The Faculty of Educational Studies of the KNUST is hosting its maiden International Doctoral Research Conference in Kumasi.

The conference aims to expose participants to the tenets of quality research and immerse them in credible research conventions in their fields of study.

This will enable them to conduct rigorous research and enhance their research output.

The 3-day conference dubbed, “Making Sense of Research Methodology in Times of Pandemic: Implications for Fieldwork and Data Analysis” is slated for 19-21 April, 2022.

The founding Dean, Prof. Winston Kwame Abroampa, said he anticipates a global surge in students enrolled in doctoral studies and postdoctoral fellowships in education.

He is however worried some postdoctoral and doctoral fellows in the course of their fellowships seem to be un-immersed in research conventions resulting in the production of skewed research.

He therefore underscored the need to maintain the quality and rigour of the research conducted by postdoctoral and doctoral fellows in this field. 

“Conducting research in these fellowships is one of the most defining and vital aspects of the training because it gives the student an opportunity to contribute to and expand the field of education,” he said.

The conference is jointly organised by Prof. Patrício Langa a Sociologist and a renowned scholar in Higher Education Studies from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa and Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique.

The rest are; the Doctoral Programme in Higher Education Studies (DPHES) of the Institute for Post School Studies (IPSS), University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa, the Comparative Higher Education, Policy and Innovation Studies (CHEPIS) Project of the Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.

The conference will feature renowned scholars such as Teboho Moja, a Clinical Professor of Higher Education at New York University and an Extraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, Yann Lebeau, a professor of Higher Education Research, and Head of the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of East Anglia, UK,  Professor David Kaldewey, the Director of Science Studies Department at the Forum Internationale Wissenschaft, University of Bonn, Germany.

Prof. Patrício Langa is the keynote speaker and KNUST’s Prof. Imoro Braimah will serve as the chairman for the scientific sessions. 

So far, a diverse range of doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows from universities in various countries including, Ghana, Mozambique, Sweden, Nigeria, and South Africa have contributed to the abstracts for the conference.

Prof. Abroampa encouraged universities in Ghana and abroad, and donors to collaborate with the faculty in its quest to enhance capacity building in educational research and professional development.  

“We’re poised to become a Centre of Excellence in Doctoral and Postdoctoral training in Education research,” he said.

One of the conveners of the conference, Dr. Patrick Swanzy, is grateful to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) for their support in assisting to enhance capacity in research in Africa.