2ND CARTA VICE CHANCELLOR'S MEETING CARTA 2ND VICE CHANCELLORS MEETING REPORT | Page 34

© Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) & University of Nairobi (UoN)
3. Strong Government funding and Commitment
Prof. Mbithi pointed out that there is a strong linkage between success in research outputs to
favorable government research policy according to the report by the World University Rankings data
(2016) The University of Hong-Kong, for example, attributed its success to its large number of state-
owned enterprises plus strong government funding.
4. Patent Monetization
African universities must pay a lot of attention to monetizing intellectual property and encouraging
their academics to do so in order to generate more research funds. Researchers must think
entrepreneurially. The success of Boston College and other US Universities for instance is attributed to
strong links with external industries.
5. Market-driven Research
African Universities must endeavor to attract more research funding from external industries guided
by market trends and customer needs. For instance, Over 90 percent of life-science companies in the
United States had some relationship with academia.
6. Status of PhD training at UoN
UoN has increased PhD numbers from 54 (in academic year 2012/13) to 110 (in academic year
2015/16). The university is also keen on increasing internationalization and collaboration
programmes.
What Has Worked at UoN
Prof. Mbithi indicated that UoN is not yet producing as many PhDs as it should but there had been
tremendous growth over the years. What has contributed to this growth is the transitioning from
research-based PhD to course work and research, strengthening of pedagogy and andragogy through
the establishment of a center, fostering new research partnership for doctoral training, introduction of
mentorship programs, curriculum review to meet market needs and demands, staff development
incentives through offering of fee waivers and university-Industry partnerships.
Conclusion
In his concluding remarks, Prof. Mbithi indicated that African universities must find ways to resolve
the resource constraint working against graduate training. There is an urgent need for viable graduate
programmes; recruitment of new staff and for the replacement of senior academic staff trained who
are about to retire. Above all and most importantly, universities must begin conversations with
governments to seek for funding to supplement graduate training and research activities.
PRESENTATION TWO: NOTHERN PARTNERS AND THEIR ROLE IN CARTA
By Prof. Göran Bondjers - Representative, University of Gothenburg
This presentation focused on enlightening the participants on the Northern Partners (NP) of the
CARTA consortium. Prof. Bondjers indicated that the CARTA Northern partners included the Swiss
Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel, University of Warwick, Canadian Coalition
for Global Health Research, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Umeå University, and
Brown University.
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CARTA’s 2 nd Vice Chancellor’s Meeting –Report of meeting proceedings – July 10-11, 2017