Community of Practice

CoP membership offers a flexible and engaging experience, allowing members to participate according to their preferences and availability. Once you become a member, you'll be added to the Teams CoP, enabling you to engage in discussions with fellow members and access various channels and resources. While we encourage active participation, there's no pressure to be constantly engaged. Members are free to contribute as much or as little as they prefer, according to their schedules and interests.

The Gambia. Group of children

Photography by Ian Farrell

Members have access to:

AfriBCD Teams

Most CoP activities will be through Teams. Members all have access to the various channels and chat functions with other members. Channels include:

AfriBCD Reading Group

Additionally, as a CoP member, you have the option to participate in the asynchronous Reading Group through Teams. This provides an opportunity to delve into insightful discussions about relevant research articles and explore diverse perspectives.

Events

We also host free events, such as research talks, where you can attend presentations by experts in the field or even showcase your own research findings if you wish to present. These events are excellent opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals, exchange knowledge, and build valuable networks. Whenever possible, recordings of past events will be posted.

  • The general channel is a versatile hub within the CoP, serving as a central space for various discussions and activities. It's here that our asynchronous Reading Group takes place, offering members a platform to delve into insightful discussions about relevant research articles. This channel is a dynamic space where members can connect, share ideas, and participate in diverse conversations that don’t fit in the other channels.

  • Our team is committed to regularly updating our content to keep you informed about new funding programs, application deadlines, and success stories from fellow academics who have succeeded in acquiring financial support. We also endeavor to share and provide valuable tips and advice on crafting compelling grant proposals and navigating the application process, ensuring that you have the best chance of securing funding for your academic pursuits.

  • Measures, Tasks, Tools

    Join us in sharing and developing contextually appropriate, open access measures for cognition research in Africa. Explore our growing guide, contribute directly, and share measures, tasks, or tools. Together, let's advance research, collect data across sites, and overcome challenges.

    Measures Development Project

    Our goal is to develop a set of contextually appropriate, open access measures that can be used to grow cognition research in Africa. We plan to collect data on this set of measures across our sites (South Africa, DRC, and with African immigrants in Canada) and facilitate data collection across other sites in the community. These measures, along with protocols for data collection, validation, and sharing will be open access and made available to the community.

  • A dedicated area to provide a brief overview of your journey - highlighting your interests, professional history, and passions. This space also serves as a platform to connect with other members.

  • This community is dedicated to fostering collaboration, transparency, and knowledge sharing in scientific research. By embracing open science principles, we accelerate discoveries, drive innovation, and tackle global challenges together. Our goal is to provide insights, best practices, and practical tips for integrating openness into your research workflow.

  • Through our collective efforts, we can create a supportive environment where members can expand their professional networks, collaborate on projects, and exchange knowledge. Discover conferences, workshops, job postings, and more. Connect with like-minded individuals and grow both personally and professionally.

  • This space is designed to connect researchers, share resources, and provide assistance. Whether you need participants for your study, have questions, or want to share valuable resources, our inclusive community is here to support you.

Become a member

Read the guide

Although the primary contributors to the CoP are researchers actively working on neurodevelopmental research in Africa, anyone is welcome to join! Our goal is to create a vibrant network that welcomes individuals from diverse backgrounds who are interested in cognition in Africa. This includes researchers at any stage of their career (including students), clinicians, practitioners, educators, and community members who are passionate about understanding and improving neurodevelopmental and cognitive outcomes in Africa.

To learn more, read the Join the CoP guide and follow links to other relevant documents.

Fill out the survey

Once you are ready to join, fill out this survey.

Join Teams and website

Once you fill out survey and are contacted with welcome packet email, you are officially part of the CoP!

You will be added to the AfriBCD Teams and/or mailing list. Fill out the member profile form (in the welcome email) to be added to the member section of this website.

What made you decide to join the AfriBCD CoP?

WHAT MEMBERS ARE SAYING

“Connecting with like minded people and the possibility of working together in multi-site studies. This could act as a problem solving space and a research stimulation and idea generation platform. Also, the possibility of applying for grants with other members with stronger research environments is attractive.”

“I joined AfriBCD CoP to leverage its role as a knowledge-sharing hub and networking platform for researchers. The CoP offers unique opportunities for collaboration, facilitating interdisciplinary cross-cultural research and the exchange of ideas and expertise, ultimately helping me stay updated with the latest developments”