PEI) website. The PEI part-funded our recent course at icipe, Nairobi, Kenya which had received over 400 applicants for only 40 spaces. See the full report...
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TReND in Africa
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