CGC Africa Holds Africa Nutritional Sciences Research Consortium Workshop on PhD Graduate Training

The African Nutritional Sciences Research Consortium (ANSRC) held a two-day workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, on the 24th to 25th January 2013. In total, 43 participants attended the ANSRC workshop, with regional representation drawn from Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, and also from Tunisia (ADB representatives), USA and Italy.

February 28, 2013

The African Nutritional Sciences Research Consortium (ANSRC) held a two-day workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, on the 24th to 25th January 2013. The first day of the workshop was held at the Columbia Global Centers | Africa while the venue for day two of the workshop was the Intercontinental Hotel, Nairobi. The consortium project is now formally launched with dedicated staff based at CGCA in Nairobi. The workshop aimed to provide a forum in which views and ideas of major stakeholders was sought to inform long-term plans and strategies in implementing the nutritional sciences PhD training consortium.

The main objectives of the consultative planning workshop were: 1) to present the goals and significance of the proposed PhD training consortium in order to obtain sufficient buy-in from East African government and academic institutions, as well as donors and the private sector; 2) to gain insight from institutional representatives of the existing research and training capacities for undertaking nutrition and nutrition-related PhD training; 3) to discuss format and procedures for conducting baseline assessment of existing PhD Programs (i.e. faculty members involved in teaching and supervision, laboratory infrastructure including equipment inventory and maintenance, personnel training and competence, computer and information technology); and 4) to establish a clear framework with defined deliverables for consortium activities during the next 15 months of the planning phase.

In total, 43 participants attended the ANSRC workshop, with regional representation drawn from Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, and also from Tunisia (ADB representatives), USA and Italy.

Day one of the workshop comprised presentations and roundtable discussions focusing on critical issues such as: the role of African Development Bank (ADB), government and other agencies in basic nutritional sciences through PhD graduate training; the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and the CARTA program (African Population Health Research Consortium) as models for PhD training in East Africa; building inter-sectoral training into PhD research training in nutritional sciences; and what is needed to obtain government, academic and private sector support for ANSRC.

Day two of the workshop consisted primarily of working discussions. The pilot questionnaires were presented and reviewed by the participants. Further, critical information necessary for conducting baseline assessment of existing PhD programs was obtained. Additional sessions discussed important topics to be considered during the planning phase of ANSRC (prerequisites for admission, accreditation and institutional approvals, human resources and student support, curricular content, use of distance learning and core training workshops). The final presentation outlined the major steps needed to be undertaken in planning for the 5 year proposal for ANSRC.

In general, there was a clear consensus on the need for PhD training in nutritional sciences in East Africa and overwhelming support for ANSRC to take the lead in making this happen.

Going forward, ANSRC will hold the next workshop in Tanzania, tentatively scheduled for June 3rd-4th 2013.