Cape Coast, June 01, GNA – The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has launched its first ever Innovation Report and its third five-year Research Agenda for the year 2023 to 2027.
The two documents, put together by the university’s Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC), respectively showcase UCC’s contribution to humanity over the years through innovation and invention and provide a blueprint for future commitment to its mandate.
The documents were launched Tuesday, together with a special award ceremony to honour deserving staff and management members following the schools’ impressive performance in the 2022 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.
The function was held on the theme: “Academia-industry innovation matchmaking: Practical steps for 21st century universities.”
The Innovation Report chronicles over 100 major innovations and inventions in the Arts, Social, Medical and Natural Sciences undertaken by UCC faculty members from 1984 to 2021 in its 60 years of existence.
They include attenuation of hypersound in superlattice, production of lensmetre and alpha track analysis using lasers, thermoelectric effect in a semiconductor superlattice, calcium measurement, several varieties of cassava and malted maize drink.
Others are anti-diabetic herbal drug from abrus precatorius leaves, laser-induced fluorescence anti-malaria herbal plant, non-linear based Utaut model, Aflata-mix for instant kenkey, egg freshness integrity testing and Ghana Bee Map.
The 2023-2027 Research Agenda on the other hand, is a 44-page document which focuses on six strategic research areas.
They are Empowering and Transforming society, Health in a Changing Society, Science and Technology Application to Emerging Challenges, Responsive Distance Education, Transformative Education in the 21st Century and Evidence Syntheses for policy and practice.
The Agenda further spells out detailed research areas each of University’s five colleges.
UCC was ranked number one in Ghana and West Africa, fourth in Africa and among the top 350 universities globally in 2022 by THE World University index ranking.
The school was also adjudged number one globally for research and was the only Ghanaian university in the 2022 THE World University Rankings’ top 1000.
Speaking at the function, Prof Johnson Nyarko Boampong, the Vice Chancellor, said the focus of UCC was informed by global trends in addressing complex existing and emerging challenges.
He indicated that the Innovation Report demonstrated the university’s contribution to humanity in diverse ways and provided evidence of its commitment to research and scholarly outputs of international repute.
He noted that it was critical to make research and innovation a top priority in confronting developmental and societal challenges such as food security and safety, climate change, safe environment and sanitation.
“Emerging challenges in the past several decades and those of the 21st century have brought to the fore the need for African Universities to engage in critical research and innovations which will translate into tangible and usable outputs to improve the quality of life and society on sustainable basis,” he said.
Prof Boampong maintained that African researchers were best placed to lead in the identification of their own problems and produce tailor-made social and technological innovations through relevant research for the Continent.
He said the achievements attained by the school was through hard work and dedication and could only be sustained through same.
“We must conduct cutting-edge research, strengthen our local and international research collaborations to build research capacities, forge strong academia-industry partnerships and harness innovations for entrepreneurship drive and sustainable development,” he added.
Professor Frederick Ato Armah, Director of DRIC, stressed the need for the university to collaborate with other academic institutions, national and international research agencies, industry, government among others to realise UCC’s research mission to impact society positively.
He said research and education were interconnected at UCC and therefore as working environments transformed, the university’s curriculum must respond to same by evolving to support students to adapt to all situations.
“Consequently, creativity, critical thinking, enterprise, intercultural competence and digital literacy are increasingly taking centre stage in our curriculum,” he noted.
“The most pressing contemporary global challenges facing the world today are both social and natural, and our multidisciplinary approach places us in a unique position to develop and implement sustainable solutions,” he added.
Prof Armah indicated that the school’s current research agenda reinforced interdisciplinary collaboration and academia partnerships.
At the ceremony, more than 80 past and present staff and management members including former Vice Chancellors, former Pro-Vice Chancellors, former and present registrars, and former and present directors of DRIC were honoured for their exceptional contributions in putting UCC ahead of many universities around the globe.
They were recognised for their excellence in strategic leadership, technical and administrative support, and excellence in research and handed citations.
Prince Acquah
