In a globalized world characterized by modes of economic production requiring the ongoing production of new knowledge, Africa will only compete if it is able to participate as more than a producer of raw materials for ‘reinvented’ goods. In order to do this, Africa needs to increase its research production. This will only be achieved if more doctoral graduates are produced and if its existing scholars are supported to work at the cutting edges of disciplines and subject areas. However, the need for economic development is not the only reason for an increase in research production. Knowledge contributes to the stability of democratic societies as does the opening up of the capacity to be involved in research production to those who have been previously marginalized. This project differs from many others aimed at increasing research capacity by focusing not on the development of structures, such as programmes, units or policies but by working in the ‘cultural domain’ to foster the development of research rich environments in which academics and postgraduate students can thrive. Social scientists constantly remind us that culture is as important as structure but it is the ‘softer’ cultural elements that are often overlooked. The project does this by fostering scholarly engagements intended to share African scholarship and thought and provide role models and practices for others to emulate. A second element of the project involves adapting a highly successful course on postgraduate supervision so that it too addresses the cultural domain and makes supervisors aware of covert assumptions and elements of practice that may exclude rather than include.Finally, the project fosters collaborations amongst partners aimed at developing the capacity to manage and plan research in culturally sensitive ways which draw on best practices but which are nonetheless cognizant of multiple ways of experiencing the world.
CPC aimed to contribute to the development and enhancement of research rich environments by providing opportunities to learn from each other focused on developing shared understandings on the meaning of 'research rich in different contexts. More specifically CPC aimed to contribute to: increasing supervision capacity at PG level by developing contextualized supervision courses; fostering scholarly conversations; creating summer schools; and strengthening research management and support efforts.
In a globalized world characterized by diverse modes of economic production requiring the ongoing production of knowledge, Africa will only compete if it is able to participate more than a producer of raw materials for 'reinvented' goods. In order to do this, Africa needs to increase its research production and number of doctoral graduates. The CPC project operates in the 'cultural domain' of all partner institutions aiming to foster research rich environments in which participants can thrive.
<< Background >> In a globalized world characterized by diverse modes of economic production requiring the ongoing production of knowledge, Africa will only compete if it is able to participate more than a producer of raw materials for 'reinvented' goods. In order to do this, Africa needs to increase its research production and number of doctoral graduates. The CPC project operates in the 'cultural domain' of all partner institutions aiming to foster research rich environments in which participants can thrive. << Objectives >> CPC aimed to contribute to the development and enhancement of research rich environments by providing opportunities to learn from each other focused on developing shared understandings on the meaning of 'research rich in different contexts. More specifically CPC aimed to contribute to: increasing supervision capacity at PG level by developing contextualized supervision courses; fostering scholarly conversations; creating summer schools; and strengthening research management and support efforts. << Implementation >> CPC was implemented from a philosophical underpinning of social justice. The project set out to deliver results from the different work packages ensuring that management and communication and dissemination efforts were supporting the development and quality related efforts. This led to the implementation of supervision courses, development of summer schools, project and research management training workshops and institutional, national, regional and international dissemination activities. << Results >> 1) Institutionalization of Postgraduate supervision course and innovative supervision practices at partner institutions2) Collaborative sharing of scholarly practice between and across the partners at national, regional and international level, culminating in successful implementation of several summer school initiatives3) Increased insights in research and support operations to support capacity in approaches to external research funding, leading to two new (research) project applications