Teaching and research in natural sciences For development in africa

TREND in

Africa

TReND is a charity supporting scientific capacity building across Africa. We run cutting edge biomedical training courses, provide universities with scientific equipment, run academic volunteering and outreach schemes, and support and work with African researchers.
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What we do

We are passionate about supporting African biomedical researchers. We work with students and universities across the African continent.

Cutting edge training

We deliver postgraduate level training courses in the emerging areas of genetics, neuroscience, bioinformatics and scientific communication.

Volunteering

We arrange placements for academic researchers to spend a period of time working at one of our partner African universities.

Equipment donations

We collect working second-hand scientific equipment from universities and industrial partners worldwide, and ship it to African partner universities.

Open technology

All our courses leverage cutting edge open technology. We use 3D printing, making equipment and open source software to enable scientific research.

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.

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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.”

Elizabeth Bandason

Lilongwe University, Malawi

“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.“

Ibukun Akinrinade

Bingham University, Nigeria

“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.”

Elvis Ngala

Kampala International University, Uganda

“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.”

Priscilla Akyaw

University of Ghana

Our Latest Work

To find out more about how we support scientific research in Africa, check out the links to our latest work below.

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Thanks to our supporters

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TReND in Africa

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