14:48:39	 De  Stéphane Kenmoe : I can not see the slides
14:50:11	 De  Shaaban Khalil : @Malik, We hope so..This is what we expected from the AAS, as we all are members of the AAS and as I mentioned our strategy will be given to AfPS, AAS, and any other related African organizations. Hopefully, they use it as guide line for physics in African in the next decade.
14:50:16	 De  Farida Fassi : It is greatly appreciated Malik
14:51:14	 De  Simon Connell : Indeed .. please articulate the steps necessary
15:04:22	 De  Lawrence Norris : What is the distribution of the APN, i.e., to how many email addresses is it sent?  Do you have any statistics on the percent of the emails that are opened?
15:06:18	 De  Mourad Telmini : Thank you Jim for this nice presentation of APN
15:06:58	 De  Abebe Kebede : check out this Facebook group — https://www.facebook.com/groups/affricanphysicalsociety
15:09:30	 De  Abebe Kebede : checkout the Ethiopian physical society  for more networking  https://www.ethiopianphysicalsociety.org/
15:10:45	 De  Fairouz Malek : @Abebe Is this society member of the AfPS ?
15:12:24	 De  Sonia Haddad : How to advertise about APN,  many colleagues in Tunisia never hear about it. I am sure they have news to submit
15:13:54	 De  Ulrich Goerlach : This was a very inspiring meeting, I have to leave now, see you next time and thanks to the organisers !!
15:16:31	 De  Stéphane Kenmoe : Very nice talk Jim
15:17:02	 De  iPhone (2)Wague : The first editor in chief of APN was  from Tunisia and one of the editors presently is frombTunisia
15:18:10	 De  Abebe Kebede : checkout the African Physical Society on  linkedin  https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3792912/
15:18:24	 De  Mary Bishai : I am on the APS Division for Particle Physics executive committee and I didn't know about the newsletter till recently myself too! I think it is just that there is a lot of activities in APS.
15:22:41	 De  Ketevi Adikle Assamagan : https://engage.aps.org/fip/resources/activities/physics-matters
15:22:52	 De  Mary Bishai : Folks … we are here to address the communication issues, so lets focus on fixing the problem and lets move forward.
15:23:16	 De  Abebe Kebede : these are very good and useful projects,
15:23:51	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : Agreed with Ahmadou. A lesson for ASFAP - those who attended  this Town Hall should not keep the information to themselves.
15:25:07	 De  Christine Darve : Please join us for an AfterWork Physics Symphony: “The Music of Physics” by Eilam Gross, https://engage.aps.org/fip/resources/activities/physics-matters
15:25:45	 De  Farida Fassi : Thanks Christine
15:29:55	 De  iPhone (2)Wague : Nice talk Mourad
15:30:19	 De  Fairouz Malek : @Mourad very nice short review
15:30:29	 De  Abebe Kebede : Super talk
15:31:51	 De  Boubakar Barry : Research infrastructure in Africa is _very_ poor, especially for science. But scientists (physicists here) have to be commended to do their best in this environment.
15:32:42	 De  Mounia Laassiri : Thank you dear @Christine; i will join you.
15:33:29	 De  Boubakar Barry : I recall the time when colleagues were doing experiments, collecting data and carrying hard disks to Europe/US for processing (once a year or every other year).
15:33:31	 De  Malik Maaza : Thank you Mourad for this comprehensive summary indeed.
15:33:42	 De  Mourad Telmini : Thank you dear colleagues :)
15:34:05	 De  Farida Fassi : Very nice talk Mourad. Thanks
15:35:32	 De  Boubakar Barry : We have now a network infrastructure that can carry data anywhere in the world in minutes. We can only encourage universities and research institutions to join research and education networks in order to improve quality of research and education in Africa.
15:35:55	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : Quantum Computing is a low hanging fruit for  potential funding in the continent.
15:41:38	 De  Boubakar Barry : Yousef has provided contacts on how reach out to your NRENs through ASREN, UbuntuNet Alliance and WACREN).
15:43:11	 De  Yousef Torman : For connection, contact the following:UbuntuNet: Matthews Mtumbuka, ceo@ubuntunet.net WACREN: Boubakar Barry, ceo@wacren.net ASREN: Yousef Torman, torman@asren.org	 
15:44:33	 De  JimG : Thanks for your interest and feedback.
15:48:13	 De  Yousef Torman : Thank you Farida. we need to start discussing collaboration soon. I will send you a separate email on this
15:48:54	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : @ Abebe, Agreed - a fundamental strong structure will be required to see the ASFAP realised.
15:57:30	 De  Marina Romani Shalabi Genidi : I hope if we can talk about difficulties that face African students to travel for completing their   study  and how can we overcome this point, if there any recombination or advice .
16:00:50	 De  Fairouz Malek : @Marina: what do you mean by completing their studies
16:01:25	 De  Marina Romani Shalabi Genidi : I mean complete master abroad
16:01:34	 De  Mourad Telmini : Dear colleagues, I have to leave now. It was a great event and I have learnt a lot. Keep in touch !
16:01:43	 De  Abebe Kebede : This discussion about Network is  a structure and political issue.  That is why you need strong national organizations that advocate for it.
16:02:06	 De  Abebe Kebede : Learn how American education enterprise works.
16:06:59	 De  Abebe Kebede : Why not strengthen the African Journal of Physics managed by Africans !!
16:08:51	 De  Abebe Kebede : https://www.facebook.com/groups/111710828855170
16:10:20	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : Any project should be sustainable. One should build a sustainability model for the project. A project such a an African Journal will require a sustainability model as well.
16:12:31	 De  Stephen Avery : There is a African Journal for Medical Physics https://globalmedicalphysics.org/
16:12:41	 De  Abebe Kebede : Remember how Chinese journal of physics became a great journal.
16:13:32	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : Remind us @Abebe about Chinese journal
16:15:08	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : Thanks @Mary -
16:15:32	 De  Boubakar Barry : Opening internationally is key for credibility. What is important is who is in the editorial committee (scientific credentials). And let us not also forget: we have the African Diaspora scattered all over the world, bearing other nationalities than those of their original countries.
16:15:35	 De  Abebe Kebede : @Azwin  in the 80’s no one was reading it.  But  the chinese grad students and their professors began publishing on it.  Specially after high TC was discovered. After that it was explosion
16:16:28	 De  Sonia Haddad : African Union should support the journal
16:16:50	 De  Fairouz Malek : @Malik what about AAS support?
16:16:58	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : Thanks @Abebe - Africa has a lot to offer and currently we do this via external journals.
16:17:17	 De  Abebe Kebede : Africa is as good as Europe., even better
16:17:30	 De  ACHUKA JUSTINA ADA : My institution too does not accept journal not indexed in Scopus of Thomson Reuters
16:18:02	 De  Sonia Haddad : Yes, it is easier to improve existing journal with Special issues
16:19:55	 De  ACHUKA JUSTINA ADA : I mean "Scopus or Thomson Reuters"
16:20:41	 De  Sonia Haddad : Need to recuit editors not volunteers
16:21:22	 De  Boubakar Barry : Volunteering is not the way to go.
16:21:27	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : WG on Engagement should be tasked to come up with strategy/recommendations - ask for LoIs on publications?
16:21:30	 De  Mary Bishai : I agree with Shaaban - there are too many open access journals. I note that the APS series of journals which are the Physical Review journals are run both by well paid professionals as well as the editors who come from the scientific community.
16:21:40	 De  Abebe Kebede : African Physical society must become a chartered organization- Once it is chartered  it get funding through AU
16:22:59	 De  Sonia Haddad : APS, EPS are always recruiting editors
16:23:40	 De  Mary Bishai : One thing we should also do is to reach out to the editors of the major international journals to introduce them to the scientific community  and effort in Africa.
16:24:43	 De  Boubakar Barry : @Abebe: for funding, not sure we should rely on AU that is mostly funded by the EU.
16:26:20	 De  Abebe Kebede : @Boubakar  you are right. It is a starting point.  Once we have the structure in place, there are membership fees from member country societies.   If you get $500 per country,  you have the money.  and then you use advertising etc.
16:27:54	 De  Yousef Torman : I'm sorry. I have to leave. I will get in touch with Farida and Claire. Thank you for listening and discussing
16:28:59	 De  Farida Fassi : Thanks a lot Yousef. We will get back to you
16:29:15	 De  Boubakar Barry : @Abebe: yes, I believe more in the option you have proposed. At WACREN, we have a 3,000USD yearly membership fee. It doesn’t cover our expenses, but provide services from which we collect fees. Others can be explored.
16:29:56	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : We should not start projects without sustainability model including risk mitigations.
16:31:58	 De  Lawrence Norris : I don't think the African Union even has any funding to give.  However, ironically, perhaps perversely, there might be an informal mechanism to access funds that it does not expend from its budget.
16:32:33	 De  Boubakar Barry : Sorry: I meant that we can also explore other funding options.
16:32:53	 De  Abebe Kebede : YES !!
16:34:21	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : Is Africa excluded to host the conferences?
16:34:30	 De  Pete Jones : https://tlabs.ac.za/worlds-largest-nuclear-physics-conference-is-coming-to-cape-town/
16:34:32	 De  Mary Bishai : International conferences in the major conference series arranged in Africa rarely include African researchers.
16:35:40	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : @Farida - we should understand what criteria they use to choose a host.
16:36:46	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : Do we have stats/data on what we are talking about?
16:39:27	 De  Abebe Kebede : I am familiar with the e-learning conference  they are relatively large.
16:39:41	 De  Herman White : In Hep there are international conferences that are agreed to be in particular regions of the world, such as the HEP conference in asia, americas, europe, in successive biannually schedule. the Lepton Photon conference also in those regions every other year. It might be a good idea to campaign to expand this schedule to Africa every four years. This give a good amount of time to prepare.
16:40:06	 De  Shimaa AbuZeid : Even Egypt has been chosen to host CMS week 2020 (postponed due to cover). However I think one of the main reasons not to choose African countries to host international events is the lake of infrastructure needed for big events for example internet
16:40:12	 De  Zeblon Z. Vilakazi : Sounds like a good idea Herman
16:41:04	 De  Shimaa AbuZeid : I totally agree with @Fairouz
16:41:32	 De  Boubakar Barry : Just to add to my comment: at WACREN, we have started organizing our 2022 annual conference in March 2022 a couple of months ago. It’s a lot of organization and logistics (including negotiation with the host country, potential sponsors, etc.)
16:41:46	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : @Herman - we have started to do this - TIPP2023 is coming to Africa.
16:42:36	 De  Abebe Kebede : what is TIPP2023 ?
16:43:09	 De  Claire Lee : So this is why I encourage the universities and labs as venues - with the SANReN network the tech facilities should be good enough. Of course, the venue may not be sufficient for 1000 people
16:43:51	 De  Abebe Kebede : we use zoom
16:44:09	 De  Claire Lee : On the travel costs: I was attending the Sustainable HEP workshop a couple of weeks ago, and one African-based speaker mentioned it cost them less (travel-wise) to send their students to a conference in the UK than to fly within Africa
16:44:44	 De  Jesutofunmi Fajemisin : Security issues too - Kidnapping and Terrorist attack is on the rise in Nigeria
16:45:34	 De  Sonia Haddad : it was also the case in Tunisia years after the uprising
16:46:04	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : @Abebe  TIPP - International Conference on Technology and Instrumentation
16:47:30	 De  Boubakar Barry : It was a pleasure interacting with all of you. Sorry, but I have to leave now because of another meeting in 10 min.
16:48:10	 De  Mary Bishai : Folks the discussion is going nowhere.. what is the goal - what is the problem to be addressed with this discussion? 90% of solving a problem is identifying the problem.
16:48:26	 De  Claire Lee : I’m about to comment on that, Mary :-)
16:49:17	 De  Mary Bishai : The goal is not international conferences is it? The goal is to promote African science and scientists. Major international conferences are ways for countries to raise foreign currency not to advance African science.
16:49:48	 De  Mary Bishai : IMHO
16:50:00	 De  Abebe Kebede : I want to come to every conference in Africa.
16:51:33	 De  Marina Romani Shalabi Genidi : yes, I agree with Sonia
16:53:52	 De  Abebe Kebede : We need African Physics Teachers Association
16:54:08	 De  Abebe Kebede : People focus only on research.  We need to empower teachers
16:55:01	 De  Claire Lee : Thanks very much all for this very engaging discussion! I’m afraid I have to go to another meeting now. Best wishes for the rest of the discussion, and looking forward to a sucessful strategy process!
16:55:45	 De  Marie Chantal (Rwanda) : sorry I did not been active today
16:56:26	 De  Lawrence Norris : Making an African Association of Physics Teachers is on the strategic agenda of the African Physical Society https://www.africanphysicalsociety.org/
16:57:27	 De  Herman White : Thanks for a good meeting, and best wishes. Herman
16:57:42	 De  Stephen Avery : The goal is to share information and collaborate. All meetings should have a virtual option so many people can attend. You can organize a meeting in Africa but there will be many people who cannot travel outside their country
16:57:54	 De  Lawrence Norris : The  African Physical Society https://www.africanphysicalsociety.org/  btw is chartered in Ghana. We are working on Rwanda and Senegal registrations as well.   It is possible, often necessary, for international NGOs to have multiple registrations.
17:03:22	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : Solicit LoIs on physics networking in Africa
17:06:19	 De  Abebe Kebede : We did several “Physics in Africa” sessions with APS.  We can do the same in any other conferences.  That way we can bring speakers to these conferences.  APS for example pays about $2000 for travel expense from travel from developing countries  Check Forum for international physics  FIP of APS.ORG
17:07:00	 De  Azwinndini Muronga : We need strategy!
17:11:09	 De  Abebe Kebede : Check Forum for International Physics- https://engage.aps.org/fip/home
17:11:34	 De  Abebe Kebede : Let’s make a linked group to bring all these information together.
17:11:43	 De  iPhone (2)Wague : Congratulations Malik
17:13:26	 De  Sonia Haddad : Exchange master/Ph.D programme should help in creating collaboration and networking.  When they are back to their countries, the Ph.D will keep in touch with their hosting institutes
17:14:02	 De  Sonia Haddad : Networking is related to Education too
17:19:46	 De  Stephen Avery : FIC has many such programs some are health related, develop instrumentation, etc. https://www.fic.nih.gov/Grants/search/Pages/search-grants.aspx
17:20:21	 De  Abebe Kebede : All these students are trained, they get PhDs , they are thousands of them. Where are they ? What changes did these efforts bring to the country of origin of these trainees ?
17:20:36	 De  Fairouz Malek : Why African doctoral programs should always rely on EU or ICTP funds? Isn't this bizarre ?
17:20:45	 De  Shimaa AbuZeid : I think Visa issue is not easy in every country
17:21:10	 De  Sonia Haddad : Visa is not easy to obtain, many African citizens need to travel to a neighboring country to find an Embassy of the destination country
17:21:15	 De  Fairouz Malek : Why aren't these agreement between african countries do not plan special grants, budget ,
17:21:20	 De  Abebe Kebede : How do you measure the success of a program ?.
17:21:58	 De  Conrad Bertrand Tabi : It is more difficult to get visa to african countries 
17:27:25	 De  Abebe Kebede : My conclusion of this meeting: We know the specific projects that we can do to improve the education enterprise in Africa.
17:28:01	 De  Mounia Laassiri : @Kétévi: The gather platform will remain open for ASFAP CTH participants to connect, share resources and continue these important conversations OR it will close after the end of event!
17:29:48	 De  Ketevi Adikle Assamagan : Yes, Mounia, that is correct. Gather is open until July 31.
17:30:45	 De  Abebe Kebede : use technology
17:34:31	 De  Marina Romani Shalabi Genidi : thanks
17:34:37	 De  Abebe Kebede : thanks
17:34:38	 De  Asmaa Aboulhorma : Thank you
17:34:52	 De  ACHUKA JUSTINA ADA : Thank you all
17:35:01	 De  Sonia Haddad : Big BRAVO, stay safe!