Research capacity development in a South African higher education institution through a north-south collaboration

Abstract

One of the constraints that prevent higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries from engaging in effective and essential research is a lack of research capacity. This study reports on a north-south collaboration between a group of Flemish universities and an HEI in South Africa with the specific goal of improving productivity, quality and capacity amongst researchers. A collaborative project with multiple subprojects was established in 2003, and extended over two consecutive five-year phases. Document analysis was conducted of annual reports, monitoring and evaluation reports, curriculum vitae of participating members, and progress reports of students and supervisors during this time. The findings of the study illustrate the extent to which research capacity objectives can be achieved through a north-south partnership. Members of the collaboration were able to develop intra-and inter-disciplinary partnerships that resulted in maximising the capacity-building efforts, enhancing both individual and institutional research capacity.

Institutionalizing research capacity strengthening in LMICs: A systematic review and meta-synthesis

“…In one case (UHon 14,15 ), we found both a conference abstract and full paper. For seven interventions we found one full article (IDIMak 16 , TDR 17 , CoMM 18 , WCape 19 , Lmpp 20 , ARCADE 21 , WHSRO 22 ), for one intervention we found two articles (CHSZim 23,24 ) and for one intervention we found three articles and a conference abstract (MozC [25][26][27][28] ). We contacted the authors of two papers for further clarification and received a reply from both.…”

Increasing collaborative research output between early-career health researchers in Africa: lessons from the CARTA fellowship program

“…Africa requires well trained and networked researchers, capable of responding to challenges in public and population health [ 1 – 3 ]. Interdisciplinary collaborative research is particularly essential for public and population health to address its complexity, to deal with the multifaceted determinants of health and to describe and understand the local context in which interventions are proposed or evaluated [ 4 , 5 ].…”

“…Interdisciplinary collaborative research is particularly essential for public and population health to address its complexity, to deal with the multifaceted determinants of health and to describe and understand the local context in which interventions are proposed or evaluated [ 4 , 5 ]. Interdisciplinary collaborative research potentially leads to high-quality scholarly productivity [ 3 , 6 , 7 ] as it usually brings together people with various skills and experiences to research and potentially enriches the quality of research [ 8 ]. Researchers in health sciences generally conduct collaborative research and publish with multiple authors compared to humanities and social sciences [ 9 ].…”

“…However, the collaboration between health researchers from different countries, institutions, and disciplines in Africa remains low [ 4 , 10 , 11 ]. Therefore, training programs that create opportunities for collaboration can make a valuable contribution to the African health research landscape [ 3 , 12 , 13 ].…”

Institutionalizing research capacity strengthening in LMICs: A systematic review and meta-synthesis

“…In one case (UHon 14 , 15 ), we found both a conference abstract and full paper. For seven interventions we found one full article (IDIMak 16 , TDR 17 , CoMM 18 , WCape 19 , Lmpp 20 , ARCADE 21 , WHSRO 22 ), for one intervention we found two articles (CHSZim 23 , 24 ) and for one intervention we found three articles and a conference abstract (MozC 25 – 28 ). We contacted the authors of two papers for further clarification and received a reply from both.…”