Science left behind as Sudan divides

Nature : Southern Sudan is going to become Africa’s newest state this July. As a result, staff and students of the University of Juba, the University of Bahr el Ghazal, and the Upper Nile University’s college of medicine and school of nursing must all move from Khartoum, in the north, to Juba, Wau, and Malakal, respectively. The moves could leave the institutions without staff, facilities, or infrastructure and could undermine scientific research in Southern Sudan. The University of Juba will initially move back to its old campus, which was used as a base by government forces during the Sudanese civil war and is now in disrepair. Upper Nile University may be forced to close its college of medicine because Malakal has no laboratories and the hospital there doesn’t have the facilities needed to teach medical students. All three universities have extended their summer holidays by three months to accommodate the moves.