Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association
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The Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association (SAMSA) is a regional professional society for mathematicians working in countries of southern Africa. The society was founded in 1981. It has been involved in several capacity building programs, including the Masamu project of collaborative research with Auburn University in the US and the Kovalevskaia Research Grants for women mathematicians of the region.
The SAMSA also includes some members from other parts of Africa, as well as from Europe and the US.
SAMSA was established in 1981, when it held its first conference in Botswana. Its annual meetings rotate among the member countries, and have been held every year since then without fail.[1]
SAMSA should not be confused with the South African Mathematical Society (SAMS), which, despite the similar name, is a national society for South Africa rather than a regional one. During the apartheid era in South Africa the two organizations SAMSA and SAMS had virtually no relations.[2] In 1997 a joint meeting of the two math societies was held at the University of Pretoria with support from the London Mathematical Society, the American Mathematical Society, and UNESCO. This conference "introduced a new era in cooperation in Mathematics in southern Africa."[2]