JEDI: An Alternative Route to Conventional Workshops
Why hands-on JEDI workshops achieve more than conventional conferences.
JEDI (Joint Exchange Development Initiative) is a programme initiated by Prof Bruce Bassett, Dr Nadeem Oozeer and their team. The idea is straightforward. At most conferences, researchers present their existing work, and it is not unusual to see the same people giving the same presentations at two different conferences. So, rather than spending large sums on conferences, why not bring academic staff and students together for a week to work on entirely new projects?
A JEDI is typically held in an inspiring location, often in a different country so that local students can benefit, where participants work, cook and live together, closing the gap between students and academic staff. Over the past few years, several projects initiated at JEDIs have led to publications (see, for example, BIRO), and many students have gone on to further study, from undergraduate to MSc, MSc to PhD, and beyond. In short, the programme has helped students advance their careers. In my view, it also prepares students to become future leaders.
Taking part in JEDIs has taught me a great deal, and I was fortunate to get involved at an early stage in my career. I had graduated with good grades in my undergraduate degree (BSc (Hons) Physics with Computing) in Mauritius, but I was unsure how to apply the skills and knowledge I had gained. It was only when I took part in a JEDI that I discovered data science, machine learning and deep learning. Seeing scientific ideas, skills and knowledge transferred to a wide range of non-scientific problems was remarkable, and it allowed me to put my mathematics and programming skills to use once again. As Steve Jobs rightly said, "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future."
Now that many students have experienced how a JEDI works, we work with Prof Bruce Bassett and his team to organise similar events in different countries across Africa. To date, I have taken part in several of them, sometimes as a member of the organising team.