Workshop on Research Leadership, Communication, Commercialisation, Partnerships and Collaboration|10-14 September, 2018| Zambia

Centres d’Excellences en Afrique pour l’Impact sur le Développement (ACE Impact)
June 13, 2018
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Workshop Series |July 30 -August 3, 2018 |Accra -Ghana
June 21, 2018
Centres d’Excellences en Afrique pour l’Impact sur le Développement (ACE Impact)
June 13, 2018
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Workshop Series |July 30 -August 3, 2018 |Accra -Ghana
June 21, 2018
Show all

Workshop on Research Leadership, Communication, Commercialisation, Partnerships and Collaboration|10-14 September, 2018| Zambia

The Association of African Universities, in collaboration with the Centre of Excellence for Infectious Diseases of Humans and Animals (ACEIDHA), is organising a workshop on Research Leadership, Communication, Commercialisation, Partnerships and Collaboration, (Date changed from 13-17 August, 2018 to  10-14 September, 2018), Livingstone, Zambia.

CONCEPT NOTE

Research is fundamental for Africa because it is an important source of new knowledge and provides solutions to pressing challenges. There is a need to strengthen Research Leadership so that more resources can be channeled to strengthen research and support African researchers to conduct relevant research.

Research leadership[1] is defined by Linda Evans (2014) as “the influence of one or more people on the research-related behaviour, attitudes or intellectual capacity of others”. Linda identified three specific features of professorial research leadership as “(1) influence that enhances people’s capacity to make appropriate choices, (2) to achieve requisite standards, and (3) to effect processes, within research activity”.

Universities in Africa continue to be challenged to focus on relevant and demand driven research. If universities are going to do this effectively they must have the capacities to engage communities, work with industry and manage multi-stakeholder relationships. This has an impact on how universities work and how they position themselves to respond to pressing societal problems.

Significant financial and human resources are spent conducting research. However, because of ineffective communication of research findings by researchers – the intended beneficiaries of the research don’t always get to know about it. It is crucial that researchers develop skills to effectively communicate research findings for impact and uptake by its most needed stakeholders.  There is a plethora of emerging research communication tools that researchers could employ.

Research Institutions and researchers could benefit financially from successful research commercialisation. Opportunities for protecting and commercializing good research are not always exploited because of limited skills of institutions and researchers to take up research commercialization. Commercialisation also provides important examples of the impact of research outcomes. There is an urgent need for research institutions to determine and implement effective strategies for research commercialisation.

Strategic Partnerships and Collaboration are key for universities in the 21st century and beyond. The African Universities need to learn how to nurture, identify and strengthen mutually beneficial partnerships. They need to understand how they can position themselves / brand themselves to attract beneficial collaborations. No university can exist as an island and be able succeed in its objectives. Therefore, building capacities for key staff in universities to advance strong partnerships and collaborations is fundamental to the success of African universities.

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES

The Association of African Universities (AAU) Secretariat hosted the inaugural workshop on Research Communication & Commercialisation in May 2018 at the AAU Secretariat in Accra, Ghana. As a follow up to this workshop, the Association of African Universities in collaboration with the Africa Centre of Excellence for Infectious Diseases of Humans and Animals (ACEIDHA) agreed to host a follow up workshop in Zambia to focus on:

  1. Developing the Research Leadership Skills
  2. Building capacities for Demand Driven Research Approaches
  3. Creating awareness of Research Commercialisation concepts and processes – Licensing and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
  4. Discussing strategies for disseminating Research findings and Enhancing Researchers’ Online Visibility
  5. Developing capacities for strategic Partnerships and Collaboration

IMPORTANCE OF THIS WORKSHOP TO ACE UNIVERSITIES AND AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES

This workshop ties in very well with the mission of the Association of African Universities, the goals of the Africa Centers of Excellence (ACE) Project and the objectives of Universities in Africa.

The ACE Project addresses regional priority areas in sub-sahara Africa and supports the selected ACE higher education institutions to deliver quality post-graduate education and build collaborative research capacity in the identified regional priority areas.

The proposed workshop will strengthen the researchers and academic faculty to improve their research processes and practices.

The Association of African Universities is the Regional Facilitating Unit for the ACE Phase 1 Project (ACE1) since 2014. The ACE1 Project focuses on West and Central African selected institutions. The Inter University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) is the Regional Facilitating Unit for the ACE Phase 2 Project (ACE2) Project and focuses on Eastern and Southern African selected institutions.

The ACE Project is funded through the World Bank International Development Assistance (IDA) funds. The funds are provided as soft loans to the participating African governments.

The Africa Centre of Excellence for Infectious Diseases of Humans and Animals (ACEIDHA) is one of the Phase 2 ACE institutions. ACEIDHA is hosted by the University of Zambia in Lusaka, Zambia.

TARGET PARTICIPANTS

This workshop targets the following participants from universities in Africa and from the Africa Centers of Excellence:

  1. Research Directors from higher education institutions
  2. All researchers in higher education institutions (both public and private)
  3. Academic Staff – Deans, professors, lecturers
  4. Research consultants
  5. Researchers from national Research Councils and Science Granting Councils
  6. Directors of Departments from the Ministries of Higher Education, Science, technology, etc

STYLE OF WORKSHOP DELIVERY

The objectives of the workshop will be achieved through lead lectures, skills practice activities, guided feedback, and intensive participant interaction over carefully selected cases and other materials in a process facilitated by experienced Resource Persons.

WORKSHOP FEES

This is a fee-based workshop – we will charge US$600 for AAU member institutions and US$700 for Non-AAU member institutions. The registration fees cover the facilitators costs, workshop materials and conference package including certificates, tea/coffee and lunch for the five days of the workshop.  All funding generated from the delivery of the Research Leadership, Communication, Commercialisation, Partnerships and Collaboration Workshop will contribute to the successful hosting of the workshop.

CERTIFICATION

All participants who undergo the training course will be awarded certificates of participation by the AAU at the end of the workshop.

 

REGISTRATION

https://www.research.net/r/RL3CP18

THE FACILITATORS

  1. Lead Facilitator – Professor Samuel K. Annim: https://ucc.edu.gh/director/prof-samuel-kobina-annim
  2. Mrs Sarah Norkor Anku: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-norkor-anku-0b759836/
  3. Ms Nodumo Dhlamini https://www.linkedin.com/in/nodumo-dhlamini-0551b24b/
  4.  Partnerships and Collaboration Session :Dr Kubata Bruno Kilunga – Kenya

 

DRAFT WORKSHOP PROGRAM

 

Days Item Facilitator
DAY 1 Research Leadership  Prof Samuel Annim
DAY 2 Demand Driven Research Approaches Prof Samuel Annim
DAY 3 Research Commercialization  Mrs Sarah Ankwa – Ghana
DAY 4 Research Communication & Enhancing Researchers’ Online Visibility  Ms Nodumo Dhlamini – Zimbabwe
DAY 5 Partnerships and Collaboration  Dr Kubata Bruno Kilunga – Kenya
 

 

For further information

Contact Ms. Edith Laari at elaari@aau.org

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *