Prof Ewelina Niemczyk, Dr Jan Khumalo, and Matthews Makunye recently organised two research capacity building workshops for academics in the North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Professional Studies in Education.
Designed with the support of the school director, Prof Kobus Mentz, the two workshops were aimed at improving the quality and impact of the research conducted within the school at the Mahikeng Campus.
During the workshops, researchers were empowered with the necessary knowledge, competencies, tools, and resources to increase research productivity.
Each workshop included informative and interactive sessions led by experienced researchers, covering a range of research-related topics.
“During the sessions, there were fruitful group discussions that fostered collaboration and information sharing between the attendees,” says Prof Niemczyk.
During the first workshop, which was chaired by Dr Khumalo, Prof JP Rossouw discussed effective career planning and constructing a scholarly profile for advancement. Prof ML Hove provided a thorough overview of the path to National Research Foundation rating and scholarly recognition, and Prof Niemczyk presented strategies for increasing individual research productivity. Prof Jako Olivier concluded the session by emphasising the significance of ethical conduct and research integrity in the context of research productivity.
During the second workshop Prof Niemczyk further enhanced the workshop by bringing much-needed attention to the element of sustainability in research capacity building.
The workshop was chaired by Matthews, while Prof Washington Dudu delivered the motivational opening. Prof Charl Wolhuter shared his wealth of knowledge about building and maintaining international collaborations as well as dos and don’ts in academic publications.
During this session colleagues addressed the topic of sustainable engagement in various research activities: research writing (Dr Darrell de Klerk), postgraduate supervision (Dr Joyce Dhlamini), as well as impact factor and scholarly visibility (Dr Khumalo and Prof Niemczyk).
“The insightful and stimulating discussions after each session proved the importance of research capacity building workshops and the need for similar workshops in future,” adds Prof Niemczyk.
During the School of Professional Studies in Education’s first research capacity building workshop are in the back from left Prof ML Hove, Prof Dumsani Mncube, Prof Ewelina Niemczyk, Dr Jan Khumalo, Dr Aloysius Seherrie, Prof JP Rossouw and Dr Celestine Mayombe. Seated in front are Prof Jako Olivier, Dr Joyce Dhlamini and Matthews Makunye.
During the School of Professional Studies in Education’s second research capacity building workshop are in the back from left Prof Dumsani Mncube, Prof Ewelina Niemczyk, Dr Joyce Dhlamini, Prof Washington Dudu, Matthews Makunye and Dr Aloysius Seherrie. Seated in front are Dr Jan Khumalo, Prof Charl Wolhuter, Dr Darrell de Klerk and Dr Celestine Mayombe.
