Vice-Chancellor of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), Prof (Mrs) Esi Ewuah
The first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), Prof (Mrs) Esi Ewuah, has urged Ghanaian researchers to move away from just producing papers to producing actionable research findings that meet societal needs.
According to Prof (Mrs) Ewuah, some Ghanaians, unlike people in other part of the world, do not like to read and so producing brilliant research findings in papers will only leave the ideas espoused on the shelves of libraries.
She noted that writing of papers by researchers is a foreign concept that has been blindly copied by Ghanaians, and urged researchers to reconsider how research findings are presented.
According to her, the country is saddled with a whole of lot challenges, and so findings of research from researchers should show how the research solves a societal problem and not only be shown with a document.
This, she says, will go a long way to solve the myriad of challenges the country faces.
Prof (Mrs) Ewuah said this at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology over the weekend during the opening ceremony of the 26th Annual Delegates Congress of the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG).
Prof (Mrs) Ewuah, who was the keynote speaker at the event, demonstrated how she used research to solve a water problem in Bimbila, in Northern Ghana, among other problems she has solved through research.
Call on government
She said many of the country’s challenges can be solved when investment is made on research. She therefore called on the government to demonstrate its commitment to research by putting in more money for research institutions and individuals.
She also called on students to use the various platforms they have to call on government to support research in the country.
She noted that Ghana is blessed to have intelligent young men and women who are leading the students’ front, urging them to use the voice they have to cause change in the way things are done in the country.
Covid-19 opportunities
The president of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Isaac Jay Hyde, said even though the novel coronavirus pandemic has come as a challenge to the world, it has also come to present some opportunities, especially to the Ghanaian student.
“We can think of our positions as students as helpful to informing our teaching practices and developing materials online that we would like to see from our own professors. We can also rethink how we conduct our research and pursue academic endeavours like conference presentations and publications,” he said.
He added, “as future faculty members and professional researchers, COVID-19 provides us with a sample of the disruptive but timely circumstances that may come in our may in the course of our work.”
Call for waiver
The president of GRASAG, Samuel Sagoe, called on the management of KNUST to waive off the extension fees they charge post-graduate students who are unable to complete their research work on time.
He noted that in the era of Covid-19 where students research conferences, including foreign travels, has become challenging, it will not be the fault of the students not to complete their work on time and should therefore not be punished for crimes they do not commit.
He used the opportunity to outline some successes chalked by the 2019/2020 leaders of GRASAG.
The congress saw the election of Heartwill Selasi Tamakloe, a student of the University of Education, Winneba, as the next president of GRASAG.
