Association of Commonwealth Universities train Nigerian Researchers on grant access

The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), in collaboration with the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Partnership, Bayero University Kano, has organized a training to strengthen the grant writing skills of early career researchers in Nigeria to help engender development in communities and the society at large.

The lead presenter, Professor Ahmed Rufai, while presenting a paper at the three-day Workshop titled:  “Early Career Researcher and the Research Community”, said writing a winning proposal for grant to be used in sponsoring research is not an easy thing, especially for early career researchers because of the criteria set by the donors, hence the training.

“There are complementary agencies to fund research but the proposal has to be good.

 “The purpose of the training is to generate capacity for junior academics, especially the early career researchers in the Nigerian Universities.

“The early career researchers don’t know much about the University system and the research environment and they are sometimes less understood, so for that, they have many challenges and difficulties, that, this training is aimed at addressing,” he said.

According to him, the grant writing skills acquisition will remove a lot of the constraints being faced by early researchers in the Nigerian Universities, as lack of such affects output and productivity of the nation.

“The constraints in research is affecting our performance, as such if you start early enough and you develop your research capacity early enough, then you will be able to significantly contribute to the research output that the country is willing to have,” said the Prof.

He explained that to be qualified as an early career researcher, one needs to have a doctorate degree, PhD, and be active especially in the first five years of obtaining the certificate, adding that others can also qualify by learning it on the job, even as PhD undergraduates.

“In the first five years you are trained to identify opportunities, find grants, work with your community, colleagues, use both soft and hard skills, know about integrity, hierarchy of the job, earn degree of confidentiality.

Equally, understand the terms and conditions attached and not just the money, aim towards clearance from ethical domain, understand current methodology, research trends as well as qualitative and reputable publications in order to become more productive before becoming an established researcher,” he emphasized.

Professor Hadiza Shehu Galandaci of the Gynecology and Obstetrics department, college of health sciences, Bayero University Kano in her paper ‘Grant Opportunities, Situation and Stakeholder Analysis’ said countries who have developed, did it through research and knowledge economy because they found solutions to their problems through research and Nigeria cannot be an exception.

“Every society has its challenges, the only way to find solution to the issues and challenges is through research. 

“One of the ways to access funding for research is through grants and you need specialized skills and knowledge to equip you to be able to competitively apply for grants and access it. 

“After accessing it, you must know how to manage it right, else you cannot get the next one because most of the grant bodies are attached to each other.

“At the end, you have to think on how to translate your findings into policy that can change your community, your government so that there can be development, 

“Also think about how to package the findings into a product that you can now use to solve the problems of your society

“All these are the knowledge we are imparting in this Workshop for you to become successful as an early career researcher,” she said.

One of the participants, Dr. Faida Mohammed Shehu of Department of Banking and Finance, Bayero University, Kano said the Nigerian society has been trying to solve its challenges but the type of training being given in the Workshop will make it more comprehensive.

Similarly, Abdulsalam Mohammed Ibrahim from the Center for Renewable Energy, Bayero University, Kano said the training is bound to elevate his knowledge in research.

“I hope to take home at the end of it all an elevation of knowledge, know my dos and don’ts, who an early Researcher is, who is expected to have a very good research grant and use the outcomes for the development of the society as it applies.”