AAU and IDRC to hold a forum on University Research Results

Accra, June 10, GNA - The Association of African Universities (AAU), in collaboration with the West and Central African regional office of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), would organize a three-day forum on valorisation of University Research Results in Ghana.

The first ever forum would serve as a platform for exchanging information, ideas and discussions among stakeholders on the situation and the out look regarding the valorisation of university research in West and Central Africa.

It would also help to identify problems and challenges of valorisation of university research results, identify experiences and best practices, outline institutional, national, and sub regional strategies for promoting the effective coordination of research into an integrated and sustainable development of West and Central Africa.

A statement issued in Accra on Friday by AAU and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the forum scheduled from June 13 to 16, 2011, would also assist the stakeholders to formulate recommendations and specific realistic actions to facilitate the development and implementation of those strategies in West and Central Africa by all stakeholders and to determine the mechanisms and funding arrangements.

The statement said the forum would result in a shared understanding of the issues and challenges surrounding the valorisation of university research results; direct contacts and fruitful exchanges among participants to open up new prospects for partnerships, synergies or alliances; a shared vision on the outline of the university strategy and of national policy on research valorisation.

It would host representatives from Academia, policy making organisations and the Private sector including the scientific and technical fields, administrative, financial or legal fields, economic, commercial and civil society organisations.