Write your own research pieces to solve societal problems - Postgraduate students urged
The fifth international conference of postgraduate studies has opened at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) with a call on postgraduate students to conceptualise and write their own research pieces connecting research work to solving societal problems.
The immediate past Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Prof. Ellis Owusu-Dabo, who made the call, said postgraduate students must not allow anybody to conceptualise their research pieces and write them out for them just to collect a degree.
The three-day conference was on the theme: "Transforming communities: Postgraduate education and research for resilience and development in Africa".
Prof. Owusu-Dabo said seeking postgraduate education went beyond the certificate and was critical for the transformation of communities and nations, adding that the ramifications of such ills impacted the whole of society and must not be allowed to fester.
“Even machines maintain their originality and integrity in the face of artificial intelligence,” he stated.
Prof. Owusu-Dabo also said Africa's future growth and success depended largely on how its researchers could work towards solving its societal problems.
He said there still remained critical unique challenges and opportunities facing higher educational institutions in Africa.
"From the basic poverty to diseases, geospatial political instability to rapid technological advancement in an increasingly interconnected global community means that Africa is at a crossroads," he said.
He said how we navigated these challenges amidst dwindling resources for research would shape the continent's future for generations to come.
Invest in education
He further stated that postgraduate education played a central role in preparing individuals to become innovators, thinkers and leaders who would vision and envision bold solutions to drive the future change of their communities and the continent.
He called for increased investment in higher education and research to accelerate growth and create resilience and agility for communities.
Panel discussion
Later, discussants at a panel discussion called for an increase in research funds for postgraduate students.
The Dean of the School of Graduate Studies at the Cape Coast Technical University, Prof. Emmanuel Bamfo-Agyei, advised postgraduate students to leverage indigenous knowledge for research to impact communities.
Prof. Dorcas Osei-Sarfo, a professor at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Ghana, called for the institutionalisation of mentorship to help build the next generation of researchers and experts.
The former Vice-Chancellor of UCC, Prof. Joseph Ghartey-Ampiah, also called for the accurate dissemination of research findings to achieve the needed impact.
The Dean of Graduate Studies at UCC, Prof. Sarah Darkwa, emphasised the need to impact communities with research.
The Vice-Chancellor of UCC, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong, commended the UCC School of Graduate Studies for its commitment to excellence in research, saying the challenges of the times required practical solutions through cutting-edge research.
