Asked about the barriers facing students and early-career researchers, Professor Margaret Gyapong (University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ghana) highlighted how difficult it now was to secure long-term funding, raising questions about the sustainability of capacity building. She also stressed the limited opportunities for experienced nurses and other health workers who want to expand into research: “You find nurses wanting to do master’s and PhDs and there are very few institutions that have this kind of opportunities for them.”
For women, age cut-offs in funding schemes can create barriers if women decide to train and start a family before embarking on research. Funding in general is in short supply, and Professor Gyapong urged African leaders to step up to the plate: “Our African governments should start putting money on the table,” she suggested, to ensure that research activities are then driven by an African agenda.
She also highlighted the need for institutional strengthening, so that researchers have an environment in which they can continue their work and be internationally competitive. Finally, she noted that, while open access had reduced access barriers to knowledge, article processing charges had created new financial challenges for early career researchers who face the need to publish articles to advance their careers.
Responding to the same question, Professor Rose Leke (Emeritus Professor of Immunology and Parasitology at the University of Yaounde I, Cameroon) took a broader perspective. Considering women specifically, she argued that a profound shift in societal expectations about the role of women was needed: “A woman’s place is where she chooses to be,” Professor Leke insisted. One choice is to be a scientist: “There is a need to create a community that celebrates and supports this choice.”
She argued for a social movement that engages all of a community and values scientific literacy and education. She has developed a support network for women, the HIGHER Women consortium, which offers collective affirmation and provides opportunities for women to connect to others who can offer encouragement and advice. She argued that action needed to start early, at primary school, and to engage boys as well as girls: “We need to raise men to be proud supporters of the ambitious women in their lives.”
Institutional support
Professor Nelson Sewankambo (Professor Emeritus, Makerere University School of Medicine, Uganda) addressed the question of what higher education institutions can do to support young researchers. He noted that the Forum was a sign of a changing environment, and argued that “the time is right to reimagine the research ecosystem”.
Encouragingly, the numbers of universities conducting research and the numbers of health researchers are increasing in Africa, although this raises the challenge of how to ensure that their research is directed at priority challenges and is conducted ethically. A positive development has been the creation of research support systems to assist in applications and grants management.
However, Professor Sewankambo argued that the wider research ecosystem is critical, and additional government support is essential. Policymakers are interested in using the results of research to inform policy and practice, but have been less keen to fund the research to generate those results. He suggested that political leaders needed to show greater commitment to create healthy national ecosystems that support research and collaboration across countries.
Professor Leke added that some institutions were doing well, whereas others needed a helping hand so that they too could make contributions to improving health.
The goals of research
Professor Gyapong emphasised that young researchers should choose their research areas well, focusing on issues that are of real local importance. She suggested that they needed to take the time to understand local health systems, to ensure the relevance of their research and maximise the likelihood that it has impact, for example through partnerships with policymakers and programme staff.
Professor Marcel Tanner (EDCTP High Representative) noted that there was no ideal training programme for researchers, as training needed to be tailored to local settings. He suggested that the culture of science needed to change, with less attention being given to outputs and citations, and more to achieving impact on policy and practice. Researcher training needed to imbue an enthusiasm for this goal.
Indeed, he suggested that “science has three legs”: the joy of discovery, the joy of sharing, and the desire to ensure translation of findings to benefit people. Like a stool, all three legs are essential for science to be successful.
Final words of advice
Each of the panellists had final words of advice for would-be scientists:
- Professor Gyapong: Mentorship is key – find a good mentor, and don’t give up when things get tough.
- Professor Leke: Start early and build a social movement that supports scientific endeavours.
- Professor Sewankambo: Celebrate successes but take failure seriously – treat it as an opportunity to learn.
- Professor Tanner: Mentoring is important at all levels, and remember the three-legged stool…