US - Cameroon Advanced Study Institute: Hands on Research on Complex Systems, University of Buea, Cameroon, July 2010

马里兰大学的拉贾什·罗伊教授，以及西弗吉尼亚大学的肯尼斯·肖瓦尔特和德克萨斯大学的哈里·斯温尼？奥斯汀，将在复杂系统的实践研究方面建立一个高级研究所？智力优势：这十名教师将是来自美国的杰出科学家，他们使用桌面仪器进行过前沿研究，并与来自喀麦隆和其他非洲国家的合作伙伴一起在《自然》、《科学》和《物理评论快报》等期刊上发表了他们的研究结果。他们将得到10名美国高级研究生和博士后助理的帮助。ASI的独特重点将是使用廉价仪器进行的动手实验室实验，从而在理解复杂系统方面取得前沿科学进展。除了实验室课程，还将使用Scilab软件(类似于MatLab)进行相关的数学建模，该软件可免费下载。ASI的主要目标是与非洲国家开展科学研究合作。ASI的参与者将是来自非洲发展中国家的高级研究生和青年科学家和工程师(以及来自其他发展中国家的一些参与者)。美国教职员工将从与发展中国家科学家的长期接触中受益。ASI部分由设在意大利的里雅斯特的国际理论物理中心(ICTP)赞助；ICTP将为来自发展中国家的参与者提供旅费，并为学校的宣传和选择参与者提供行政支持。ASI将由喀麦隆高等教育部共同主办，将在Buea大学举行，该大学将为来自非洲和参与国的所有参与者提供实验室和演讲室，供实践研究课程以及住宿和餐饮。广泛影响：来自美国和发展中国家的参与者将密切合作，进行实验和开发数学模型。高级教员和他们的助理(他们的参与将通过这笔赠款的支持成为可能)将领导作为ASI核心的动手课程。这些互动自然会带来长期的合作和人员交流。初级教员(美国研究生和博士后)不仅将受益于与将成为发展中国家科技领袖的同行的互动，而且学校还将为初级教员提供一个独特的机会，让他们在独特的多元文化环境中磨练自己的教学和领导技能。资深教师将讲授实验和数值模拟方面的讲座和教程。桌面实验特别适合资源有限的发展中国家的科学研究。互动课程将为教师和参与者提供一次学习体验，因为我们所有人都在一起观察现象，探索概念，并提出值得进一步研究的问题。作为2008年1月在印度举行的复杂系统实践研究会议的负责人，我们的经验是，许多与会者报告说，他们的参与是一次改变人生的经历。基于我们在印度的经验，并回应那里参与者的建议和批评，我们预计喀麦隆的复杂系统ASI实践研究将对教师和学校参与者的科学生涯产生持久的影响。

Professor Rajarshi Roy of the University of Maryland, with Co-PIs Kenneth Showalter of the University of West Virginia and Harry Swinney of the University of Texas ? Austin, will conduct an Advanced Studies Institute on ?Hands-on Research in Complex Systems? at the University of Buea, Buea Cameroon, for two weeks in July-August 2010.Intellectual Merit: The ten faculty will be eminent scientists from the U.S. who have conducted frontier research using tabletop instrumentation and who have published their results in journals such as Nature, Science, and Physical Review Letters along with their partners from Cameroon and other African countries. They will be assisted by ten U.S. advanced graduate students and postdoctoral associates. The unique focus of the ASI will be on hands-on laboratory experiments using inexpensive instrumentation leading to frontier scientific advances in understanding complex systems. The laboratory sessions will be complemented by associated mathematical modeling using the software Scilab (which is similar to Matlab), which is available for download, free of charge. The primary goal of the ASI is to develop collaborations for scientific research with African nations. The ASI participants will be advanced graduate students and young scientists and engineers from developing countries in Africa (and a few participants from developing countries elsewhere). The U.S. faculty will benefit by making lasting contacts with scientists from developing countries. The ASI is sponsored partly by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy; ICTP will provide travel funding for participants from developing nations and administrative support for advertising the school and selecting the participants. The ASI will be co-sponsored by the Ministry of Higher Education of Cameroon, and will be held at the University of Buea which will provide laboratories and lecture rooms for Hands-On Research sessions as well as lodging and meals for all participants from Africa and participating countries.Broader Impact: Participants from the U.S. and developing countries will work closely together conducting experiments and developing mathematical models. The senior faculty and their assistants (whose participation will be made possible by the support of this grant) will lead the hands-on sessions that are the centerpiece of the ASI. These interactions will naturally lead to long term collaborations and exchanges of personnel. The junior faculty (U.S. graduate students and postdoctoral associates) will benefit not only from the interactions with peers who will become leaders in science and technology in developing nations, but also the school will provide the junior faculty with a unique opportunity to hone their own teaching and leadership skills in a unique multi-cultural environment. The senior faculty will present lectures and tutorials on the experiments and numerical modeling. Table-top experiments are particularly well suited for scientific research in developing countries where resources are limited. The interactive sessions will provide a learning experience for faculty as well as the participants, as we all work together to observe phenomena, explore concepts, and raise questions that warrant further study. Our experience as directors of a Hands-On Research on Complex Systems meeting, held in India in January 2008, was that many participants have reported that their participation was a life-changing experience. Building on our experience in India and responding to the suggestions and criticisms of the participants there, we expect that the Hands-On Research on Complex Systems ASI in Cameroon to have lasting impact on the scientific careers of the faculty as well as the school participants.