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Bridge over Troubled Waters
AN ACADEMIC LIFE STORY
can always be summarised in a brief, matter-of-fact statement
such as: “My university career spans a period of 22 years, from
lecturer at Njala University College, University of Sierra Leone
in 1980 to Associate Professor and Acting Dean of the Faculty of
Science and Agriculture, University of the Gambia in 2002."
But add words like civil
war, invasion of the university campus, narrow escape, and you
understand that there is much more to Felixtina Jonsyn Ellis’
modest career summary.
Based on her national
training as a biologist, Jonsyn Ellis took an early interest in
the often overlooked health problems caused by mycotoxins. Well
known by many of us as the “poisonous compounds" produced by
moulds, mycotoxins are found in a number of foods and food
ingredients if they have not been handled carefully in all links
of the food chain.
To understand these
complex linkages was, of course, very much a laboratory effort -
if one had a decent laboratory fitted for the purpose. This was
definitely not the case at the Njala University College back in
the 1980's, but – surprise, surprise - an active Head of
Department linked Jonsyn Ellis with IFS (International
Foundation for Science), which provided an initial grant of
10,000 USD in 1986 for Jonsyn Ellis’ research.
These most welcome funds
turned the laboratory rooms into a very popular working facility
that became the foundation for the Microbiology Unit in her
department of Biological Sciences. Not only her own department
benefited - students from Agriculture and Chemistry also took
advantage of the new equipment, making it possible for them to
undertake obligatory research work for their degree work.
Jonsyn Ellis herself
received another bonus from her IFS involvement. With badly
needed travel grants, she attended workshops and conferences and
met with a senior IFS Scientific Adviser who, as Jonsyn Ellis
puts it, "pioneered my doctoral work".
IFS added a second grant
in 1990, the same year that she was promoted to Senior Lecturer
at her university. Jonsyn Ellis published the results from her
research and was now counted as part of an elite group
regionally and internationally working on mycotoxins. She was
appointed to advisory positions in the US and by WHO, and
received a British Council Overseas Study Award.
Her speciality came to
good use both in the country and the region, because an
important problem was how to disseminate the findings on safe
treatment of foods to avoid the dangers of aflatoxins, by using
the mass media to reach ordinary citizens.
...worthy of
comment is the manner in which IFS has supported, encouraged and
sustained an interest in my career particularly through the
discouraging years of the rebel war.
FELlXTINA JONSYN
ELLlS, SIERRA LEONE
Disruption and a new start
In the middle of her
steadily advancing career, much bigger dangers came along during
the 1990's with the increasing troubles involving the rebel army
in Sierra Leone. An 'attempt to set up a WHO sub-regional
programme on mycotoxins - related to - Jonsyn Ellis' then
current interest in child diseases - came to nothing because of
the war. and one of her national programmes related to
agriculture was stopped for the same reason
In 1995 her campus was
invaded by the rebel forces, and she got away with only a few
personal belongings to Freetown. The rebels pulled out of the
university but came back five times, and by 1997 not even
Freetown was exactly free: the rebels invaded it and Jonsyn
Ellis, like so many others, fled to neighbouring Gambia.
Luckily she brought many
of her research findings with her and was able to publish in her
new surroundings - without an institutional affiliation, without
a research programme and with no job. And this is where IFS
played a large and important role. Perhaps not in total keeping
with its standard criteria, IFS continued to fund Jonsyn Ellis'
participation in international workshops and conferences,
keeping her scientific value on par, so to speak, during those
difficult years.
And the reward was her
appointment, in 2000, as an Associate Professor at the newly
established University of the Gambia, her new homeland, where
she is presently Chairperson of the Committee of Deans.
In development jargon
you can talk about many kinds of money, and quite often IFS
funds act as “seed money”, to set a career in motion. Professor
Jonsyn Ellis story certainly qualifies here. But there is also
talk of “bridging funds”, usually small sums invested by a
friendly and flexible donor, making sure that a project does not
vanish for bureaucratic reasons while waiting for the paperwork
for the next phase to be processed, let's call it “special
bridging funds” here. And then there is, of course, regular
venture capital, taking a risk against the odds, which also
applies here although the odds seemed pretty fair in this case.
Professor Jonsyn Ellis
no doubt has all these terms on her mind, and much more, when
she expresses her gratitude for the IFS “in-depth assistance” in
the development of her scientific career. And quite obviously
an investment in “a role model for young female African
scientists."
Brief Description of IFS
(taken from the IFS website, March 2005)
http://www.ifs.se/
http://www.ifs.se/About/brief_description.asp
The Organisation
IFS is a NGO
(non-governmental organisation) founded in 1972. Funding comes
from governmental and non-governmental sources, as well as
national and international organisations. The annual budget is
approximately USD 5 million. IFS has 135 Affiliated
Organisations in 86 countries, of which three-quarters are in
developing countries and one-quarter in industrial countries.
IFS has an international Board of Trustees. The IFS Secretariat
is located in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Mission
IFS shall contribute
towards strengthening the capacity of developing countries to
conduct relevant and high quality research on the sustainable
management of biological resources. This will involve the study
of physical, chemical, and biological processes, as well as
relevant social and economic aspects, important in the
conservation, production, and renewable utilisation of the
natural resources base.
IFS Mission Statement
To further this goal,
IFS supports young developing country scientists who have the
potential for becoming the future research leaders and lead
scientists in their nations. The criteria for eligibility for
IFS support stipulate that the scientist must be young and at
the beginning of his or her research career and from a
developing country, where the research must take place.
The Granting
Programme
The support provided by
IFS is primarily in the form of an IFS Research Grant, which
amounts to USD 12,000 and may be renewed twice. It is intended
for the purchase of the basic tools needed to conduct a research
project: equipment, expendable supplies, and literature. Since
1974 there have been 3,500 IFS Grantees in Africa, Asia and the
Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Of these 22% are
women.
Awards to Grantees
IFS gives awards for
excellence in research to chosen IFS Grantees. Up to 12 IFS/DANIDA
Awards and the IFS Jubilee Awards (of US $2,000 each) are given
annually and one Sven Brohult Award (of US $10,000) is given
once every third year. Grantees must be nominated for these
awards, but may not nominate themselves. Further details in the
following pages:
Applying for an IFS
Grant
Applications for IFS
Grants must be made on the IFS Application Form, in English or
French. This form is available on this web by following the link
below. A paper Application Form may be obtained by contacting
the IFS Secretariat.
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