Service and Maintenance
IFS initiatives and collaborations primarily target the research environments where there are IFS Grantees, but the effects reach far beyond the Grantees' laboratories. A case in point is the IFS Programme for Service and Maintenance of Scientific Equipment.
Since its start-up in the 1980ies, the Service and Maintenance Programme has resulted in a range of initiatives and activities on national, regional, and even on international level.
Researchers, technicians, institutional buyers, suppliers and policy makers have been brought together to exchange know-how on laboratory management and scientific equipment, and to discuss strategies for purchasing, repair services, provision of spare parts and consultations.
The first IFS training workshop on purchasing, service and maintenance of scientific equipment was held in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1989, and resulted in the establishment of the Network of Users of Scientific Equipment in Southern and Eastern Africa (NUSESA).
In Asia, IFS has supported the Network of Instrument Technical Personnel and User Scientists of Bangladesh (NITUB) and the Network of Instrument Technical Personnel and User Scientists of Nepal (NITUN) from their onset in the mid-1990ies.
Read more about NUSESA, NITUB and NITUN on the page "Networks":
NetworksThe Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation (SAREC) has co-funded several initiatives in Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Cameroon and Nigeria, which have led to a number of meetings and workshops under IFS auspices.
In Nicaragua, activities are centred at the Universidad Nacional Automa de Nicaragua in León (UNAN-León), and an affiliate is active at the Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Managua. Contact person is Dr Ernesto Medina, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Nicaragua, e-mail: emedina@unanleon.edu.ni
Workshop in Cameroon November 5-9, 2002
In November 2002, IFS and Buea University hosted an international workshop on the situation of the scientific equipment at research institutes and universities in Western Africa. This workshop brought together stakeholders at all levels of maintenance, purchase and decision making. Participants came from eight countries in the region; Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Togo and Senegal.
The workshop report covers many burning issues as experienced by Western African technicians, researchers and policymakers, with observations that are just as valid for other regions struggling with vulnerable research infrastructures. You may order it by contacting Cecilia Öman (see the "Contact us" page), or download it in PDF-format here:
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