DSA UK

3rd November 2012

What Constitutes Effective Research Capacity Building? Lessons emerging from a national-level initiative

involving Irish HEIs.

Introduction

Speakers

Prof Ronnie Munck, Dublin City UniversityMr Peter McEvoy, Dublin City UniversityMs Arleen Folan, Dundalk Institute of TechnologyDr Ogenna Uduma, Trinity College Dublin

Harnessing Knowledge for Poverty Reduction

Irish African Partnershipfor Research Capacity Building [IAP]

IAP – offshoot of ‘Universities Ireland’apex-level body of 11 institutions

Contribution of IAP:

•Internationalisation strategies more aligned with development thinking

•Contributed visibly to social responsibility profile of universities

•Added value to the work of individual universities by working at ‘Ireland Inc’ level

•Connected science and innovation, learning and teaching and research ‘in the service of development’

+ DkIT & DIT

IAP Project Aims

• To build individual & institutional capacity in development-responsive research in the Irish universities

• To build capacity in health, education, gender and ICT research with the four partner African universities

• In the longer term, to develop an inter-institutional Irish-African development research capacity platform

IAP Project ‘Philosophy’

• RCB contributing to poverty reduction and the MDGs• as decision-making becomes more knowledge-intensive, Higher

Education has a vital role to play - alongside government and wider civil society - in promoting human development

• Global Sustainable Development requires full participation by Africa in the ‘knowledge society’

• HEIs as generators of evidence-based research, policy advice and training relevant to ‘development agenda’

• HEIs strengthen civil society and reflective public policy networking with local communities and NGOs.

Products of IAP

• Stakeholder Consultation Report on current status of development research capacity in Irish and African partner universities

• Foresight analysis of health and education needs

• Metrics package for Research Capacity Building

• Webportal for ‘community of practice’ in international development

• Regional residential workshops on research management (Malawi 2010 and Dar es Salaam 2011)

• Publication of a research capacity building manual and a series of academic articles (e.g. published by EUA)

Factors conducive to institutional-level Research Capacity Building [1]

1. Development of an embedded and socially-responsive research culture in HEIs, recognising the contribution of research to effective teaching, learning and civic engagement

2. The establishment and effective functioning of a Research Office to take research from conceptualisation through to dissemination, and manage the research process across the institution

3. Increased activity of international North-South and South-South partnerships and networking

4. The development of effective research infrastructure, in particular electronic connectivity facilitating on-line access to global research and publications databases

5. Enhanced research training, in particular through more and better structured modalities of postgraduate formation and stronger foundation in research methods (quantitative, qualitative, critical thinking) and cross disciplinary collaboration

Factors conducive to institutional-level Research Capacity Building [2]

6. Increased research funding, and more diversified sources of research grants.

7. N-S co-authorship of research publications, in particular in peer-reviewed journals but also in policy-relevant outlets

8. An increase in the number of women entering and remaining in research careers with clear support mechanisms to do so along with learning innovation and civic engagement missions

9. A well developed process of dissemination of research findings, in particular through linkages with evidence based development policy and practice

10. Greater emphasis on the need to relate research to major global challenges - poverty reduction, better quality of life and resilience to climate change.

What now?....

• Even though funding expired, IAP continues as an inter-institutional network, focused on RCB

• Learning is being disseminated into:– New phase of Irish Aid Programme of Strategic Cooperation– EU-Africa ‘DocLinks’ project funded by Erasmus Mundus

• Encourage university sector and development sector unifying initiatives, such as DSA Ireland

• ‘Brain Retain’ - distance mentoring of research students / early career researchers in Africa

• www.irishafricanpartnership.ie

TitleWater is Life

• Funded by Irish Aid/HEA Programme for Strategic Co-operation

• Goal of this programme:– to build research capacity in Ireland and

Africa in relation to safe and sustainable water provision in Africa

• Water is Life - 5 year programme - 2009 to 2014

• Large numbers of partners - both Southern and Northern

Key activities

Develop appropriate activities in the area of water resource sustainability & monitor its effects on community health, gender & poverty through a combination of 8 PhD research projects & community engagement

•Support research with a “water-centred” focus;•Examine water sourcing, distribution & sanitation;•Assess impact on community & health & gender;•Engage community interest & support; •Generation and provision of an appropriate GIS database; and,•Ultimately inform a jointly developed taught Masters degree programme (Ireland/Uganda).

Key features

• Inter / Intra institutional• Multi- / Trans-disciplinary• Research “in the field”• Multiple levels of engagement:– academic, state, community and policy

influencers

• Top-down and bottom-up approach• Focus on policy implementation - from

practice to policy

Water is Life embodies coordination across all levels of disciplines

produce sound and societally relevant research through active collaboration

capacity building promote strong N-S partnerships provide evidence for decision making

engagement policy dialogue education adaptive management technology advances

hydrology anthropology health science engineering geography sociology political science

What we are capable of doing

What we want to do

What should we do? How to do what we want to do?

adapted from MaxNeef (2005)

Water is Life approach

What exists

WIL - tangible outcomes

• Doctoral training (collaborative approach)– 8 African researchers

• Production of joint N-S Masters– Cert. in Sustainable Water Management

• Publications– Journal articles (at least 10)– Project book

• Spatial database

• Policy briefs

• International /national colloquia / conference presentations

• Ongoing public engagement / community training

Project schedule

Feb 2010 Nov 2010 Aug 2012

Student initiation & training (Ireland)

•Cert. in Sust. Water Management•Agreed work plans• Identification of

cross-cutting themes•Cementing of

partnerships

1st WIL workshop (Uganda)

Research-informed module development for joint N-S Masters

Jan 2010

Student recruitment

Dec 2011

External WIL mid-term review

Nov 2012

2nd WIL workshop (Ireland)

Ongoing collaboration and dissemination

•Ongoing production of spatial database•Collation and analysis of localised

health database•Student fieldwork ongoing•Collaborative supervision•Various conference presentations•Production of peer reviewed papers

REVIEW

REPORT

REVISE

RE-ASSESS

Learning to date

Challenge WIL response

Ensuring partner and stakeholder ‘buy-in’ (including supervisory arrangements)

• Set the agenda together including defined roles and responsibilities

• Determine most appropriate channels/methods of communication for each stakeholder group at an early stage

• Monitor commitment (accountability)• Agree on an MOU and a strategic plan

Ensure mutual learning

• Acknowledge cultural backgrounds of all partners involved• Shared ownership of all outcomes• Promote platforms for exchange of outcomes - appropriate to

stakeholder groups• Direct exposure of North and South participants to broad

range of partner expertise

PhD completion • North and South supervisory arrangements (joint supervision)• Frequent supervisory visits• Realistic stipends and travel allowances (rate per country)• 4 year completion targets

Learning to date

Challenge WIL response

Effective implemetation of research results

• Ensure societal relevance (initial goal)• Ongoing dialogue - academic, community, policy level,

etc.• Speak the language of the ‘end-user’

Sustainability and legacy

• Prevention of ‘brain-drain’• Enhanced visibility of Southern academic partners

through impact peer-reviewed publications• Creation and expansion of networks within the

network• Plan a future sequence of projects from these alliances• Provision of robust research findings that can inform

decision-making for the future benefit of the end-users (rural Ugandan communities)

Strengthening higher education in and for Africa

• Collaborative delivery with African partners of doctoral training focussed on students based in Africa

• Raising awareness and building development skills of Ireland-based doctoral students

• Analysis, evaluation and communication managed by a new institutional platform for development

• Co-funded by Irish Aid under the Programme for Strategic Cooperation between Irish Aid and Higher Education and Research Institutes 2007-11.

Three partnership models

• Multilateral – Indigo International Doctorate in Global Health

• Bilateral – TCD and Makerere University (Environment and Medicine). One co-registered doctoral student from Makerere in the field of wetlands and climate change.

• Africa-led – African Economics Research Consortium (AERC) . TCD Teaching in the CPP.

• Multilateral– 12 Indigo students now registered at TCD (6

funded by Irish Aid): from Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, Nigerian, Finland, Sudan, Ireland, Canada and United States.

• Bilateral– One student currently in his fourth year in

Makarere and visiting TCD in September.

• AERC – Two students currently in their fourth year. TCD

staff contributing in the CPP

Current status

Review

• Semi- structured interviews with all partners, supervisors and students in all model.

• Multilateral 37, bilateral 5, African-led 11 and 11 Externals

• SWOT Analysis

African - led SWOT

Strengths

•Good partnership model•Strengthens economics training in local universities in Africa•Contributes to capacity building and economic development in Africa•CPP Biannual conference•Cost effective

Weaknesses •Funding structure •AERC strong emphasis on the course work (CPP) and not on the overall research process•Non Standardisation of PhD•Lack of adequate Infrastructure

Opportunities

•Unmet demand for PhD in the South due to lack of resources•Building on collaborative networks •Knowledge exchange

Threats •Current Financial climate •Enabling environment •High management costs

Strengths

•Equitable partnership structure •Supervision Model•Student Centred•Cost effective and a good sandwich programme

Weaknesses

•Limited capacity of the programme •Nature, timing and planning of the sandwich programme  

Opportunities  •Scale up and broaden the programme

Threats  •Small scale of the programme •Funding

Bilateral SWOT

Strengths  •Innovative nature of the programme •Sandwich nature of the programme •Capacity building element of the programme •Programme design and structure

Weaknesses  •Institutional Challenges •Managing partners and expectations •Financial Constraints •Programme design and structure

Opportunities  •Need to build health research capacity in the South •Focus on Southern led initiatives and joint partnerships

Threats  •Funding and research infrastructure•Building and maintaining equitable partnerships

Multilateral SWOT

Recommendations

• The needs, motivations, and expectations of each of the groups involved in this type of programme should be articulated and attended to from the start.

• The systems within which the programmes are being established should also be understood and articulated including constraints and resources available.

• The added value of participating in a network, particularly an international network, beyond the individual student and supervisor was emphasised by participants across all models .

• The selection of students, supervisors and research topics are crucial stages and should be considered carefully.

• The selection of junior staff members who have existing positions in Southern universities to participate in PhD programmes is aligned with core objectives of research capacity building.

Recommendations cont’d.

• The objectives of the programme should help determine the degree of input individual supervisors, students and a wider advisory group should have to the topic.

• Research topics should match the particular objectives of the programme.

• Good project planning and communication is crucial to the success of the programme throughout.

• All partners should be involved in the earliest stages of planning to build the foundation for equal partnership.

• Each of the models of partnership builds capacity and is a worthwhile investment in the development of African education systems.

• Continued investment is recommended.

TitleOverall conclusions

• What do we mean by partnership over and above the rhetoric?

• How does higher education feed into socio-economic development and poverty reduction in practice?

• Who sets the development research agenda and decides on priorities?

• Is the Northern/Western model of higher education relevant/replicable in Sub Saharan Africa?

• Is there an 'Irish' model of research capacity building?

Title

Thank you