Picture: A section of the participants at the seminar.
A research seminar has been organised for the postgraduate students at Kumasi Technical University. The well-patronised seminar which was organised under the theme “Conducting Relevant Postgraduate Research in a Contemporary Society” was one of the series of seminars that are organised annually by the KsTU Graduate School to sharpen the research skills and competencies of its students.
The seminar was attended by the postgraduate students and some staff of the University. Addressing the participants, the Dean of Graduate School, Prof. Roland S. Kabange underscored the necessity of such research skills and the resolve of the Graduate School to equip its products with the needed research skills. As he put it, “Once you complete your studies and leave the University to the world of work, you are supposed to be well equipped with the needed research skills to enable you conduct independent research critical to the socio-economic development of Ghana”.
He indicated that the products of the Graduate School must stay relevant in the knowledge economy. It therefore becomes imperative for such seminars to be organised for the graduate students. The Dean further opined that “Postgraduate research enriches the prospects of students, opens doors for them that would otherwise be closed, satisfies the intellectual curiosity of both researchers and funders, and promotes development by policy formulation and implementation through salient research findings”.
Among other things, participants were educated on “Commercialising Postgraduate Research Outcomes” as well as “Effective Communication of Scientific Research Findings”. Speaking on the research commercialisation, Prof. Felix N. Engmann emphasised that the researcher needs to convert the research outputs into marketable products and services so that consumers will be attracted to them. He further added that there is also the need to diffuse the research outcomes into the society so that the relevance of that piece of work will be felt. He therefore emphasised the need for academic institutions to have technology transfer offices.
On his part, Dr. John Adjei who spoke on the topic “Effective Communication of Scientific Research Finding”, emphasised that without communicating the research finding, that research work will be of no relevance. He said that kind of communication should be done in a clear and unambiguous manner. Therefore, the findings should be in simple and straightforward language. He cautioned students against the use of redundant words and emphasised the need to employ appropriate methodology in their research works.
At the end of the seminar, the students asked questions and expressed their views on the various presentations. Also present at the research seminar were Dr. George Asumadu (Examinations Officer, Graduate School), Dr. Bismark Q. Parker (Programmes Coordinator, Graduate School) as well as Dr. Adams Misbaw and Mr Saforo from the Faculty of Engineering and Technology.
