Bolstering Science and Technology Research Infrastructure in Low-Income Countries: Case Analyses of Scientists and Universities in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central America

The international development community vastly underexplores how tertiary education, such as research universities, can alleviate poverty in low-income countries. A strong tertiary education system is the key to successfully competing in today’s global knowledge economy. Thus, our objective is to explore the ways in which tertiary education in low-income countries can contribute to economic development, along with offering preliminary recommendations for policy makers. We focus on scientists and universities in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central America. We aim to compile an “observatory” for all activity within these academes, along with all collaborative activities with the U.S. and Europe. We use data from our unique author disambiguated version of Reuter’s Web of Science, the most exhaustive repository of scholarly publications, along with data on grants, patents, and dissertations (e.g., N.S.F. and N.I.H. grants; ProQuest dissertations data; U.S.P.T.O. patents data; etc.).