Perimeter Institute and Canada partner on growing science and technology capacity globally

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, July 6, 2010 – During a special visit to Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI) tied to the centre's Global Outreach activities, the Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper announced new federal funding of $20 CDN million to speed the growth of science and technology capacity in Africa by developing the talent of its brightest young minds.

This high impact investment leverages Perimeter Institute's expertise to build upon the success of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Cape Town, South Africa. Canada's lead investment will help support the establishment of a network of five AIMS centres across Africa by 2015. Year over year, the centres will graduate African scientists with the skills needed to tackle development challenges and seize opportunities for innovation and growth. In the longer term, The AIMS Next Einstein Initiative seeks to create a network of 15 AIMS centres by 2020, graduating 750 scientists and technologists per annum.

Canada's Perimeter Institute is a unique public-private partnership institution that supports both world-class research at the frontiers of science, and outreach initiatives of international scope. PI's new Global Outreach program aims to promote emerging centres of excellence in math and science internationally, especially in the developing world. PI does not fund other organizations, but assists them by sharing best practices in developing, establishing and operating centres of excellence. In doing so, PI is pleased to work with the Canadian government and its agencies to ensure that Canada is best able to leverage its expertise as a knowledge nation, in the pursuit of its international development goals.

In a special announcement involving Dr. Stephen Hawking, PI Distinguished Research Chair as well as patron of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, the Prime Minister of Canada announced the new federal funding as a central element of a partnership between Universities, the private sector and African governments focused on establishing the AIMS network, including new centres in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Senegal. Prime Minister Stephen Harper commended AIMS' revolutionary approach and said, "History shows that our world becomes safer, healthier and more stable through advances made in science and technology. Humanity's ascent from ignorance and barbarism to enlightenment and equality has been a fitful and uneven process. If there is, however, a universal constant in human affairs, it is that the expansion of knowledge and technology has continuously made life better for more people. That's why our government is supporting scientific and technological research, as well as development at home and abroad."

PI Director Dr. Neil Turok, who is also the founder of AIMS, thanked the Prime Minister and the Government of Canada for accelerating the growth of scientific centres of excellence in Africa. He said, "We are honoured today to be working with the government of Canada in support of its efforts to build a better, safer world in which health, freedom, peace and solvency – rights which characterise life in Canada - are shared by all. With today's announcement of major support for the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Canada is also pioneering the sharing of knowledge and expertise as a route to development. Just as ideas and innovation are the foundation of Canada's new economy, they will be the basis of Africa's future economic, educational, scientific and governance self-sufficiency."

Professor Hawking visited South Africa in May 2008 to help announce the Next Einstein Initiative that would see the growth of AIMS into a pan-African network of centres. Upon meeting Prime Minister Harper and learning of this new, federal support, Prof. Hawking said, "I was lucky to visit AIMS in South Africa, in 2008, to enjoy the remarkable atmosphere, filled with the students' enthusiasm for math, science and the future of Africa. Science is a powerful unifier of people from all countries and cultures. I believe that connecting Africans to each other and to the world through science is one of the best investments one can make in Africa's future."

In commenting on these announcements, Mike Lazaridis, Perimeter Institute's founder and Board Chair said, "I am very gratified that Perimeter Institute is not only advancing scientific research, training and outreach here in Canada, but is now viewed as a model of excellence throughout the world. We will do all we can to share our expertise with other centres and we welcome all partners who believe in our vision to harness the process and power of science for peace, progress and prosperity."

For more information about the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences and the Next Einstein Initiative, see www.aims.ac.za or and www.nexteinstein.org. For for more information about Perimeter Institute's Global Outreach activities, please contact Suzanne Corbeil, PI Director of Global Outreach at scorbeil@perimeterinstitute.ca

Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is an independent, non-profit, scientific research and educational outreach organization where international scientists cluster to push the limits of our understanding of physical laws and develop new ideas about the very essence of space, time, matter and information. The centre provides a multi-disciplinary environment to foster scientific collaboration in research areas of cosmology, particle physics, quantum foundations, quantum gravity, quantum information, superstring theory, and related disciplines. PI also provides a wide array of award-winning outreach programs for students, teachers and the general public across Canada in order to share the joy of research, discovery and innovation. In partnership with the Governments of Ontario and Canada, PI continues to be a successful example of private and public collaboration in science research and education. http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/