Africa is home to extraordinary biodiversity, rich natural product knowledge, and a growing community of talented scientists. Yet drug discovery — particularly in antimicrobial and anticancer research — remains a field where investment, infrastructure, and specialized training are still developing. The Research and Academic Mobility for Drug Discovery in Africa (RAMDDA) project was established to change that.
RAMDDA is a multi-institutional collaborative initiative designed to strengthen postgraduate training, research capacity, and scientific mobility in Africa. Through dedicated partnerships, the project supports MSc and PhD research, staff exchange, and hands-on laboratory and computational training in drug discovery and related fields.
A Continental Network for Scientific Cooperation
The RAMDDA consortium brings together universities with complementary expertise in natural product chemistry, computational modelling, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, and advanced characterization techniques. The current network includes:
- University of Botswana — Coordinator
- Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST)
- Addis Ababa University (AAU)
- Adama Science and Technology University (ASTU)
- University of Ghana (UG)
- University of the Free State (UFS)
- University College Cork (UCC, Ireland) — Technical Partner
This diverse research network reflects an important ambition: to build sustained African scientific capacity through cooperation rather than isolation, and to enable the next generation of researchers to train, exchange knowledge, and access specialized infrastructure across borders.
What the Project Offers
RAMDDA supports several mobility and training pathways:
- MSc and PhD mobility
- Credit-seeking research stays
- Short-term laboratory training
- Computational and data-driven research placements
- Staff exchange for supervision, teaching, and collaboration
Research themes include natural products and pharmacognosy, medicinal chemistry, small-molecule synthesis, computational modelling, ADMET studies, molecular pharmacology, and structural characterization. These areas are matched to real continental health challenges where new drug leads are urgently needed.
The project also emphasizes mentorship and co-supervision — ensuring that candidates benefit not only from infrastructure, but also from expertise distributed across institutions.
Why It Matters
Drug discovery is both resource-intensive and deeply interdisciplinary. African institutions working alone face barriers such as:
- Limited access to high-field instrumentation
- Uneven computational infrastructure
- Difficult access to biological assays
- Uneven postgraduate training ecosystems
- Shortage of specialized supervision capacity
RAMDDA directly addresses these challenges by:
- Connecting laboratories and supervisors
- Building technical and computational expertise
- Strengthening curriculum and research training
- Enabling shared mentorship and publication
- Training people who will sustain these efforts beyond the project lifetime
The long-term value is not just scientific output, but human capacity: researchers, supervisors, and technical staff who will continue to advance the field beyond the life of the project.
Who Can Apply
RAMDDA supports:
- MSc and PhD candidates
- Early-career researchers and trainees
- Academic staff interested in exchange or co-supervision
- Researchers seeking specialized laboratory or computational experience
Opportunities are open to African candidates from eligible institutions under the Intra-Africa mobility scheme. A detailed overview of study and research pathways is available on the project website.
Looking Ahead
The first call for applications marks a major milestone. In the coming months, the project will spotlight participating laboratories, host institutions, research stories, mobility experiences, and outcomes from scholars and staff.
By investing in continental mobility and scientific collaboration, RAMDDA aims to contribute to a future in which African researchers play a central role in discovering and developing therapeutic agents that address regional and global health priorities.
Join Us
Whether you are a prospective candidate, a supervisor, a research group, or an institution interested in partnership, the consortium welcomes engagement and collaboration.
This is only the beginning — and we are excited to build this network together.