The African School of Fundamental Physics and Applications Activity Report 2019-2021

TL;DR

This report summarizes the activities of the African School of Fundamental Physics and Applications from 2019 to 2021, highlighting adaptations to COVID-19 through online and hybrid formats, and includes analysis of COVID-19 data from African countries.

Contribution

It documents the transition to online and hybrid formats for ASP activities during the pandemic and reports on the mentorship program and COVID-19 data analysis by alumni.

Findings

Successful adaptation to online and hybrid formats

Continued mentorship engagement during pandemic

Insights into COVID-19 containment in African countries

Abstract

The sixth edition of the African School of Fundamental and Applied Physics (ASP) was planned for Morocco in July 2020 and was referred to as ASP2020. Preparations were at an advanced stage when ASP2020 was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The three-week event was restructured into two activities in 2021 -- an online event on July 19-30, 2021 and a hybrid event on December 12-18, 2021 -- and was renamed ASP2021. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, an online lecture series was integrated into the ASP activities. The ASP mentorship program, which consists of online engagements between lecturers and assigned mentees, continued in this way. ASP alumni studied one year of COVID-19 data of ten African countries to offer insights into pandemic containment measures. In this note, we report on ASP activities since the last in-person edition of ASP in 2018 in Namibia.