Known for its research-intensive agenda, the University of Cape Coast (UCC) through the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC), has organised the eighth Research Awards and Grants (RAG) ceremony to support quality research and encourage research excellence and innovation amongst faculty.
The RAG ceremony provides a forum for recognising research endeavours that are closely linked to the research agenda and the interests of departments, schools/faculties, and colleges within the University.
The ceremony, held on the theme, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Innovative Research and Sustainable Development”, also served as a platform to share ideas and brainstorm on how the University could harness AI to contribute to the research and innovation ecosystem for sustainable development.
A total of 44 awards were given and of the number, 41 were under the Research Support Grant (RSG) category with 3 under the Best Research Award (BRA) section. The awardees directly contributed to the University of Cape Coast's sterling performance in the 2024 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings (WUR).
Opening the ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor of UCC, Prof Johnson Nyarko Boampong, underscored the need for Ghanaian universities to put their innovative research into action to impact the lives of the citizenry.
Prof Johnson Nyarko Boampong-Vice-Chancellor of UCC
“The conduct of relevant cutting-edge research … capable of rendering tangible and innovative outputs that tackle our developmental problems is one sure way of providing solutions to the societal challenges that we are faced with in the 21st century, “he said.
Prof. Boampong threw a challenge to universities to pursue intensive research because “national, continental, and global decision making are hinged on the output of scientific research and its implication on policies.”
“In Africa for example, social and economic challenges span across various dimensions hence, the need to solve them in an integrated and multidimensional fashion”, he noted.
He asked African universities to engage in multidisciplinary research instead of working in silos to solve societal problems.
“Research must be multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary since knowledge to solve societal problems is no longer in distinct silos of disciplines,” the Vice-Chancellor pointed out.
Prof. Nelson Buah (left), Former Pro Vice-Chancellor, presenting an award to a group of awardees
Through research, Prof. Boampong stated that UCC had chalked up many successes in the world, including being among the top universities globally for research influence and sustaining the position as the best university in Ghana, and West Africa for three consecutive occasions.
He urged DRIC to be consistent in finding innovative ways to improve the research outputs and grant portfolio of the UCC.
For his part, the Director of DRIC, Prof. David Teye Doku, said the mandate of DRIC was to stimulate research excellence, innovation and grants-making not only within UCC but also across Ghana and Africa.
In pursuit of its mandate, Prof. Doku indicated that DRIC had promoted and increased the quality and quantity of its research outputs over the past half-decade by encouraging the publication of scientific papers in credible outlets.
He said the research and innovation agenda of UCC was guided by a five-year Research Agenda (2023-2027), which was carefully developed through stakeholder consultations across the University.
Prof. Doku stated that the agenda took inspiration from the National Agenda 2057, the Africa Union (AU) Developmental Goal (AU Agenda 2063) and Sustainable Development.
The Vice-Chancellor of UCC (in red tie) being supported by two former Vice-Chancellors and the Director of DRIC (left) to cut the anniversary cake. Looking on are two former Pro Vice-Chancellors
The ceremony also witnessed the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of DRIC-UCC. An anniversary cake was cut by the Vice-Chancellor with the support of other dignitaries at the event to climax the celebration.
Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC