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Research is one of the core functions of higher education and can determine the reputation of a university.

Hence government,
policy makers and donor agencies are concerned with the quality and
impact that research from the institutions has on society. This is
because research and innovation have been acknowledged as critical
factors for fuelling long-term sustainable economic growth, generating
employment, and alleviating poverty.

However, recently,
the issue of research uptake has become very contentious as
governments, communities and industries for whom research has been
undertaken to address their needs prefer to have nothing to do with it.

One reason for
this, according to a lecturer at the University of Jos in Nigeria,
Jonah Akpa, may be the issue of who determines the priorities before
the researchers go to work.

Communities,
governments and industries have their priorities, which do not always
align with a funding organisation’s desire for investing in a research
project.

“Researchers in the
ivory towers look for grants to undertake research that will not only
enhance their financial status but also earn them a promotion,” Mr Akpa
said. “But regrettably, most governments in Africa don’t fund research
even though they have the greatest need for it.”

Other reasons for
the seeming disconnect between town and gown is the inability of
researchers to communicate their research to governments and the
communities effectively, the absence of relationships between
researchers and the media, research undertaken mainly for purposes of
promotion, or dubious study samples utilised as part of the research.

Michael Ranson and
Sarah Bennett at The Alliance for Health Policy and System Research,
which is part of the World Health Organisation, said in a recent
publication that donor funding for health-system-financing research is
inadequate and often poorly aligned with national priorities.

This position is
supported by Goski Alabi of the Institute of Professional Studies in
Ghana, who says it is important that research aligns with the
priorities of national, community, university, and funding
organisations to ensure that the results of such research are not
shelved.

“Today, most
research is undertaken not because it is targeted at addressing a
problem but because there is available funding,” she said. “So, it is
important we have a change of mindset about what research is supposed
to be and should result to.” The African deficit Bassirou Bonfoh of the
Swiss Centre for Scientific Research in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, says no
country can develop without investing heavily in science and
technology. Mr Bonfoh also said scientific research is instrumental in
determining the rank of national economies.

“Unfortunately,
most research is still funded by external funds and African governments
still fail to use at least one per cent of their gross domestic product
to support research as stipulated by the African Union. Africa cannot
wait exclusively for outside solutions and funds to the problems faced
by the continent,” Mr Bonfoh said.

The position of
African governments, according to Ogoh Alubo of the African Population
and Health Research Center in Kenya, is informed by the lack of
partnership between the policymakers and the researchers. “There is
little evidence to show that policies in Africa are research-driven,”
Alubo says.

The position of
African governments has caused sleepless nights for funding agencies
and this has led to the several workshops to evaluate and advise on how
donors can get governments, communities and industries to develop
interest in the research they are funding.

Abel Olorunnisola
of the University of Ibadan said it remains a surprise that, in spite
of the huge investment in engineering education in Nigeria, the country
is still grappling with a myriad of engineering challenges. “While the
challenges exist, much of the research output from the universities
lies fallow on laboratory shelves,” he said.

In 2009, the UK’s
Department For International Development (DFID) convened a meeting of
experts across the African continent in Ghana to discuss the issue. One
of the findings was that research was not being prioritized. The group
also acknowledged that there has been weak flow of communication
between the media and researchers, and researchers and governments,
resulting in each group working in isolation and with a lack of access
to relevant and timely information.

The International
Development Research Centre (IDRC), a public entity created by the
Canadian government to aid researchers in the developing world, is
convinced that the creation of new knowledge remains vitally important
to humanity’s ability to grapple with challenges.

Linking research to need

Wallace Udoh, with
the Nigerian ministry of Works and Housing, believes, however, that the
application of the IDRC mandate has been limited to universities and
research institutes.

“There is no way
you will be able to affect or enhance the development of developing
countries without aligning your priorities with that of the government
of the day. Otherwise you are only interested in undertaking academic
exercises whose outcome is of no use to society,” Mr Udoh said.

At the recent
INORMS 2010 Congress, a meeting of research managers from around the
world that was held in Cape Town, South Africa where the issue of
research uptake came to the fore, the conference participants stressed
the need to align research funding organisation’s priority with that of
the applicable government, universities, and society for maximum impact.

South Africa’s
Minister for Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, said it was a
government’s obligation and duty to invest in fundamental research.

“Business cannot do
that. Business has to rely on governments to educate scientists and
technologists; innovation depends on an educated workforce and to
maintain the basic infrastructure of research at universities and
research institutes,” she said.

“It is governments who have to look to the long term and invest in basic research.” she says.

Ms Pandor also said
governments must lay down policies and standards that will promote
research and innovation, adding that such innovations must be to social
and economic benefits. Chris Nhlapo of the Cape Peninsula University of
Technology in South Africa, agreed that research must align with the
economic activities of the region in which it operates.

“University
research policy and strategy must align with national policies and
strategies because society wants research to result in beneficial and
measurable impact,” he said.