By Nyima Bah
The University of The Gambia for the first time in their history allocated a sum of 16 milion dalasi to academic staff interested in research on contemporary national issues.
The funds are aimed at promoting and developing more research concepts in academic excellence.
Dr Muhammed Lamin Sanyang, Director of Research and Consultancy, said research is fundamental and it is through research that people tend to discover and solve societal issues.
Sanyang detailed out the process taken by directorates of research after being informed by management about the funds.
“A committee was set up to draft the guidelines for the call of the proposal, detailing out all the legitimacies as well as the outlines on how the proposal should be. After that, a call of the proposal was circulated and we received 45 research proposals from all the schools [combined].”
Sanyang added that premier review of the proposals was conducted and categorized in various teams and also external reviewers were identified to review and give recommendations on proposals.
He concluded by expressing his appreciation for such an initiative and assured the management that the academic staff will provide yielding results in their various research areas.
Faqir Muhammed Anjum, vice-chancellor of the University of The Gambia, said over the past few months, major developments have been attained such as the first strategic plans plus other policy documents (most of which were developed for the first time) to improve the operation of the university in terms of carrying out its functions.
He furthered that the core functions of the university are teaching, research and community service with the vision of becoming a powerhouse in the transformation of The Gambia through the creation, application and transfer of knowledge.
However, he added that since inception the university’s focus has been on teaching and learning and has been producing graduates that excel in various institutions at home and abroad.
He elucidated on why the university has not been very active in research and innovation sector, saying “among the reasons why research output of the university is low is because a lot of our academic staff, whose primary functions include doing research, do not partake in active research due to lack of funding among many factors.”
He gave assurance that the quest to enhance the research capacity and output of the university has just begun and the culture of awarding research is here to stay.
