In 1985, 33 scientists met in Trieste, Italy, to establish the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) as an honorific institution. The AAS is a non-aligned, non-political, not-for-profit pan African organisation whose vision is to see transformed lives on the African continent through science. The AAS headquarters are based in Nairobi, Kenya.
The AAS recognises excellence through the election of AAS Fellows and Affiliates who are distinguished researchers who represent the continent’s talented and promising men and women from across the globe. Its 460 Fellows shape The AAS’s programmes, engage with governments to enable wise investment on the continent, serving as reviewers for AAS grant applications and mentor early career scientists.
The AAS has four platforms:
- AAS Open Research, which is the Academy's innovative, open access platform to enable AAS funded and affiliated researchers to publish immediately, without barriers and with the benefit of transparent review
- The Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA), which is the programmatic arm of the Academy, created in partnership with the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD Agency). AESA provides the funding and agenda setting to catalyse the development and implementation of STI programmes in Africa
- The Coalition for African Research and Innovation (CARI), which is a sustainability platform set up with The AAS and her partners to accelerate STI programmes in Africa
- The Global Grant Community whose core is an innovative and integrated tool—the Good Financial Grant Practice standard—to standardise, simplify and strengthen financial governance of grant funding worldwide.
