Researchers from the Southern Africa Development Community develop ̽��ֱ��-Industry partnerships to address societal challenges

Anonymous — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 11:53:24 +0000

̽��ֱ��visitors brought specific cases addressing challenges such as malnutrition, air pollution, climate change and counterfeit pharmaceuticals, for which collaboration opportunities were identified with Cambridge researchers and with Cambridge Enterprise supporting the development of knowledge-exchange models and commercialization.

“New doors were opened during the programme: the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency showed interest in adopting SignCoach for access by the Deaf society to their services, I was invited by the local radio station to present my work and both the level of adoption and of feedback from the general public significantly increased,” Lucia Otsetwe, researching Deaf-assistive technology at Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation said.

"It was clear that there is a high level of motivation and inventive spirit within the academic community, which is ready to flourish with the support of experienced practitioners from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, in spite of the R&D capacity constraints and the lack of a well-developed entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region" said Shirley Jamieson, Head of International Relations and Outreach Programmes at Cambridge Enterprise.

̽��ֱ��SADC Academia-Industry-Society Programme started with a workshop in Botswana in May, reflecting on local practices, infrastructure and policies. Cambridge researchers and knowledge-exchange practitioners contributed expertise ranging from open IP models for local sustainability to the political economy of agrarian change. “ ̽��ֱ��workshop gave me a great opportunity to learn what aspects of my research are important to people outside of my discipline. It also gave me an opportunity to get valuable feedback on both my research and ideas for future research.” said Jostein Hauge, working on African industrial policy and global value chains at the Institute for Manufacturing and Centre for Development Studies.

João Salavessa of Universidade Lúrio in Mozambique explained: “ ̽��ֱ��SADC Academia-Industry-Society Programme has had a key role in the strategy that our ̽��ֱ�� is establishing to tackle regional development and environmental issues – such as drought periods, heavy rains, soil and coastal erosion and cyclones – and it has already led to the design of a joint project with colleagues at Cambridge on microbial and electrochemical energy production systems.”

̽��ֱ��SADC Academia-Industry-Society Programme has captured key elements of Southern African innovation ecosystems addressing societal challenges, in which Universities have a fundamental role.

“We witnessed how Universities are uniquely positioned – due to their long-term commitment to their pursuit of knowledge – to trustworthily convene research and implementation partners that, together, can deliver solutions to societal challenges that are not attainable within most short cycles of political and economic growth agendas”, said Cambridge Global Challenges Progamme Manager Sara Serradas Duarte.

“ ̽��ֱ��programme has reinforced my belief that there is never a uniform approach, particularly when working internationally, and that by adapting approaches academic-industry partnering could provide considerable solutions to societal needs in the SADC region” said Vibhuti Patel, Head of the Bioscience Impact Team at the Research Operations Office.

Academics from Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia visited Cambridge in a programme facilitated by Cambridge Global Challenges that focussed on how innovation ecosystems can result from university-industry partnerships in the SADC.

̽��ֱ��programme has reinforced my belief that there is never a uniform approach, particularly when working internationally...

Vibhuti Patel, Head of the Bioscience Impact Team at the Research Operations Office

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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lw355 — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:30:59 +0000

In today’s climate of cut-backs and austerity measures, opportunities to increase efficiency and reduce costs are sought after. With this in mind, a new resource launched today by the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge aims to improve research management by making greater use of existing equipment and facilities, and by sharing these between universities wherever possible.

̽��ֱ��online Research Facilities and Equipment Database will help academics access information about facilities, equipment and research services across the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. Moreover, as the database expands, researchers will be able to look for and use equipment across five partner universities in the project – Cambridge, Imperial College, ̽��ֱ�� College London, and the Universities of Oxford and Southampton.

̽��ֱ��initiative is part of a drive by the Research Councils UK to increase the effectiveness of equipment use. Since May 2011, universities have been required to check with other peer institutions to see if there is an opportunity to share equipment prior to submission of grant applications. ̽��ֱ��database will facilitate this process and help researchers make a stronger case for new research facilities and equipment in grant applications.

Led by the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s Research Office and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Equipment Project has already amassed information on over 300 high-value research facilities and equipment, including Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometers, a Genome Sequencer FLX Instrument, Deep Reactive-Ion Etching systems and confocal laser scanning microscopes.

Importantly, the database neither monitors nor controls access to these facilities and equipment, with access remaining at the equipment owner’s discretion. However, each record in the searchable database includes contact information and, as a further time-saving measure, an indication of the level of its current usage ranging from ‘very low’ to ‘fully-utilised’.

Professor Lynn Gladden, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research commented: ‘ ̽��ֱ��Equipment Project has been an excellent example of research-intensive southern universities working together to pool resources at a time of significant funding constraints. We hope that this will be a useful tool for our researchers for many years to come. Sharing research equipment is not a simple matter, nor is it always feasible and it certainly requires trust between the different researchers involved.

“Yet, allowing others access to equipment has, in the past, helped to strengthen burgeoning research collaborations and, occasionally, even led to serendipitous collaborative research findings. With budgetary constraints likely to continue, tools such as these are invaluable if we are to support our world-class researchers accomplish their intellectual endeavours with the best resources available.”

For more information about the Equipment Project and the Research Facilities and Equipment Database please visit www.equipment.admin.cam.ac.uk

A new resource launched today by the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge will help researchers seek out and access high-value equipment across five universities.

Wilberth Solano

Surface profile of a spall in a bearing steel

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̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Research Office

Researchers from the Southern Africa Development Community develop ̽��ֱ��-Industry partnerships to address societal challenges

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