AU to honor Egyptian scientist at summit in May

that it will honor two scientists, an Egyptian and a South African, during a special ceremony to be held on the sidelines of the African summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in May. Each of the scientists will be awarded a cash prize worth $100,000, the AU added in a statement. The Egyptian winner of the prize is textile chemistry and knitting technology professor at the National Research Center Nabil Ibrahim who will be granted the AU Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Award in the Earth and Life Sciences category, the AU added. The Commission of the African Union is committed to support the use and development of science in Africa and has initiated with its key development partners the African Union Scientific Award Programme. In July 2010, the African Union Heads of State and Government took a decision to rename this Programme as "African Union Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Awards". This decision reflects and underscores a success story and the critical role of science and technology in the development and integration of Africa. The objective of this programme is to award Cash Prizes and Recognition Certificates to excelling African researchers for their achievements in Earth and Life Sciences, and Basic, Science, Technology and Innovation sectors.