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Knight Science Journalism Program (KSJ) announces Fellowship for Advancing Science Journalism

The Knight Science Journalism Program (KSJ) has announced Fellowship for Advancing Science Journalism at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The fellowship aims to enrich the training of a journalist from Africa or the Middle East so they can contribute to a culture of high-quality science and health journalism in those regions, as well as raising awareness of regional advances in the rest of the world.
This new one-semester fellowship created in partnership with Springer Nature, publisher of Nature Middle East, which grew to be an important contributor to science reporting. It was inspired by the life and career of Egyptian science journalist Mohammed Yahia’s leadership from 2010-2023.
The fellow will join other KSJ fellows in a program of study at MIT and other Cambridge/Boston area universities and in the program’s seminars, training workshops and field trips throughout the semester.
To be eligible for the fellowship, applicants must:
Be journalists based in Africa and/or the Middle East with at least three years’ experience reporting on science, health or environmental issues in the region.
Be reporters, writers, editors, producers, illustrators, filmmakers, or photojournalists. This includes work for newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and digital media.
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Dr Tidiane Ouattara jpg

Ivorian space scientist to lead STI Division of the AU

Ivorian Dr Tidiane Ouattara is the new Head of the Science, Technology and Space Division at the African Union Commission’s Department of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation.
In this capacity, Dr Tidiane will lead efforts to formulate, harmonise, coordinate, and implement policies that will transform the continent into an innovation-led and knowledge-based economy.
The Division of Science, Technology and Space raises the awareness on the central role of science, technology and innovation (STI) in socio-economic development; promotes public understanding and participation, building human and institutional capacities for STI.
Dr Ouattara previously worked as a lecturer at his alma mater, Sherbrooke University, Canada, and then with the Canadian government in various space application and management roles covering earth observation, policy and research, strategy, and international relations. He joined the AU in 2016 where he served as the GMES & Africa Programme Coordinator, an AU-EU joint initiative funded by the European Commission.
Dr Tidiane Ouattara has a PhD and a master’s degree in Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) from Sherbrooke University, Quebec, Canada and a master’s degree in Physical Geography from Université de Cocody, Abidjan, Côte-d’Ivoire.