Edo State University Uzairue have organized a three-day regular capacity building workshop/staff development programme on research proposal writing, grants management and academic leadership for the academic and technology staff.
Declaring the workshop open, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Engr. Prof. Emmanuel Aluyor, said the workshop, an annual programme of the university, is aimed to strengthen the academic staff knowledge on how to write research proposal, manage grants, academic leadership and what we expect from the staff in terms of their general everyday work.
He called on the university staff, especially the academic staff, to engage themselves in teaching, research and community development as that would strengthen their academic knowledge.
The Vice Chancellor further stated that similar workshop is also designed for the non-academic staff of the university as soon as school resumes.
On his part, Prof. Mathew F Olaniyan of the Department of Medical Laboratory Science whose lecture titled, Workshop Overview and Expectations, said emotional intelligence and academic leadership are crucial in academic leadership, as they enable effective communication, empathy and collaboration.
He said leaders with high emotional intelligence can navigate interpersonal relationships, understand the needs of their team and foster a positive and inclusive academic environment as this can contribute to the better decision-making, conflict resolutions and overall success in leading educational institutions.
While Prof. S. K Otoikhian of the Department of Chemical Engineering spoke on, the Understanding the Role of Research and Development, Innovation in Nation Building.
He said personal development is the process of improving one’s skills and increased the amount of experience one has in the job.
He went further to state that personal action plan is to set some objective in relation to what one has learned and how he can apply it.
Prof. Otoikhian said the current situation in relation to opportunities/threats in applying one’s learning and how committed is one to achieving these objectives.
According to Otoikhian, the importance of research can not be over emphasized as it has contributed to the economic growth, social growth, knowledge transfer, innovation, spillover to wider communities and increased diversity of those conducting research.
Other speakers are Dr. Williams O. Odiwo of the Department of Business Administration gave his topic on, Understanding the TETFUND Research and Development Intervention-paradigm Shift for the 21st Century TET’s, analysized the role of TETFUND in tertiary institution in Nigeria to include research, physical infrastructure/programme update; project maintenance; TETFUND scholarship; teaching practice; equipment fabrication; journal publication; manuscript development; conference attendance and ICT support
Dr. Odiwo also stated that the TETFUND mandates are provision of essential physical infrastructure for teaching and learning; provision of instructional materials and equipment research, books development and publication; academic staff training and development and any other need which in the opinion of the board of trustees is critical and essential for the improvement of quality and maintenance of standard in the Educational institution.
Dr. Mrs. Harriet Omokinowo Efanador of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration and Prof. M. Maliki of the Department of Chemistry spoke on planning and developing, a fundable research project and writing a fundable research proposal, respectively.
