OKADA — The Vice-Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Okada (IUO), Prof. Lawrence Ikechukwu Ezemonye, and Policy Officer, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, Addis Ababa, Prof. Afeikhena Jerome, have challenged postgraduate researchers to break research silos, embrace collaboration and turn academic knowledge into solutions to societal challenges.
They gave the charge on Tuesday at a one-day high-level postgraduate webinar held at the University’s Library Conference Hall.
The hybrid seminar, themed “Re-Enacting Research Culture: From Curiosity to Innovation,” brought together academics and postgraduate researchers to explore strategies for strengthening research culture and translating research findings into practical outcomes.
Ezemonye, who presented a paper titled “Advancing Research Through Collaboration: Collaboration as a Connected Capability, Institutional Strength and Societal Impact,” said the interconnected nature of contemporary challenges in climate, health, food, energy, waste and digital systems required equally connected research responses.
According to him, collaboration allows researchers to access expertise, equipment, data and technical support beyond individual capacities, while improving research quality, dissemination and real-world relevance.
He urged postgraduate students to build strong relationships with supervisors and peers, join research groups and communities of practice, embrace interdisciplinary research, develop relevant digital and technical skills, pursue joint publications, grants and research exchanges, and build professional academic networks.
The Vice-Chancellor also called on university authorities to remove institutional barriers to collaboration by prioritising research missions, funding shared platforms, aligning rewards with collaborative work, and strengthening grant, data, legal, technology-transfer and communication support systems.
Jerome, in his keynote address, “Translating Research into Societal Impact,” described postgraduate research as one of the largest reservoirs of untapped problem-solving capacity, lamenting that much valuable research remains in academic archives without reaching those who need it.
He emphasised that “knowledge is not the same as change,” stressing that publication should be seen as a milestone rather than the endpoint of research.
Jerome identified five stages in the research-to-impact journey — discovery, translation, engagement, adoption and societal impact — noting that translation and stakeholder engagement were critical to moving research from academia into action.
He identified poor communication, publication-driven incentives, weak researcher-user relationships and timing mismatches as major barriers to research impact.
He therefore advocated co-producing research with intended users, developing policy briefs, datasets and dashboards, and aligning research outputs with government budget cycles, legislative calendars and other decision windows.
Jerome further urged researchers to measure success beyond publications and citations by tracking policy influence, programme and regulatory changes, practitioner adoption, and measurable improvements in welfare, cost and efficiency.
The scholars urged postgraduate researchers to make collaboration and research translation integral to their academic work.
Ezemonye captured the central message in three imperatives: “Connect what you have. Build what you lack. Translate what you know.”
Earlier, the Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies and Research, Igbinedion University, Prof. Deborah Odejimi, said universities must move beyond teaching and awarding academic qualifications to leveraging research to solve real societal problems.
Odejimi urged postgraduate students and researchers to ensure that theses, dissertations and projects produce practical outcomes, including innovations, policies, businesses, improved practices and community development.
She said research success should be measured not only by publications and citations but also by its real-world impact — improving lives, creating jobs, influencing policy and addressing challenges in healthcare, education, poverty, food security, energy and technology.
She encouraged postgraduate students to see research as the beginning of a lifelong intellectual journey, while reaffirming the School’s commitment to promoting a strong, relevant and impactful research culture.
