the “Conférenciers sans frontières” project, hosted at CRI since 2018, received in December 2019 the exceptional grant awarded by the Botnar Foundation.
- History
the project“Speakers Without Borders” enables scientists to contribute to additional education by giving free lectures and awareness seminars for children and teenagers in low- and middle-income countries around the world. Since 2018, LeWiBo has been coordinating scientists traveling around the world to give seminars at local educational institutions. Over the past year, LeWiBo network scientists have visited many countries to give free lectures to high school and university students, focusing on several countries in Asia (Indonesia, India, Nepal), Africa (Senegal, Tanzania) and Europe, and collaborating with local educational associations in these countries.
“Speakers Without Borders” was launched in 2017 by four co-founders Liubov Tupikina (France, Russia), Mikhail Khotyakov (Germany), Athanasia Nikolau (Italy, Germany), Delphine-Clara Zemp (Germany, Indonesia, Greece).
Since 2018, “Lecturers without borders” has been hosted at CRI (France) and has since interacted with projects researchers and students.
- “Speakers without borders
“One of the main aims of our project is to facilitate exchanges between different educational associations. We are grateful for the interactions with incredible associations and scientists, and we insist that the main contribution comes from the scientists who give lectures in remote areas while traveling, as well as from the associations and educational institutions we connect
Photo credits (from left to right): ©Athanasia Nikolau, ©Benjamino Abis, ©Liubov Tupikina
- Grant information
The grant from the Botnar Foundation will be used to develop a solid digital framework to link schools and scientists around the world, and to ensure better coordination and organization of the conferences. As scientists regularly travel around the world to take part in academic conferences and for research purposes, the conferences will be free of charge for schools and will not incur any additional costs. Schools and young people from all over the world will benefit enormously, as they will have the opportunity to meet and interact with scientists, which will motivate them to continue their studies, and even inspire them to embark on a scientific career.
The Botnar Foundation is a philanthropic foundation based in Basel, Switzerland. It was established in 2003 by Marcela Botnar, wife of businessman and philanthropist Octav Botnar. It is one of the largest foundations in Switzerland. The foundation focuses on using the latest technologies to improve the health and well-being of children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries.
Photo credit: ©Thea Chrysostomou
