The University for Development Studies (UDS) Graduate School has held its second (2nd) Annual Graduate Conference (AGC) for the year 2023 dubbed ‘AGC 2023’. The two day event which commenced on Wednesday 6th December, 2023 is being held at the Multi-purpose auditorium at the Tamale Campus. The program which brings together graduate students to present on issues relating to their research topics was organized in collaboration with the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) under the theme: “Youth in Research for Sustainable Development.”
Delivering the welcome and inauguration address, Pro Vice-Chancellor of UDS Professor Elliot Haruna Alhassan highlighted some of the importance of the seminar and likened it to the annual harmattan school which he said was similar in terms of its ability to expose researchers to each other and offer an opportunity for them to learn from their various areas of endeavor. He urged participants to play an active role throughout the two day event in order to fully benefit from it.
“The annual graduate conference is one of the most exciting innovative events designed specifically for postgraduate research students. The program seeks to celebrate and promote academic excellence by creating the platform to showcase outstanding postgraduate work in an immerging and accessible way to the wider university and the public.” He stated.
Professor Elliot further added that, “The annual graduate conference is similar to the annual harmattan school organized by UDS and provides our graduate students with a unique opportunity to be celebrated as they disseminate significant findings of their research taking place in this university. This prestigious event also reflects the university’s commitment to capacity building and professional development opportunities for its graduate students.”
In attendance were deans, heads of departments and directors from the various faculties, departments and directorates. Others were the Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Professor Amin Alhassan, a lawyer and Managing Partner of ENS Africa, Amina Kaguah. Students of UDS pursuing post-graduate programs in all faculties across the two campuses of the university as major participants whose research were on display.
In delivering the key note address, Professor Amin Alhassan commended the UDS graduate school for putting together the AGC 2023 and referred to the theme for the event saying it was timely.
Professor Amin Alhassan’s presentation touched on two key issues which included the need for the youth who have taken research as an endeavor to ensure their studies are grounded in the academic discourse that will promote the development that is being promised Ghanaians by our various national leaders over the years for which critical questions must be asked. He also highlighted the need for research findings to be disseminated appropriately in order to reach its target audience.
Prof Amin Alhassan said the new paradigm in the research discipline was activism by Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and issues of local accountability which he said the youth must take keen interest in this.
“For us here at UDS, being the first university in the country with the mandate to ensure that our teaching and learning has the character of ensuring national development, we have the undeniable responsibility to lead in development research in Ghana.” Professor Amin said.
He added that, “NGOs largely funded by foreign donors, do not and are not accountable to the people yet they justify their existence as acting on behalf of the people. There is a lot of research around it and this is where youth for research in sustainable development that is the theme of this conference comes in.”
Professor Amin Alhassan also reiterated the need for researchers to find ways to disseminate the findings of their studies to the public. “If we work on the project of reinventing democracy and thinking outside the box and questioning the simple assumptions of liberal democracy and come out with something new, how do we sell it to the wider public? And that is about dissemination or communicating your research beyond the academic journal.”
He further stated that, “In translating knowledge for service into reality, our scholarship must go beyond publishing in the academic journal. The communication research work beyond academic publication is what we call dissemination. For a university that believes in knowledge for service, dissemination should be a major concern for all of us. And the channels for dissemination are enormous, social media is one.”
Professor Amin Alhassan recommended that development oriented research must have a policy brief produced to be published on the university’s website. He said field works should include short video components as evidence which now has a global appeal and this can harnessed for impact to be made and also make the findings of the study go far.
The enrichment lecture was delivered by lawyer and managing partner to ENS Africa, Amina Kaguah. She said ENS Africa is a wholly owned African law firm operating in seven African countries.
The focus of her presentation was using her life’s experiences to encourage graduate students to work hard in their studies even in the midst of the challenges that usually come with it. The two day conference ended on Thursday.
