The Center for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain – Africa (CARISCA) has organised a research capacity workshop for Faculty Members and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Candidates from the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) School of Business.
This forms part of Component One of CARISCA’s implementation plan to “Strengthen African higher education capacity for innovative, locally relevant research.” The workshop under the theme “Engaging KNUST Research Faculty: Research Issues, Needs and Priority Areas”, aimed to articulate potential action steps, identify and agree on priority areas, identify enablers and inhibitors of research productivity, identify and understand faculty motivation to do research, as well as understand faculty research capacity baseline data intended for subsequent workshops
Professor Nathaniel Boso, Principal Investigator, CARISCA, welcomed participants to the maiden workshop organised by the centre. He encouraged them to engage in all outlined activities and stressed on the need to use the opportunity to build their research capacity.
Professor Dale Rogers, CARISCA Bridge TRAIN Executive Director, in his remarks noted that CARISCA is as a result of the existing strong partnership between Arizona State University and KNUST.
He was of the view that the current changes in the academic world make it crucial for faculty to learn and improve upon their existing knowledge in research methodology. CARISCA, he added, would serve as a platform to reinvent the research capabilities of faculty. He, therefore, charged participants to take the workshop seriously and come out with impactful research for the benefit of Africa.
Dr. Abdul Muntaka, STA Degree Programs & Agricultural Supply Chains, in his remarks, noted that CARISCA would serve as a training ground, introduce new learning opportunities as well as set up mentorship programs for candidates and faculty of the department.
Participants were taken through intensive presentations on the overview of research interests among KNUST faculty. They further broke into groups to identify challenges currently faced with research and bring out possible ways these challenges could be resolved to enhance their research capabilities.
Facilitators for the workshop were Prof Dale Rogers, Prof Nathaniel Boso, Prof Adegoke Oke, Prof Tom Choi, Prof Robert Abaidoo, Dr. Tom Kull, and Dr. Abdul Muntaka.