The 2022-2023 Early Career Researcher Training (ECR) Grants will support ten member universities to organise and deliver training for their early career researchers, including doctoral candidates. Meet this year's grantees and discover more about their projects below.
Mercy Afua Adutwumwaa Derkyi is an Associate Professor at the Department of Forest Science and the Head of the Centre for Professional Development (CePDev). Prof Derkyi applied for the grant to deliver in-person training for early career researchers, faculty and PhD Students at the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Ghana and other ACU member universities. The training will provide the participants with the knowledge, skills and competencies of writing winnable grants to strengthen research at the university and beyond.
Felix Emeka Anyiam is the Research Data Scientist at the Centre for Health & Development, University of Port Harcourt, with demonstrated ability to develop and implement data-driven solutions. Felix applied for a grant to deliver online training to Early Career Researchers (ECRs) at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and other ACU member universities. The training will enable participants to learn open data practices to be data management experts as well as the skill to evaluate and analyze data, which is a valuable skill in high demand in many data-driven sectors.
Dr Nosheen Nasir is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Infectious Diseases and Vice Chair, Research in the Department of Medicine at Aga Khan University, Pakistan. As Vice Chair, Research, she envisions developing the department's clinical research capacity and supporting clinicians in enhancing research productivity. The grant will be used for research capacity-building workshops on grant writing and manuscript writing for early career research faculty and graduate and post-graduate trainees.
Professor Ibrahim Ahmad Rufai, Director of Research, Innovation and Partnership (DRIP), Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. Prof Rufai is a Mechanical Engineer by training, with specialization in Energy Systems Engineering. Prof Rufai applied for a training grant to develop the capacity of Early Career Researchers (ECRs) at Bayero University, some ACU member universities, and some non-ACU member universities in Nigeria. The training will strengthen the grant writing skills of ECRs and contribute to their personal development.
Mr Fidelis Anumu is a certified Research Administration Professional (RAP). He is currently the Head of Research Operations Office, University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS). He is a faculty/facilitator for the WHO’s African Regional Training Centre who build capacity of young researchers in proposal writing and project management. This training grant will equip 30 doctoral and early career researchers with the knowledge and skills to identify funding opportunities and submit winnable grant applications for conducting cutting-edge research.
Dr Sadiat Adetoro Salau, a Research Support Librarian and Coordinator of PhD Clinic - a mastermind research group for doctoral students and Early Career Researchers (ECRs). Dr Sadiat applied for a grant to deliver training to ECRs in Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria and other ACU member universities. The training will enable participants to have enhanced capacity on grantsmanship and research communication to non-academic audiences. The participants will also be able to identify relevant pathways of communicating researches to non-academic audiences.
Dr Bhuvaneswari M and Dr Anusha N are the Professors from the School of Computer Science and Engineering at Vellore Institute of Technology, India. Their area of expertise is Adhoc and Sensor Networks and Embedded Systems. They applied for a grant to organise an online training programme for Early Career Researchers in the theme of 'Research Data Management'. The main aim of the training programme is to explain the importance and scope of data management to the research aspirants.
Dr Sandy Lin, Doctoral Experience Adviser at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, develops and manages extra-curricular programmes for doctoral candidates. Sandy’s team, including Web & Communications Adviser, Emily Gallagher, applied for this grant to help with delivering a multi-phase media training programme. The aims are to improve awareness of media engagement opportunities amongst ECRs, support participants to publish in the media, provide practical in-studio media training and create educational material encouraging others to engage with media.
Arnold Mindra is a Research Administrator at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) in Uganda, specialising in Grants management and administration. Arnold will use the ECR Training Grant to strengthen research capacity among early career researchers in south-western Uganda through training in grant writing. The training will support researchers from MUST and other ACU member universities to develop and submit winning grant applications.
Professor Ponnadurai Ramasami, (CSci, CChem, FRSC, FAAS, FICCE, MMast), is a Professor of Computational Chemistry at the University of Mauritius. He is a Visiting Professor with the University of Johannesburg and he is Professor Extraordinarius with the University of South Africa. He also holds a UNESCO Chair in Computational Chemistry. The aim of the training is to sensitize participants that networking can be used for capacity building of researchers and for career planning.
