UNIMA and UBC Jointly Implement CADFP Research Exchange Project

Under the Global North–South Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Programme (CADFP), Dr Elias Mwakilama from the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Malawi (UNIMA) recently hosted Prof Anotida Madzvamuse of the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada. The two researchers jointly carried out research in computational mathematics for theoretical biology and fluid mechanics, while also mentoring and supervising postgraduate students in Mathematical Sciences in Malawi for a one-month period.

Prof Madzvamuse stayed from 13th October to 7th November 2025, during which several workshops were conducted. The first workshop was held at the Brown Chimphamba Laboratories from 13th to 17th October 2025. During this period, Prof Madzvamuse delivered insightful seminar lectures on “Novel mathematical and computational models to study how cells move and interact within their environments.”

Midway through the fellowship, students and Early Career Researchers (ECRs) were organised into research groups and worked on various mathematics-related topics under the guidance of Dr Elias Mwakilama and Prof Anotida Madzvamuse. To conclude the fellowship stay, the two researchers also organised a two-day workshop on 6th and 7th November 2025, during which students presented research topics they had worked on. The workshop provided an opportunity for group presentations and for documenting plans to further develop the research work. As a result, four working papers were developed, and additional research networks between UBC and UNIMA were established.

Chikondi Nyondo, a first-year Master of Science student in Mathematical Sciences, stated that the workshop was insightful. Among the knowledge he gained was the application of partial differential equations (PDEs) in developing models in the field of mathematical biology.

“For instance, Professor Madzvamuse highlighted the wave-pinning model and demonstrated how it is developed using partial differential equations. He also explained how the model works,” he said.