The impact of a social network of peers on academic achievement and dropout rates in minorities is a well- studied subject (1). While no formal study of this kind has been carried out in South Africa, generally, findings internationally agree that the less isolated minority students are, the more likely they are to succeed individually, and as a group (2). … Read More
We are pleased to announce that SPARCS X 2020 “Capturing science from the pathfinder survey data” will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, 8-11 September 2020. Registration will soon be open via: https://www.idia.ac.za/SPARCS2020/ SPARCS is the forum to maximize the scientific return from the SKA Pathfinder projects’ continuum surveys. The SKA PAthfinder Radio Continuum Survey (SPARCS) Working Group has the following goals: To coordinate developments of techniques, to avoid … Read More
This SEADS seminar was held at the South African Astronomical Observatory because access to the UWC campus was not possible. We are grateful to SAAO for hosting the seminar. It was therefore also streamed online with good participation in spite of the logistical challenges we faced. Dr. Ramanujam covered many topics in his presentation, giving an overview of popular science … Read More
IDIA is welcoming Prof. Jayanne English from the University of Manitoba as a visitor on the 1st week of November. Prof. English is behind some famous images from the Hubble Space Telescope and was a key person in setting up the Hubble Heritage Project. As part of the visit, she will give a special seminar and workshop on astronomical data … Read More
After last week’s participation at the DARA Big Data Africa School held in Cape Town where 27 students from 9 African countries worked on big data science projects using the IDIA research cloud, we are now also proud to support an additional skills development initiative, the DARA Big Data Hackathon at NUST in Windhoek. More information here, on GitHub. Our … Read More
Our next speaker in the Science Engagement And Development Seminar series is Dr. Niruj Mohan Ramanujam from the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory and the Public Outreach and Education Committee of the Astronomical Society of India. Abstract: Starting from the Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha in 1987, India has seen more than 3 decades of mass movements to promote science awareness and scientific … Read More
ADASS stands for Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems. It is an annual conference and a natural destination to present the diverse IDIA activities. This year, we are there with two oral contributions (talks) and two posters. Alexander Sivitilli, Angus Comrie, Lucia Marchetti and Tom Jarrett from the Visualization Lab are presenting a poster on Virtual Reality and Immersive Collaborative Environements. … Read More
On October 6 – 16 takes place the 2019 edition of the DARA Big Data Africa School. The Big Data Africa School aims to introduce fundamental data science tools and techniques to talented young science and engineering graduates across a range of disciplines. The aim is for students to develop skills and knowledge in working efficiently on extremely large datasets … Read More
IDIA is glad to welcome Ms. Natalie Zoghby who is currently studying for her Masters in Biomedical Engineering at the University of the Witswatersrand. In a special talk co-organised by IDIA and the UWC Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, we will how how Ms. Zoghby came to start her own business with her co-founders and how she is navigating the … Read More
“How can we realise a corporate world that tackles social challenges?” Asking this question motivated our speaker, Ms. Judi Sandrock to move from a purely corporate environment to social entrepreneurship and co-found XinaBox. She came and explained the XinaBox model for our third SEADS series seminar on Friday 20 September. She identified the need to diversify the economy in order … Read More
