Reaping the rewards of stellar research
The Research Council of Zimbabwe will host the 11th Zimbabwe International Research Symposium at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) on February 16 and 17. As the nation approaches the key event, The Sunday Mail is highlighting the centrality of research to economic growth and development. IT IS gratifying to note that Zimbabweans are renowned worldwide for recognising, celebrating and rewarding excellence.
With a lot of individuals and companies that have dedicated time and money to conduct various studies, it then becomes noble for such efforts to be recognised.
In that regard, the forthcoming symposium will dedicated special time to celebrate outstanding research and success in translating research results into tangible products, services and processes.
The emphasis is on celebrating the tangible benefit of research results and not necessarily the quantum of research output.
In celebrating success stories, we are blowing our own trumpet to the world. At that point, the world will celebrate with us.
But the celebration will not be just in praise of those that have come up with outstanding innovations or researches.
Individuals or companies will be awarded to encourage a research culture and awaken an appetite in entrepreneurs for seeking new knowledge competitively.
The highest and by far the biggest will be the Robert Gabriel Mugabe Award given in recognition of the President’s visionary leadership and national contribution to the high national literacy, education and by implication, research.
President Mugabe is an illustrious son of Zimbabwe and is revered both on the African continent and beyond for his sharp intellect which is why we named the biggest award after him. The reason for the award is to appreciate the efforts and hard work by our local researchers, motivate other researchers and inspire quality research.
It is our highest conviction that the awards will also encourage a research culture, demonstrate the importance of research and promote the uptake of research as a career. The awards were introduced during the last symposium in 2015 and the winners were as follows (see table).
In addition to the 2015 awards categories, this year will see additional accolades for Female Researcher Outstanding Research, and Company/Institution Outstanding Application of Research and Development. Both awards will be accom- panied by a certificate and US$7 500.
Furthermore, there will be a Health Science Award of a certificate and US$3 000 while the University Student Researcher will get US$2 000 and a certificate.
A call was made for nominations of the awards in the mainstream media and it lasts 90 days. The process will be followed by an adjudication process that is held to international standards. In addition, standard scores are used and verification of claims is done in writing and physically through site visits or interviews with nominators and other relevant informants.
As the Research Council of Zimbabwe, we would like to emphasise that the council will not dictate the use of the monetary tokens of appreciations. We would like our researchers to use the money in cheering up as well as motivating themselves to continue doing research.
Also, there has been a deliberate inclusion of the fresh minds or young researchers in the awards categories. This was upon realisation that they are a national asset who will steer the country tomorrow.
We are riding on the saying “catch them young”.
◆ Susan Muzite is the Executive Director of the Research Council of Zimbabwe