2026 Joint African Light Source (AfLS) / African Physical Society (AfPS) Conference

About the African Light Source Project

The African Light Source (AfLS) Development Organization endeavors to progress African science and engineering, and to establish an advanced light source on the African continent, along with developing all the necessary human and institutional infrastructure.

Advanced light sources are the most transformational scientific facilities currently known, impacting fields from anthropology, biophysics, and chemistry, to Earth sciences, engineering, medicine, paleontology, physics, materials science, vaccinology, and zoology. Investments in big science facilities are positively related to increasing national economic outputs, increasing efficiencies, greater attractiveness for investments –domestic and foreign, improvement in training and job opportunities, reduction of disease burdens, and ultimately increases in quality of life.

An advanced light source in Africa is vital if African governments and civil society are to achieve the goals of the goals of the Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2034) and Agenda 2063 as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

The 2026 AfLS conference comes after:

 

• AfLS8 - 2025 - Online
• AfLS7 - 2024 - Hybrid, In-person at Univ Johannesburg, South Africa
• AfLS6 - 2023 - Online
• AfLS5 - 2022 - Online
• AfLS4 - 2021 - Online
• AfLS3 - 2020 - Online
• AfLS2 - 2019 - Held in Accra, Ghana, from 28 Jan - 3 Feb 2019
• AfLS1 - 2015 - The first African Light Source Conference and Workshop (AfLS1) held at the ESRF in Grenoble in November 2015

 

During the AfLS1, the roadmap towards the ultimate establishment of an AfLS was developed, together with a Steering Committee which had both a large African and global footprint. The roadmap relates to developing the user base, the projects, deep capacity building, promoting networks, scientific and technical exchanges, building associated local infrastructural capacity, raising the profile of the project politically and developing the Pan African strategic plan with African leadership.

 

AfLS2 built on these foundations, in particular, developing the Pan-African and socio-political aspects, while the science and the motivation grew ever stronger.

 

The African light source conference will review the light source based science and further progress the vision of an African Light Source. This conference will cover topics that include Medical Sciences, Heritage Sciences, Geosciences, Environmental sciences, Energy Sciences, Nano Sciences, Materials Sciences, Mineral Sciences, Accelerator and Detector Sciences, Competitive Industry, Capacity Building and Infrastructures. There will also be sessions on the strategy and vision for an African light source. Details on the AfLS project are here.