INCLUSIVE RESEARCH VISIBILITY INITIATIVE (IRVIN)
The IRVIN project aims to showcase excellent and groundbreaking research/activities going on in institutions from under-represented regions worldwide. This visibility is achieved through free international conferences and journals publishing.
RESEARCHLINK AFRICAN INITIATIVE (RAIN)
The goal of ResearchLink African Initiative is to:
- Foster collaboration for African research students with researchers, universities and companies worldwide through funded scholarships, trainings, conferences, grants and other opportunities.
- Help link African students with researchers and research companies through collaboration and networking.
- Bring to the forefront the plight of African students in many African countries in terms of funds for research, publishing and conference attendance.
- Bridge the gap between African students/researchers with research institutes in the developed world.
The Problem
The decline in research and scientific production of African universities on a global level is motivated by different factors including poor research infrastructure, poorly-equipped libraries, limited access to new technologies and the lack of financing for research that generate accumulative effects and problems in the institutions.
The opinion shared by the international community, and increasingly by African governments, is that universities and PhD programmes will be competitive and will contribute towards the development of processes to overcome problems endemic to each country, if they are guided towards, and positioned in the knowledge economy, and global information and research networks.
It must be taken into consideration that there is scant internationalization of PhD and research programmes in Africa. Internationalization and cooperation with other universities have still not been strategically integrated in the development of the programmes offered.
Equally considered problematic is the fact that PhD students are not requested to do teaching and research stays abroad. The development of innovative practices and strategies on an international level for PhD and research studies can have a positive impact on the quality of training and developed research. It can facilitate greater integration of research results in more consolidated and global research structures.
In conclusion, the main challenges encountered by African research and PhD students include but not limited to:
- Lack of funding for research
- Lack of access to good and well equipped labs
- Lack of funds to publish research in journals and conferences
- Lack of funds to attend conferences and present results
These challenges can be overcome through collaboration and building networks. Thus, one of the priority objectives of ResearchLink African Initiative is to establish a permanent forum of cooperation, dialogue and exchange between African research students and researchers, universities and companies in developed countries.
ResearchLink International is working with several institutions and have put together several initiatives and platforms to encourage collaboration among researchers, especially helpful to researchers from Africa and other developing countries. These include but not limited to:
- Graduate, Doctoral and Post-Doc exchange programs
- Research visits to well-equipped institutions to use their lab and facilities
- Individual exchange programs and research visits without institutional exchange agreements
- Scholarships and fully sponsored Graduate, Doctoral and Research studies at foreign institutions
- Undergraduate research, visits and exchanges
- Networking and information sharing through ResearchLink Social Network platform- Researchlinker
PUBLICATION HELP
ResearchLink International is also dedicated to helping researchers, students, corporate bodies and individuals all over the world publish their research, reports and results in high ranking peer reviewed journals, conferences and workshops worldwide.