Ghanaian-German Collaboration on Lake Bosumtwi

The Ghanaian-German Collaboration between the Department of Physics, and three German Universities of Frankfurt, Munich and Kiel was initiated to enhance geophysical research on Lake Bosumtwi and its environs. The benefits derived so far from this collaboration include:

• Construction of research platform (Akora Bompe), which was commissioned in March, 2000 by the VC (Prof. Ayim), to facilitate Scientific work on the lake. The facility was used by postgraduates from other Departments such as Biology and Environmental Science for their research on the lake and its environs.
• Donation of outboard motor to power the research platform, several modern pieces geophysical equipment, three computers and accessories, geophysical software, to the Department of Physics in June 2000
• Exchange programmes for staff to visit some German universities and research centres
• PhD training programme for Geophysics lecturers in the Physics Department
• Donation of a field vehicle to the Department of Physics for Lake the Bosumtwi Research Project, in June 2004

The Lake Bosumtwi Crater Drilling Project within the framework of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Programme (ICDP)

 This was a collaborative research project between the Physics Department and the Geological Survey Department on one hand and, the ICDP on the other, in July, 2004. The Director of the Geological Survey Department and I in my capacity as the then Dean of Science, were the signatories on the Ghanaian side. The project brought together geoscientists and climatologists from the Physics Department, KNUST, Geological Survey Department of Ghana, University of Toronto, Canada, University of Arizona, Syracuse University, U.S.A, and University of Vienna, Austria. The academic benefits derived from the Drilling Project include:

• Availability of drill cores of the lake crater for paleo-environmental, geophysical and impact studies.
• Training of postgraduate students on drilling/coring techniques.
• Establishment of link with the University of Akron, U.S.A., through which two of KNUST Physics postgraduates in Geophysics pursued their PhD with assistantship from the University of Akron.
• Establishment of Link with the University of Toronto and University of Alberta in Canada for Staff Exchange. A senior member and current Head of Physics visited Toronto in 2005, under this programme.