Incentives for Conducting Societally Impactful Research
Exploring the incentives for and barriers to conducting societally impactful research in the Southern African Development Community is a research and engagement project funded by the Canadian International Development Research Centre. The project will run from February 2024 to April 2025.
Background
Demands for higher education institutions (HEIs) to produce societally impactful research have been
part of higher education, science and innovation policy and funding discourse for some decades
now. This has seen the integration of ‘service’ or ‘community engagement’ as a core university
function; the emergence of the ‘engaged university’ model; the development of partnerships
between HEIs, business, industry, policymakers and communities; and the emergence of research
designs and methodologies geared towards optimising the relevance and uptake of research for and
by beneficiaries or end-users.
The complex and interrelated economic, environmental, geopolitical and technological polycrises
facing societies today are prompting even more fundamental shifts in academic practice: an
increasing emphasis on collaborative, transdisciplinary, systems thinking research; the co-creation of
project designs and knowledge production with stakeholders beyond academia; and the
decolonisation and democratisation of knowledge production, among others.
Project focus
At the heart of this project is the question: how do the norms, organisational cultures, and reward and recognition systems of HEIs in SADC countries incentivise and enable, or disincentivise and constrain, researchers in the conduct of societally impactful research? However, incentives for and barriers to the conduct of societally impactful research are not only the product of institutional factors. They are also generated by national higher education policies, research agendas, research assessment practices, and regulatory frameworks; research funding criteria; and the scholarly and disciplinary requirements of academic publishing. Employing a research and innovation ecosystem lens, a second question explored by this project is thus: how do these incentives and barriers to the conduct of societally impactful research play out in the interrelationships and dynamics between the different actors, institutions, policies and practices in the research and innovation ecosystems in these countries?
Project outcomes
Using a combination of empirical (desk research and mini country case studies) and engagement activities (a community of practice and stakeholder engagement workshops), the key outcome of the project will be the formulation of a proposal for a forward-looking action research agenda that will address:
- How national and institutional reward systems could be adapted to better incentivise researchers to engage in societally impactful research, including a specific focus on issues of gender, equity and inclusion.
- How other dimensions of the ecosystem would need to adapt in order to accommodate such national/institutional shifts; and
- How government stakeholders in the SADC region and international research funders could incentivise, encourage and support positive change within these systems.
Project advisors
Prof. Birgit Schreiber, PhD is a consulting expert for the international higher education sector. With a wealth of experience in leadership roles, Birgit focuses on enhancing student success, leadership development, digitalisation, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and gender equality within Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.
She has collaborated with renowned organisations like USAf South Africa, DAAD and ERASMUS, lending her expertise to teaching, research, programme design and policy development. Birgit’s also an Extraordinary Professor at her alma mater, UWC, Cape Town, with a PhD in psychology and registration as a psychotherapist with the HPCSA.
With over 90 publications covering topics such as social justice, student affairs, engagement, higher education leadership, gender studies, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Birgit is a leading voice in the field. She’s the founding editor and editorial executive of the Journal for Student Affairs in Africa (JSAA), sits on the board of the Journal of College Student Development (JCSD) and serves as a column editor for the Journal of College and Character (JCC).
Currently, Birgit holds the prestigious position of President at the International Association of Student Affairs and Services, following her roles as Africa Chair and Vice President. Her contributions haven’t gone unnoticed, with accolades like the Noam Chomsky Award for International Research and the NASPA Award for International Practice.
Birgit’s influence extends globally, with memberships at the Africa Centre, Albert Ludwig University Freiburg, Germany, and as a research associate at Pretoria University. She’s also the German director for the STAR Scholars Network and serves on various boards, including SANRC Johannesburg and CASHEF Pretoria.
Mzime Ndebele-Murisa has a background in freshwater ecology. She is currently a Program Specialist at START International, an NGO that works at the interface of science, policy and practice in the developing world. Here, she managed the Future Resilience for African Cities and Lands (FRACTAL) Program (2018–2021) and currently coordinates the Education Partnerships for Innovation in Communities (EPIC) Africa network and co-leads capacity building in the Cascading Climate Health Risks in African Cities (CASCADE) project. Prior to joining START, she was a senior lecturer, programme coordinator and deputy dean at Chinhoyi University of Technology, and she also worked as a research fellow at the University of Zimbabwe. Mzime has coordinated several multi-disciplinary, collaborative projects in Africa focusing on aquaculture, climate change impacts, and adaptation such as the SADC Aquaculture Mentorship Program, Climate Impact Research Capacity, and Leadership Enhancement (CIRCLE), and the WorldFish’s Developing and Scaling of Sustainable Feeds for Resilient Aquatic Food Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (FASA) project. Mzime has over 40 publications, with contributions to the IPCC’s AR5 and AR6 Working Group II as well as a Climate-Smart Agriculture Manual for Education in Zimbabwe. She holds a PhD in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, a Master of Science in Tropical Resource Ecology, and a BSc Honours in Biological Sciences from the University of Zimbabwe.
Dr Marirajan Thiruppathi holds an interdisciplinary PhD in community governance and resource management and is currently serving as an Associate Professor and Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Unicaf University in Zambia. His cutting-edge research in the areas of sustainable livelihood, community governance, exclusion of marginalised communities, fisheries management, traditional knowledge, climate vulnerability & resilience and sustainable agriculture has been published in more than 30 peer-reviewed books and journals. He is a well-known educationalist with a background in action research. In his role as a research supervisor, he oversaw eight master’s students and one doctorate student, helping them to produce effective research results. He taught social work and sociology courses at the diploma, degree and master’s levels as part of the teaching and learning process. In collaboration with local, national and international intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, he has engaged in action research, development and outreach initiatives. He provides training, curriculum development and programme accreditation consulting services to universities and non-profit organisations. He also serves as an active member of editorial boards, an external examiner and an adjunct professor for numerous organisations and institutions.
Prof. Chipo Plaxedes Mubaya is currently leading the Internationalisation and Strategic Partnerships portfolio for the Chinhoyi University of Technology, where she is also Associate Professor in the Centre for Development Studies. In her former role, Chipo coordinated international student recruitment, both national and international partnerships as well as student and staff exchange programmes for the university. In the latter portfolio, she was engaged in transdisciplinary research through multi-stakeholder engagement projects. Chipo holds a PhD in Development Studies from the University of the Free State in South Africa and an MSc in Social Ecology from the University of Zimbabwe.
Researchers
Dr Courage Bandira holds a PhD in agricultural sciences from Texas A&M University (USA), an MSc from Ghent University (Belgium) and a BSc from the University of Zimbabwe. He is the Dean for the Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.
With more than 25 years of experience with university systems and agricultural research institutions in Zimbabwe, he has jointly supervised at least five Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy students. He has conducted research into innovative waste management, sanitation and health technologies in some communities of SADC countries that were supported by the BMG Foundation. His work on environmental remediation of contaminated sediments/soils has led to the successful revegetation of areas of Miltown, MT, USA, that have been affected by contamination. Working with small-scale and communal farmers of Zimbabwe in areas of soil fertility, irrigation and water management, he has conducted participatory action research and contributed to national policy development in agriculture, climate change, soil health and food and nutrition security.
He has published more than 25 peer-reviewed articles and technical reports. He has consulted on environmental and social impact assessments and monitoring and evaluation.
Prof. Nomalanga Mpofu Hamadziripi is an associate professor of applied linguistics and the director of the Teaching and Learning Institute at Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology. She has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Oslo, Norway and has over 25 years’ experience in university teaching, training, research and administration.
Nomalanga has over 35 publications in the form of books, dictionaries, journal papers and book chapters. She is an active collaborative researcher who has been awarded several externally funded research grants that include NUFU Pro 2007-10225, award NOK 5 753 000; the Arts and Humanities Research Council, UKRI AH/V006436/1, award £144,216.06 (February 2021–May 2022); and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, UKRI AH/X006859/1, award £98,783.72 (1 November 2022–31 October 2023).
Nomalanga is also deputy chairperson of the Kushinga Phikelela Agricultural College Advisory Board and a Fellow of the Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences – College of Social Sciences. In addition, she is an honorary research professor in the National Languages Institute of the Midlands State University in Gweru.
For enquiries, please contact the Project Lead, Dr Birgit Schreiber, at birgit.schreiber@sarua.africa
