NUL Hosts NULISTICE International Expo On Research And Innovation

The National University of Lesotho will hold a biennial innovation and research expo called NULISTICE 2020 (National University of Lesotho International Science, Technology & Innovation Conference and Expo) from January 21 – 24, 2020 at Pioneer Mall.

The event is intended to show how NUL shifted its research focus from purely basic to applied, innovative and impactful research addressing the economic challenges.

Both local and international scientists, engineers, innovators, entrepreneurs and policy-makers will showcase their innovations and products during the expo. Almost 100 products will be showcased. Running in parallel with the expo are a Gala Dinner and Hackathon.

NULISTICE 2020 is meant to provide an opportunity to turn ideas into action. It is expected that the attending scholars from all over the world will share their basic research findings, lessons in university-industry cooperation, successes and failures in commercialization and policy recommendations in any of the areas mentioned above.

The NULISTICE 2020 comprises of the following activities:

1. EXPO: 21-24 January, 2020 at Pioneer Mall. There will be exhibition stalls displaying tangible research and innovation products by NUL lecturers, students, graduates and interested businesses from outside NUL. It is unique in that it provides means through which members of the society get a tangible feel of the projects. The result has been an intensive networking and in some cases, emergence of new companies.

2. GALA DINNER: 23rd January, 2020 at Avani Maseru on the. The Gala dinner will be a time to enjoy and reflect on the journey of innovation. It will also be a time to network and connect with the public, prospective partners/funders and professionals from different spheres of careers. The Gala will be attended by dignitaries from the Government, Private Sector, NUL and International Academics, civil society and interested members of the public. A number of formal agreements and MoUs are expected to be signed. Public members who are not participants at the conference are free to attend this Gala Dinner at a fee of M400.

3. NUL-UNDP-VODACOM HACKATHON: 18-19 January, 2020 at Roma Campus. There will be a 24hour coding marathon (hackathon) where computer gurus and thinkers from other disciplines in Lesotho and South Africa’s higher education institutions will battle it out, solving the most interesting problems of our time.

The theme for this year’s expo is “Entrepreneurship through innovation” and the main thematic areas include Biotechnology, Environment and Natural Resources Management, Food and Water Safety, Climate Change Challenges and Mitigation Strategies, Agriculture and Food Security, Material Science and Nano-Technology, Entrepreneurship and Information and Communication Technology.

NULISTICE’s primary objective is to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship among staff members, students and graduates and to expose their innovation and creativity to the outside world with the sole aim of creating sustainable jobs to curb youth unemployment in Lesotho.