Songon, 03 August 2021 (AIP)-

About sixty young girls of the First C level from all regions of Côte d'Ivoire benefited from a discovery visit to the Swiss Center for Scientific Research (CSRS) located in Adiopodoumé, on the road to Dabou, as part of the camp of excellence initiated by the Pathfinder Foundation Côte d'Ivoire.

This immersion visit, which took place on Friday, July 30, 2021, aimed to motivate young girls to embrace a scientific career, in order to become leaders while making more efforts to eventually integrate this research center.                 

"Embracing a scientific career is not easy, but it is even more difficult for the young girl. To sell them a dream, we presented them with models of young girls who have succeeded or are succeeding in the scientific field and who are part of the CSRS team," said the Director General of the Center, Professor Inza Koné.

 The visitors were given a presentation of the CSRS and testimonies of female researchers who encouraged them to embrace female leadership and a scientific career without fear. They then discovered the CSRS laboratories, before seeing researchers at work.

The national representative of the Pathfinder Foundation, Mandjalé Touré, was delighted with the visit of the girls and hoped that it would have a positive impact on these budding scientists. She especially hopes that all the girls of Côte d'Ivoire will be scientists to be true leaders. The CSRS in Côte d'Ivoire is placed under the dual supervision of the two ministries in charge of scientific research in Côte d'Ivoire, co-signatories of a scientific cooperation agreement between the two countries. In Switzerland, the supervision is ensured by the ''Leading House'' designated by the Secretary of State for Research and Education (SER), in this case the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Basel whose director is Professor Juerg Utzinger. In Côte d'Ivoire, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is the supervisor.

(AIP)tg/cmas