Collaboration is key – Researchers told

Scientists and Researchers from all the private and public universities have been urged to work together. This was the clarion call by Simon Nabukwesi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. He was speaking at a Research and Development Consultative breakfast meeting at Nairobi Safari Club, on October 6, 2020.

“We are here to make the academy of sciences vibrant. We are here to make use of the science knowledge. I am mesmerized at how Japan went ahead with the innovation agenda. In Japan, you find that a given project has a team consisting of professor emeritus, PhD graduates, PhD students, Masters students and undergraduate students. All these teams work together and the young scholars learn from the elderly scholars. We need a structure where everybody has a role to play and they share ideas with other scientists,” he said.  

The PS pledged to support the scientists and the researchers in the endeavours. He took the opportunity to praise the COVID-19 containment efforts being taken by the universities and institutions of higher learning in general. They have been keen in keeping social distance, wearing masks and washing of hands.

On his part, Prof. Stephen Kiama, University of Nairobi Vice Chancellor, urged researchers to have a good vision of the future they want to achieve. With a good vision, it becomes easy to achieve the desired results. He challenged the view that a lot of financial resources have been invested in infrastructure as compared to research. “Let us prioritize intangible assets. Let us prioritize research”, he said.

The research and development consultative forum brought together vice chancellors, researchers, scientists and chief executive officers of various research organizations, all looking forward to improving the research output in the country.

Prof. Raphael Munavu, former Vice Chancellor, Moi University opined that urged scientists to make use of indigenous knowledge. He observed that in developed countries like South Korea, Japan and China, they have embraced traditional medicine and herbalists and the same should be done in Kenya. “Lets repurpose indigenous knowledge for scientific usage. We can use it in agriculture, architecture, cosmetics among other areas”, he said.

Prof. Paul Baki, from Kenya National Academy of Sciences pointed out that every challenge the government faces has a scientific dimension. New technologies like big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning can be used to solve complex problems which doesn’t require human interface.  He urged scientists to take advantage of the social media for information exchange.

Prof. Geofrey Muluvi, Vice Chancellor, South Eastern Kenya University  reiterated the fact that government can’t fund research activities 100% and hence researchers need to work with the private sector to secure funding.