UDS to intensify research-based programmes
The Institute for Continuing Education and Interdisciplinary Research (ICEIR) of the University for Development Studies (UDS ) is to mount research-based programmes leading to the award of degrees in Master and Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies.
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Professor Seidu Al-hassan, the Director of ICEIR, who announced this, appealed for the expansion of existing infrastructure at the university and improved human resources to support teaching and learning at the Institute.
He said the institute was also coordinating a research process that would lead to the preparation of a Northern Savannah Human Development Report on behalf of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office in Accra.
Prof. Al-hassan said that at the opening ceremony of the Annual Interdisciplinary Conference organised by the institute at the Tamale campus of the UDS.
He stated further that plans were also underway to expand the research scope of the institute to cover culture and development so as to tap and utilise the widely known diverse and rich Northern Ghana's culture, particularly music and dance to help promote social cohesion.
Theme for the conference
The two-day conference on the theme: " Ghana's March to Achieving the MDGs: Where are We and What Next", was attended by officials from the various faculties and units of the university and 11 other institutions, to share research findings and experiences and also do a peer review of one another’s work.
The Annual Interdisciplinary Conference is to replace the Annual Inter-Faculty Lectures (IFLs) initiated in 2007 by Prof David Millar, the then Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Graduate School of the UDS.
Explaining the rationale for the renaming of the IFLs, Prof. Al-hassan said it was to give the programme a facelift so that it would be more representative to all faculties and units, and also to win an increased and sustained local level policy support from the management of UDS, adding that the annual conference was intended to promote excellent academic research work that would lead to scholarly publication, as well as informed policy decisions.
The Director of ICEIR said the institute received a total of 83 abstracts from researchers from various institutions including the University of Cape Coast, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Health among others and the Bonn University, Germany, for the conference.
Out of this number, Prof Al-hassan said the institute reviewed and accepted 60 abstracts. Thus represented 71 per cent increase over last year's submission and said in terms of gender, the participation level for male and female compared to last year shows no change as 89 per cent of all authors were male with the remaining 11 per cent being female.
Need for research
The Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Professor Gabriel Ayum Teye, in his opening address , urged faculty members of the university not to undertake research just to earn promotion but also for the benefit of the society.
" May I re-state that this might not be wrong but I expect you to foresee the reward of research output beyond tools for promotion, and see the benefits that society can derive from the outcome of research to enhance living standard" he stated
Prof. Teye stated that the change in the name of the lectures from IFLs to AIC did not alter the original philosophy to provide younger and newly recruited members of staff the opportunity to present their research outcomes for peer review.
He expressed the hope that the rebranding of the lectures would improve and attract more participation from various campuses, adding that another innovation, the publication of a Book of Abstracts, would also generate the needed confidence for participation.
