The Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has launched a $100,000 UDS Research Fund, which would provide financial resources in the form of grants to qualified persons (faculty, staff, and students among others) for purposes of conducting relevant (applied, problem-solving and interdisciplinary) research for the socioeconomic development of northern Ghana and beyond.

Mr. Bagbin, who made a personal donation of GH¢ 50,000.00 as seed money to the fund, called on other well-meaning Ghanaians to contribute to the fund in order to accelerate the achievement of the laudable goals for which it was established. The fund is intended to use research as a tool to promote academic excellence and inclusive development characterized by active and effective university-industry partnership.

The main purpose of UDS-RF is to provide financial resources in the form of grants to qualified people (faculty, staff, students, etc.) for purposes of conducting relevant (i.e., applied, problem-solving and interdisciplinary) research for the socioeconomic development of northern Ghana and beyond. 

The UDS-RF aims to achieve the following objectives:

1. To build a credible local capacity for policy-oriented research in northern Ghana
2. To generate research results for use by policy analysts and policy makers 
3. To promote a link between university and industry with the aim of strengthening research and socioeconomic development in northern Ghana
4. To give a strong research voice to researchers
5. To encourage retention of high-quality researchers in northern Ghana
6. To facilitate research capacity building for Faculty, Staff and Students
7. To provide funding to undertake strategic research of benefit to the specific catchment areas of the universities, and Ghana and beyond as a whole
8. To provide resources for career advancement of faculty and staff
9. To conduct any other form of research or capacity enhancement that may be relevant to the mandate of the university

The Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIR) of the UDS has been mandated to operationalise the Fund guided by the Grants Management and Administration Policy of the University. The Institute will lead efforts to raise matching funding from stakeholders for the Fund. 

According to the IIR, a Steering Committee which will be chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, will soon be established. The Committee will be responsible for the allocation of funds to the various thematic areas for onward disbursements to grantees. Other Members of the Steering Committee shall be the Director of Finance, the Registrar or his Representative as Secretary, the Principal of the Nyankpala Campus, the Principal of the Tamale Campus, the Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research and the Director of Internal Audit.

The launch which was witnessed by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Seidu Al-hassan and the Northern Regional Minister, Hon. Alhassan Shaibu Shani, came off during the 18th Harmattan School, organised by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in February 2024.

Story by: Abdul-Hayi Moomen
(UDS Media)