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The official - almost - bimonthly science and technology electronic newsletter of the French Embassy of Pretoria
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SciTech WatchThe official almost bi-monthly electronic newsletter of the French Embassy in South Africa
No. 7/2011
On the cover :millipede
close up of a millipede in the rainforest in madagascar
Photo courtesy of Rodolphe Tootshttp://www.sxc.hu/photo/1142265
In this issue …
BREAKING NEWS
* Insignia of the Knight of the French National Order of Merit bestowed on Dr Robert Adam
* Building on success : UP and CIRAD strengthen their partnership
* CPUT unveils South Africa’s first CubeSat
* The Lubombo Project - UP and CIRAD in partnership to strengthen local economies
* The Changing Face of Innovation : 2011 World Intellectual Property Report
RESEARCH AND STUIES IN FRANCE @ http://www.ambafrance-rsa.org/
* CampusFrance releases key figures concerning international student mobility
* French Embassy 2011 Call for PhD Bursary Applications
* Essca Scholarships for Master in International Business and Master in Corporate Finance
NEWS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN FRANCE
* Nobel Prize for Medicine to Jules Hoffmann, a 'Gentleman of Science'
* A Paleoanthropologist in the Business World: Odd, isn't it ?
* Megha-Tropiques - A Space Mission to Study the Cater Cycle in the Tropics
* Clinical Trials of an Intelligent Wheelchair
* French Weapons Procurement Agency (DGA) Presents HERCULE, A Collaborative Robot
Prototype
* New Results on the Earth's Electromagnetic Variations
* Construction of Spiral2 Linear Accelerator Underway
* ENSTA Launches an Erasmus Program in Hydrography and Oceanography
Breaking News
Building on success : UP and CIRAD strengthen their partnershiphttp://www.ambafrance-rsa.org/spip.php?article1067
Pretoria, 23 November 2011 – On Monday, 21 November 2011, representatives from the University of Pretoria and French research institute CIRAD (International Centre of Agricultural Research for Development) gathered at the French Embassy to sign a second renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two institutions, which will reinforce and intensify their partnership.
HE Mr Jacques Lapouge, Ambassador of France to to South Africa presided over the signature ceremony, joined by Mr Guy de la Chevalerie, Counsellor for Cooperation and Mr Pierre Lemonde, Attaché for Science and Technology. The agreement was signed by Prof Anton Ströh, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Pretoria and Dr Pierre Fabre, CIRAD Board of Directors.
Read more >>
CPUT unveils South Africa’s first CubeSathttp://info.cput.ac.za/News/news.php?aid=1032
CPUT has made its mark on the global space arena with the unveiling of South Africa’s first CubeSat. The CubeSate, ZACUBE01, which measures 30x10x10 cm and weighs approximately three kilograms, was unveiled on Friday at the French South African Institute of Technology (F’SATI), a specialised unit at CPUT’s Bellville campus.
The CubeSat was developed by 50 students
F'SATI's Satellite Engineering Programme and staff members. This postgraduate programme, which is backed by the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation, aims at developing the human potential and intellectual capacity needed to grow South Africa's space industry.
Read more >>
The Lubombo Project - UP and CIRAD in partnership to strengthen local economies http://www.up.ac.za/centre-environmental-studies/research.php
The Mathenjwa Community, to the North of the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa, has lived in isolation from mainstream economy for quite some time. Local economies in the Usuthu Gorge area and surrounding land are mostly dependent on small scale subsistence farming and are highly dependent on natural resources for day to day survival.
Agro-ecological conditions, characterized by a drought-prone climate and poor soils, make farming difficult and highly susceptible to climate change effects. Low literacy and poor access to markets and infrastructure generate abject poverty. Consequently, a significant part of the population experiences chronic food shortage.
Read more >>
Breaking News
Insignia of the Knight of the French National Order of Merit bestowed on Dr Robert Adam http://www.ambafrance-rsa.org/spip.php?article1038
On Thursday, 6 October 2011, Ambassador Lapouge welcomed assorted guests to the Residence of France in Pretoria in order to bestow the insignia of the Knight of the French National Order of Merit on Dr Robert Adam, CEO of NECSA.
Dr Adam had spent time in France during his youth and shared some of his experiences with the guests, including the joy of French food for a boy raised on Braai Vleis !
The Ambassador stated that whilst much of the detail of scientific work can be hard for non-scientists to grasp, Dr Adam’s diligence and the strength of moral conviction are recognisable across academic boundaries.
Dr Adam is recognised by the French Republic for his contribution to the establishment of fruitful international partnerships, particularly with
French actors in the field. The Embassy is proud to have been able to bestow the Order of Merit on Dr Adam and will continue to follow his work and influence closely. Read more >>
Just released
The Changing Face of Innovation : 2011 World Intellectual Property ReportWorld Intellectual Property Organisation
Innovation is a central driver of economic growth, development and better jobs. It is the key that enables firms to compete in the global marketplace, and the process by which solutions are found to social and economic challenges.
The face of innovation has evolved significantly over the last decades. Understanding these innovation trends and the associated role of IP is important in order for public policy to support new growth opportunities. The essential questions to ask are whether the design of the current IP system is fit for this new innovation landscape, and how best to cope with the growing demand to protect and trade ideas. To move beyond polarized debates on IP, more fact-based economic analysis is needed.
In addition, it is crucial to translate economic research in the field of IP into accessible policy analysis and messages.
This Report seeks to make an analytical contribution in this respect. It does so in two ways. First, it sheds light on global innovation trends – especially those concerning IP – and assesses the ways in which innovation has really changed. Second, it reviews the available evidence on how IP protection affects innovative behaviour and what this evidence implies for the design of IP and innovation policies.
Research and Studies in France @ http://www.ambafrance-rsa.org
CampusFrance releases key figures concerning international student mobilityhttp://www.ambafrance-rsa.org/spip.php?article1065
CampusFrance has released key figures regarding international student mobility for 2011. This report concentrates on local, global and regional figures related to students coming to France to study and those
leaving France to study abroad. Drawing on this report, CampusFrance South Africa has published a fact sheet in English, concentrating on relevant figures from the African continent and, more specifically, South Africa.
French Embassy 2011 Call for PhD Bursary Applicationshttp://www.southafrica.campusfrance.org/page/french-embassy-south-africa-phd-bursaries
The French Embassy bursary programme is currently proposing grants to facilitate international academic and scientific mobility for South African researchers towards French institutions of higher education. The programme offers the opportunity for doctoral students to integrate establishments in France for specified periods of time in order to participate in a collaborative research project as part of their doctoral thesis programme.
For ApplicantsUseful links and downloadable documents
Download the official Call for Applications >>
Download the Bursary Application Form >>
SPOTLIGHT Essca Business School
Scholarships for Master in International Business and Master in Corporate Financehttp://www.southafrica.campusfrance.org/page/masters-scholarships-prestigious-business-school-essca
ESSCA Graduate School of Management invites applications for scholarships in its 2-year English-taught or French-taught Grande Ecole" Master. The programme leads to a state-recognised master degree of a French "Grande Ecole" and offers a stimulating multicultural working environment.
The scholarship starts in September 2012 and covers the complete tuition fees for both academic years of the programme (= 15,000 EUR). (It does not cover living costs (= approx. 700 EUR/month) and admission registration fees (120 EUR). Read more >>
What is ESSCA ?
A "Grande Ecole" business school, ESSCA prepares its students to become managers in marketing, finance and management in an international environment. The School offers international programmes on four sites: Angers, Paris, Budapest and Shanghai, along with a network of 102 partner universities in 40 countries.
ESSCA’s activities include a vast range of master programmes, continuing education programmes, research and consulting. A variety of programmes that have been specifically designed for the corporate world focus on professional skills and are based on educational solutions that can be applied in the field.
News in Science and Technology in France
E-Tech France Number 262 – 10/11/2011
Special Report
Nobel Prize for Medicine to Jules Hoffmann, a 'Gentleman of Science'http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/68155.htm
This September 22, CNRS announced that it was awarding its Gold Medal, France's most prestigious scientific distinction, to Jules Hoffmann (the official ceremony will be held this December).
A scant fortnight later, the Nobel Committee announced the three laureates for the 2011 Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology, which included Jules Hoffmann. This is a first!
Although since 1945 when the
CNRS Gold Medal was created several laureates later received a Nobel in their field, Jules Hoffmann is the first scientist who received both the same year. Read more >>
Megha-Tropiques - A Space Mission to Study the Cater Cycle in the Tropicshttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/68157.htm
Supervised by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Indian PSLV successfully launched the French-Indian Megha-Tropiques satellite this October 12, from the Sriharikota base in India. Placed into an 865 km-orbit, at a 20° orbital
inclination, the satellite payload comprises the French instrument SAPHIR and SCARAB, the MADRAS instrument, the outcome of French-Indian cooperation, and the GPS Radio Occultation Sensor. the GPS Radio Occultation Sensor.
The instruments will be providing data on the cycle of atmospheric water and the energy exchanges in intertropical zones.
Read more >>
Clinical Trials of an Intelligent Wheelchairhttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/68158.htm
The French-British SYSIASS project (French acronym for Autonomous and Intelligent Healthcare System) backed by the INTERREG IV 1 Mers program, brings together academic and healthcare partners [1] from
both side of the Channel. For SYSIASS, a team of ISEN (Institut Supérieur de l'Electronique et du Numérique, Higher Institute of Electronics and Digital Technology and project sponsor) researchers
working with the medical team at CIC-IT, Garches Hospital near Paris has engineered a navigation assistance system for electric wheelchairs.
Read more >>
A Paleoanthropologist in the Business World: Odd, isn't it ?http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/68156.htm
Adapting and innovating for survival is the subtitle of Pascal Picq's thought-provoking book.
The renowned paleoanthropologist from the Collège de France is a specialist in the origins of the evolution of human life, and in the great apes.
"A paleoanthropologist in the business world may seem odd, or at least surprising," he admitted at the outset before adding with a touch of his typical humor, "The fossilization of the business world is not my object."
Read more >>
MORE iNFO
Editions Eyrolles
www.eyrolles.com
News in Science and Technology in FranceE-Tech France Number 262 – 10/11/2011
French Weapons Procurement Agency (DGA) Presents HERCULE, A Collaborative Robot Prototypehttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/68159.htm
At Millipol 2011, the World Exhibition on Homeland Security in Paris, the DGA (Direction Générale de l'Armement, French weapons procurement agency) exhibited four innovations at its booth, including one called HERCULE for the first time.
It is a 'cobot' (i.e. collaborative
robot) prototype, which is the outcome of a research program initiated by the DGA and contracted out to Rb3d, a small Auxerre based business. The cobot, a concentrate of innovations, helps soldiers, elite unit agents or rescuers carry and handle heavy loads.
Read more >>
New Results on the Earth's Electromagnetic Variationshttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/68160.htm
Eighty geophysicists and researchers from China, Colombia, Europe, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia and the United States working on seismology, tectonics, electromagnetic emissions and
ionospheric modeling have just attended the Second International Symposium on DEMETER, which was held at CNES head office in Paris. DEMETER (Detection of ElectroMagnetic Emissions
Transmitted from Earthquake Regions) is the first project in the Myriades microsatellite family engineered by CNES and dedicated to low-cost scientific missions.
Read more >>
Construction of Spiral2 Linear Accelerator Underwayhttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/68161.htm
The Spiral2 accelerator is the CEA and CNRS's national priority in nuclear physics, and the outcome of joint technical and scientific work between numerous French, European and international laboratories.
Spiral2 construction has just gotten underway at GANIL (CEA/CNRS) in Caen (Basse-Normandie). It has been designed to produce an abundance of what physicists call 'exotic nuclei", which do not exist in the natural state on Earth.
Read more >>
MORE iNFO
Marie Vandermersch
Phone: +33 (0)1 64 50 17 [email protected]
ENSTA Launches an Erasmus Program in Hydrography and Oceanographyhttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/68162.htm
ENSTA Bretagne has partnered with the University of Hamburg, Germany and the University of Gent, Belgium to set up an Intensive Erasmus Program in Hydrography and Oceanography.
The course will be held from October 29 to November 11 on the shores of Lake Vassivière (Creuse département). At the end of the course, students will have to hand in accurate mapping of the dammed
lake to EDF (French electric utilities) and the Vassivière Lake planning authority.
Read more >>
* CONTACT DETAILS *
For more information concerning Scientific Cooperation between France and South Africa, contact :
Mr. Pierre LEMONDE, Attaché for Science and Technology
Email : [email protected]
or
Ms Bianca NAUDE, Cooperation Department
Email : [email protected]
Tel : 012 425 1710 Fax : 012 425 1719
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