The Technical University of Kenya has become the first university in Kenya to benefit from a research project dubbed French-African Network on Computational Material Science (FRANCIS). The research network is funded by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) otherwise known as French Centre de la recherché scientifique started June 2026. It is comprised of four universities in Africa including TU-K, University of Rwanda, Universite Marien Ngouabi (Brazzaville Republic of the Congo) and University of Ghana as well as one research institute - East African Institute for Fundamental Research (EAIFR-Rwanda).

The participating institutions are working in collaboration with four CNRS labs in France and other external partners in Europe and Africa for a two-year funded project. Students and staff from the departments of Physics, Chemistry, Computational Science, Maths, Material Science and many others, will benefit from the training and research.

The launch took place at TU-K on Wednesday 8th July 2026 and was graced by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Research and Technology Development (RTD), Prof. Isaac Orina, who represented the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Benedict Mutua.

Prof. Orina thanked the sponsors and organisers for having launched the event at TU-K, saying that they worked hard to ensure the event was successful.

“We recognise the leadership of the project. The existence collaboration with CNRS is very valuable to us and resonates with our vision of transforming this great university, the nation and beyond.”

He explained that the project will bring rich, diverse expertise in various disciplines and therefore will offer innovative training of new scholars who will impact the world in various dimensions.

Prof. Orina noted that for the continent to continue producing world-class research and innovation, as well as go beyond the state of the art, the training is essential for graduate students, faculty and future researchers.

He urged the networking to continue saying that the university is looking forward for further collaborations.

The Director of the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) Africa Regional Office in Nairobi, Benoît Hazard, explained that the project defines what the continent needs.

He observed that the project remains inter-disciplinary and therefore needs to be pushed to the pinnacles of excellence. He said the project will produce knowledge and methodology, build solid scientific research, initiates capacity building and training among others.

TU-K, he explained, was the 1st among the four universities to be selected for the FRANCIS project which he said, was evaluated by top scientific institutions in France.  

“We hope that participants in the project will gather knowledge and skills that will be valuable to this continent. The project will literally, connect East and West Africa thereby becoming a Pan-Africa network.”

He echoed Prof. Orina’s statements urging the patners to expand their networking and collaborations. He hinted that CNRS was considering a long-term collaboration with TU-K in other areas.

The Dean, Faculty of Applied Science and Technology, Prof. George Amollo said his Faculty was honored and privileged to work closely with top researchers and institutions.

He expressed optimism that the project would benefit staff and students and therefore fill gaps in methodological studying materials and build stronger collaboration in the area of computational science.

Matteo Gatti from CNRS – made a presentation of activities funded by CNRS in Africa, based on science, exchange and collaboration.

He challenged institutions to overcome scientific isolation if they aspire to progress noting that both Europe and Africa share the same vision of transforming lives through research and training.

“Both continents contribute to the same goals by providing complementary expertise. FRANCIS builds upon and complements successful ongoing initiatives such as ASESMA and APhRICA.”

In attendance was; Dr. Andrea Marini who doubles up as a trainer. He is a distinguished scholar and researcher.  Others were; Dr. Lydia Olaka, Chairperson, Department of Physics and Earth Science, Dr. Michael Atambu and Gladys King’ori both lecturers in the same department. Others who followed the event virtually  included; Nkem Khumbah, Director, STI Policy, Strategy and Partnerships African Academy of Science, Fatema Yahya Mohamed, France, Camen Gargialo, Perpertual Muchiri, a TU-K staff pursuing her PhD in France, Dick Hatmann Douma (Brazzaville) and Newman Amoyaw, PhD student, Accra, Ghana.