Support for Biennial African School of Fundamental Physics 2024

This award will partially support U.S. lecturers at the Biennial School on Fundamental Physics and its Applications taking place in Marrakesh, Morocco, July 7 – July 21, 2024. This biennial ASP series has been ongoing since 2010 and has solidly established itself within the African continent and worldwide. Each school in the ASP series is located in the region of sub-Saharan Africa and strategically select participating students throughout the entire continent of Africa with the focus on ethnic and gender balance. In this regard, ASP contributes significantly to the ethnic and gender diversifications in the field of physics and is an excellent example of a successful capacity building program. The knowledge of fundamental physics and the associated necessary technical skills are excellent motivations for students of science. In this regard, ASP is an essential avenue for DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) in the field of physics in general, which is dominated by non-African ethnic groups and by males. The goals of ASP are to build capacity to harvest, interpret and exploit the results of current and future physics experiments and to increase proficiency in related applications. ASP program is based on a close interplay between theoretical, experimental and applied physics. The participating students are selected from the entire African continent to ensure benefits to diverse group of students in all genders. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.