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The University of Ibadan has created another Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) position. The new office is that of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships).
The two already existing DVC position in the institution are those of the DVC (Academic) and the DVC (Administration).
On the recommendation of the Development Committee and the Senate, the Governing Council of the University of Ibadan has established a new office of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships).
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abel Olayinka, said in a statement on Sunday that the establishment of the office of the DVC (Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships) “is premised on the increasing need for the University of Ibadan to enhance its international profile and visibility, establish strategic partnerships with world-class institutions across the diverse sectors of society and innovatively seek new ways of enhancing its revenue generation capacity”.
He explained further that the role of the DVC (RISP) in the attainment of these goals is to assist the Vice-Chancellor to execute, in the most efficient manner, all activities that will potentiate the expected results.
He said: “It is a fact that Universities exist to generate, advance and disseminate knowledge for the growth of the society. This is captured in the UI Vision “To be a world-class institution for academic excellence geared towards meeting societal needs”. There is no doubt that the University of Ibadan has a number of internationally excellent research strengths in diverse fields.
“Aside the statutory functions of the office of DVC (Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships); the University looks forward to building on current successes, grasping new opportunities to publicize the research and innovation capacity and capability of the University of Ibadan, operationalizing existing partnerships and forging new ones”.
According to the VC’s statement, some of the strategies include:
- Using the Institutional Repository as a positive marketing tool to enhance University of Ibadan’s global visibility for scholarly research: This also has domestic policy and investment influencing implication on account of increased accessibility to the evidence and analysis that UI scholars have produced.
- Ensuring that the University is projected outwards by developing new research partnerships and building strong relationships with policy makers, industry and funders:
- Promote multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary research collaborations across the University- This is a follow up to 2016 UI Research, Development and Innovation Fair; based on identified potential for collaborations. A trans-disciplinary workshop is in the planning stage, which will involve matching potential collaborators across disciplines who will be trained and tasked with coming up with fundable proposals. It is expected that such projects will promote creativity, innovation and enterprise.
- Refocusing research conceptualization- thereby achieving significant increase in research for quality, income and impact thereby enabling translating research into cutting-edge education for students and wider economic and social benefits.
- Creating and enhancing strategic partnerships and collaborations in education, research and innovation – nationally, regionally, and internationally with opportunities for research, internships and shared learning for students and young academic. Fostering student mobility programmes; to undertake a period of study or work placement overseas during their time at UI.
- Engaging with our alumni community: to support increased employment opportunities for our students and investment in research and the University of Ibadan. These can be achieved through home-coming programmes and job fairs.
- Disseminating research results strategically, pro-actively and effectively- Apart from publishing in scholarly journals, through Fairs, policy briefs, mass media, etc.
“The University of Ibadan is endowed with outstanding human resource and together we will take our beloved institution to the level of the most preferred institution in Africa for knowledge acquisition and functional human capital development for national, regional and international visibility and development. Together, we shall raise the bar for academic excellence”, the VC stated.