Bakeng se Afrika Erasmus Project

Project Title

Bakeng se Afrika

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Capacity Building in higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics:

Project Summary

This project aims to create a comprehensive digital imaging database in which the scanned skeletal material of South African individuals will be curated. The server for the database of non-living individuals will be stored at the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa), while for living individuals in the respective hospital archival systems. Standard operating procedures and quality assurance guidelines will be created in order to manage access and ethical use of the digital database. The applicable data will be uploaded online for dissemination not only to partner Universities but also other national and international research groups following adequate ethical approval of research and author permission. Mobilities between South Africa and Europe and interdisciplinary research are envisaged to enhance research expertise and improve outcomes as well as expand material for more representative research findings.A digital collection of images is vital for improving education and expanding research in skeletal anatomy and human variation. The research will aid in medico-legal investigations for deceased individuals and medical research, either by creating new methodologies, or validating those already in use. Research will also be done by postgraduate students, and thereby increase the capacity of universities to train professionals. In some cases, scans will be used in undergraduate teaching, in order to create learning environments that are true to real life scenarios. The availability of skeletal collections of modern individuals, representative of the heterogeneous South African population, along with the advanced technology to create and curate 3D digital scans on skeletal material as well as on living persons, puts South Africa in the ideal position to successfully implement this project. The resulting database will be beneficial to training and research in higher education in South Africa and will establish partnerships with European countries.

Project Website

https://www.up.ac.za/bakeng-se-afrika/article/2739030/about-bakeng-se-afrika

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 999850 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA & Country: ZA

Project Partners

• KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
• SEFAKO MAKGATHO HEALTH SCIENCES UNIVERSITY
• THE SOUTH AFRICAN NUCLEAR ENERGY CORPORATION LIMITED
• STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY
• UNIVERSITE DE BORDEAUX
• UNIVERSIDADE DE COIMBRA
• CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS