Research Methods ResourcesThe Great Re Search |
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Results of the essay writing competition on improving scientific research quality in East and Central Africa |
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This competition was organised late 2004 - early 2005. The results were announced in The East African of Monday 18 April 2005. You can read all submitted essays by clicking on the links below. |
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The 3 best essays |
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The jury (a 50-50 % mixture of newspaper editors and senior researchers) chose following 3 winning essays: |
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by Christian Thine, University of Nairobi, and George Okwach, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute |
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By Hector Mongi, Agricultural Research Officer, and Atugonza Bilaro, Agricultural Research Officer, Tumbi Agricultural Research Institute, Crops Research Programme, Tabora, Tanzania |
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3 . Potassium studies in Western Kenya By Shem Maina Kanyanjua and George Oduor Ayaga of KARI, Joseph K. Keter of University of Nairobi and John O. Okalebo of Moi University |
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Read all submitted essays |
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They are unedited and ordered according to when we received them. |
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1 . Strategies to improve research quality at St. Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) Country : Tanzania
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2 . How can we improve research quality in the Tanzania forestry research institute Country : Tanzania
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Country : DRC
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4 . Potassium studies in Western Kenya Country : Kenya
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5 . How can we improve research quality in our institute? Country : Tanzania
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6 . Improving the quality of scientific research in East and Central Africa Country : Uganda
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7 . Energizing Research Quality in East and Central Africa’s Public Research Institutions: Is It Doable? Country : Kenya
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8 . The Need for African Apologetics in Science Country : Kenya
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9 . Plaidoyer pour la protection de la biodiversité du parc national des Virunga Country : DRC
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10 . Improving scientific research quality in East and Central Africa: Case of Moi University, Kenya Country : Kenya
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11 . Inclusion of Multidisciplinary Approach to Agricultural Research Country : Tanzania
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Country : Kenya
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13 . Towards quality research: inadequate funding, poor infrastructure and salaries are the main barriers Country : Tanzania
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14 . Identifying Best Bet Clays for Lining Water Storage Pans: An Intervention with Commercial Potential for Communities Country : Kenya
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Organisers |
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Click on the logos of each organiser to go to their website. |
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Links to articles on the subject published in The East African |
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How to Bridge the Research Gap in Africa |
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Theft, Lack of Facilities Bedevil Congo Scientists |
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Research in Africa Has Little Relevance to Real Need |
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Research competition reveals endemic problems |
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Publication of the winning essay |
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Publication of the runner up |
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Publication of the second runner up |
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Sponsors |
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VSN Intl. ( http://www.vsn-intl.com ) donated several licenses of their latest professional statistical software GenStat 8 to the winning institutions. |
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The organisation of the competition and some of the prizes were funded by the project "Capacity Strengthening in Research Methods". This project from VVOB, the Flemish Association for Development Co-operation and Technical Assistance, is hosted by the Research Support Unit of ICRAF, the World Agroforestry Center. |
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Original Announcement and Rules and Regulations. |
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the quality of our research up to the mark? Obviously not, given the
slow pace of transformation in some economic sectors and the stagnation
and decline in others. What is the problem? Is it lack of funds and
infrastructure or poor salaries and motivation or organizational issues?
Or all of the above? How can it be solved? In this essay competition, we
are calling on the many talented, qualified researchers languishing in
the region's public research institutions to answer these questions.
Or Describe an effective research project in which you participated that had a quantifiable impact in its field and analyse the reasons for its success Length: 2,000 words or less Language: English or French Who Can Enter: Groups of 2-6 staff members of any university or public research institute in Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, The Comoros, The Seychelles and Uganda Deadline for Entries: February 28, 2005 An independent jury of eminent academics will select the three best entries. The winning entries will be published in The EastAfrican. Winners will also receive gifts of statistical software and valuable research material. Contest Rules & Regulations 1 . Only entries from a group of authors will be allowed. The group should consist of minimum 2 and maximum 6 staff members of any public or private university or of a government research institute. Also students or researchers working in an NGO can submit an essay if this is submitted by a group of 2 - 6 persons and at least one of the authors is a staff member of a university or a government research institute. 2. Participants can choose their own title. 3. The essay must not exceed 2,000 words. This means that if you were to write the essay using Microsoft Word, typewritten in 12 point Arial and single-spaced, you would have about 4 pages. When counting the words, the list of references should not be included. 4. Entries must be in English or French. The number of words must be indicated at the end of the essay. 5. Judges will look for originality, accuracy of facts and statistics, style, original thought and fresh perspective of the essay theme. The essay should include an INTRODUCTION, a main body divided into HEADINGS and SUB-HEADINGS, and CONCLUSIONS. The essay should be accompanied by a list of references or bibliography. All sources of reference should be acknowledged. 6. Participants should submit their essay as both plain text and as an attachment to the following e-mail address: w.buysse@cgiar.org Only after the sender has received an e-mail confirming that the essay has been received in good order, can it be considered a valid entry to the contest. If the sender doesn't receive a confirmation of his e-mail after 7 days, it means something has gone wrong and the sender should send the e-mail again. 7. In the e-mail, participants must provide the following information: • for each author: family name, first name(s), title, institute, department 8. All essays must be sent to the above-mentioned e-mail address latest by 12.30 p.m. Kenyan time (= UTC + 3) on Monday 28 February 2005 . Late entries will not be considered. 9. Winners will be notified via e-mail. 10. The jury will select the 3 best essays . 11. Those 3 best essays will be published in The EastAfrican in April 2005. The EastAfrican has the right to edit the essays. 12. After the winners have been selected, all entries will be available in an unedited form on the following website: http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/research 13. Each group of winning authors will receive several prizes like books on research. The institute of the authors who write the winning, second and third best essay will receive 3, 2 and 1 single user licenses, respectively, of the latest GenStat statistical software. 14. The organisers reserve the right to amend the rules and regulations of the competition without prior notice. 15. The decision of the judges is final.
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