In a bid to equip the newly-recruited academic staff with skills needed to write scientific articles that are original, innovative and publishable in high impact journals, the University, in conjunction with African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), held a 5-day scientific Writing Workshop for Academic Staff. Speaking at the event, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development), Prof. Lateef Sanni revealed that the aim of the workshop was to train new staff on the task required of them to be researchers of international standards.
According to him, “The era now is an era of innovation, impact, productivity and global feasibility; you must be ready for it. If you master the skills of scientific writing, you would definitely be far from being a victim of plagiarism”. Reiterating the vision of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Felix Salako for the University, Prof. Sanni said “his vision is to be able to expand the knowledge horizon of the University, creating new leadership and giving viable environment for growth and development”. He added that for the University to enhance agricultural productivity and value addition in post-harvest issues, the bar of excellence for human resource had to be raised, which had been the essence of some of the agenda for governance and community engagements.
Prof. Sanni also revealed that the University was planning some refresher courses for new staff in order to improve their productivity, adding that the University and AWARD have a progress monitoring evaluation programme where the progress of the trainees are monitored. Prof. Sanni, who also doubles as the Vice-Chairman of AWARD Steering Committee, charged the participants to maximise the opportunity that had been given to them, to be the best at whatever they do. Earlier, one of the founding members of AWARD, Dr. Petra Abdulsalam-Saghir of FUNAAB, appreciated AWARD for partnering with the University. She advised the trainees to be focused, stating that the aim of AWARD was to make sure they start on a very solid foundation so as to grow with the nitty-gritty of how to be good scientists.
The Deputy Director, Programmes for AWARD, Dr. Michele Mbo’o Tchovawou said that AWARD was aimed at creating visibility and awareness for men and women scientists worldwide. According to her, “we want African Women (and men) in agricultural research and development to be something that is true, not for the sake of just saying we are having another initiative in the continent, but an initiative that is making an impact”. She emphasised that the quest to support women scientists was because of the non-visibility of women researchers in science. She, however, noted that as much as AWARD wanted to bring that visibility for women, men are also backing them, which had prompted the partnership with FUNAAB.
