On Tuesday, 8th February, 2022 a delegation from the Office of Grants and Research (OGR) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi visited the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC), University of Cape Coast. The team from OGR was led by Prof. Philip Antwi-Agyei, the Director of OGR. Other members of the team were Dr. Nadia Tagoe, Grants, Research Manager and Mrs. Amanda Owusu-Asare, Assistant Registrar.

The purpose of the visit was to familiarize themselves with aspects of the operations at DRIC which could be of immense benefit to OGR in particular and KNUST, at large. The relationship between the two sister offices dates as far back as 2014. In August 2016, staff from DRIC-UCC visited OGR KNUST to study the operations of the Research Office.

During an interaction with the team from OGR, the Director of DRIC-UCC, Professor Frederick Ato Armah welcomed the OGR team to the University and DRIC. He noted that, it was humbling to be sharing experiences with a sister institution which once mentored DRIC-UCC.

Prof. David Teye Doku emphasized the need for an Institutional-wide research agenda and how it could be developed to drive research at both universities. Prof. Doku emphasised that a research agenda must align with institutional, national, regional and global developmental agenda in order to be relevant and attract funding. He further stressed that it is essential to employ a bottom-up approach in the development of a university’s research agenda to ensure ownership and ease its implementation. Dr. (Mrs) Millicent Abigail Aning-Agyei, a Research Fellow at DRIC shared one important operational strategy of DRIC with the team from OGR, which is the use of Action Plans. The Action Plans are developed every academic year after series of meetings and broad stakeholder consultations.

Dr. Samuel Asiedu-Owusu, a Senior Research Fellow at DRIC later shared experiences with the OGR team with respect to how the Research Awards and Grants Ceremony is organized here at UCC beginning with the rolling-out of a Call to the RAG ceremony and how Grantees are managed post the RAG ceremony to ensure successful completion of funded projects. He exposed the OGR team to the institutional web application known as UCC Research Output Monitor and Evaluator (UCCROME) which serves as an internal diagnostic tool for management decision-making. Dr Owusu called on the OGR to take serious interest in the activities of Institutional Review Board/ Ethics Committees at KNUST since ethics underpin every research.

In his closing remarks, the Director of OGR, Prof. Philip Antwi-Agyei expressed gratitude to the Director of DRIC and the entire staff at the Directorate for the warm reception and openness to share what could be described as institutional secrets. He noted that their visit was fulfilling and looked forward to more engagements in future. He ended by commending the University for its sterling performance in the 2022 Times Higher Education World Universities Ranking.

The Director of DRIC in his concluding statements thanked the OGR team for choosing DRIC for their study tour. He observed that it was time for institutions to move away from competition to collaboration since that was the surest way to making global impact and building the capacities of staff in the respective organizations. 

Also present at the meeting were the following from DRIC: Prof. Dorcas Obiri-Yeboah, Deputy Director, Mr. Isaac Nketsiah, Intellectual Property Officer, Mr. Peter K. M. Konadu, Accountant, Mr. Benjamin Otsen, Assistant Registrar, Mr. Peter Owusu, Senior Administrative Assistant and Mrs. Eunice Amoah, National Service Person.

Credit: DRIC, UCC