Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa

Sharon Fonn

Current CARTA Membership African Universities 1. Makerere University, Uganda

2. Moi University, Kenya

3. University of Rwanda

4. University of Dar es Salaam, TZ

5. University of Ibadan, Nigeria

6. University of OAU, Nigeria

7. University of Malawi

8. University of Nairobi, Kenya

9. University of the Witwatersrand, SA

African Research Centres 1. MRC/Wits-Agincourt Unit, SA 2. APHRC, KE 3. Ifakara Health Institute, TZ 4. KEMRI/WT Research Prog, KE 5. INDEPTH-Network Northern Partners 1. Swiss TPH 2. University of Gothenburg, SE 3. University of Umea, Sweden 4. Brown University, USA 5. University of Warwick, UK 6. Canadian Coalition for Global

Health Research 7. ESEO:O*, Chile *Non-African Southern Partner

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Why? • Structural inequality is a profound determinant of

opportunity, development, wellbeing and fulfillment

• Inequality makes the world unsafe locally, regionally and internationally

• Essential to redress structural inequalities

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Our focus

Intersection between 1. Inequalities in health

2. Inequalities in education So research capacity building

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Acknowledge the reality • Unreliable electricity & poor band width • Grossly inadequate libraries • Institutional weakness • Massification of undergraduate education • National governments who value international

consultants and agencies over local expertise • Few/no university can do it alone

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Context matters • Locally trained & internationally competitive

• Locally generated research questions and

approaches to understanding determinants of health

• Multidiciplinarity • In Africa, by Africans for Africa

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What kind of capacity is required? • Many interventions to build specific capacity

– Drug regulation – Ebola – MCH

• Can also build abilities and skills that can be applied across many/any field to improve public and population health

• To build future leaders – plotting their own course

Faculty & Staff

University Vice

Chancellors

University CARTA Focal Points

Targets

PhD Supervi-

sors PhD

Fellows

Joint multidisciplinary PhD training programme

Strengthening research infrastructure and university capacity to support research

BUILD THE NEXT GENERATION OF ACADEMICS DEVELOP INSTITUTIONAL

CAPACITY

PhD fellows full time staff of universities

CARTA Approach: Activities and Targets

Key Innovation: Joint Advanced Seminars JAS

Month 1 JAS 1 - Focus on multidisciplinary research, public and population health and CARTA approach to capacity development in Africa

Month 5 JAS 2 – Focus on research methods and finalisation of protocol

Month 25

JAS 3 (must have most data collected) – Focus on analysis and interpretation of data

Month 32

JAS 4 – Focus on professional development and life as a researcher after graduation

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Key Innovation: Joint Advanced Seminars (JAS)

• Multidisciplinary audience, facilitators, and curriculum

• Fills training deficiency • Reproducible sustainability • Network of scholars • Face-to-face and tacit learning to supplement own

and distance learning • Motivational milestone s improve throughput

1

CARTA Fellows by Sex & Home Institution Institutions Female Male Total in 5 Cohorts

1 APHRC 0 3 3 2 Ifakara Health Institute 3 1 4 3 Makerere University 5 7 12 4 Moi University 11 3 14 5 University of Rwanda 2 5 7

6 Obafemi Awolowo Univ. 6 6 12

7 Univ. of Dar es Salaam 2 3 5 8 University of Ibadan 5 11 16 9 University of Malawi 4 13 17

10 University of Nairobi 9 2 11 11 Univ. of the Witwatersrand 8 5 13

12 Agincourt 0 1 1

TOTAL 55 60 115

Fellows’ Disciplinary Backgrounds

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• 115 university /research center staff admitted as CARTA

fellows (52% males : 48% females)

• 245 publications in peer-reviewed journals (August 2015)

• Over 80 international conference presentations

• Over US$ 1,000,000 in grants raised by students as PIs

• 16 fellows completed PhD

• 8 CARTA fellows have post-docs, 4 re-entry grants

• Many engaged in national panels and university committees

Fellows Achievements

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Faculty and Staff Support • Over 100 PhD Supervisors attended supervisor workshops

• 6 training workshops involving over 400 faculty and staff

• Extensive engagement of faculty in design, development, delivery

and review of JAS curricula and materials Infrastructural support • $ 1.3 million spent on Partner-Institution infrastructural support

• Internet connectivity, library, computers, etc.

• Physical infrastructure

Achievements in Institutional support

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• Aspects of JAS incorporated at some institutions • CARTA supervisors contract adopted

• Student and peer review of teaching adopted

• Use of network to develop research proposals,

review courses, external examiners quality effect

• Librarian network formed

Emerging Institutional Impact

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• Northern PhD students attending JAS’s • New generations building African networks

• New models for research training in practice

• Collaborative research both N-N & S-N - sharing

research questions, material and methods • Young northern scientists get African experience

Benefits to Northern Partners

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Key Challenges 1 • Universities in Africa overall are poorly and

irregularly funded • Universities not the research engines they should

be • Quality suffers and research training inadequate

• Post grad and in particular PhD level gets little

attention and underfunded – no ‘post-doc’ track

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Key challenges 2

• Short-termism • Donor attention deficit disorder • Donor infidelity • Acknowledging international power relations and

its contribution to the development and perpetuation of structural inequalities

• Social solidarity in being accountable to making a difference - our partnership

CARTA Evaluation Findings Ian Christoplos October 13, 2015

Relevance and the ‘proof of concept’ • The overall CARTA ‘concept’ is highly relevant; responds to

a major need for high quality, African-led doctoral training • The research outputs and career trajectories of the fellows

appear to be highly relevant to their countries • CARTA contributing to filling a large and serious gap in

linking African researchers and their universities to one another and to a range of Northern partners (breaking out of sole focus on bilateral relations with the North)

• Relevance relates to promotion of critical thinking and a culture of research

• Fellows perceive the CARTA structure to function strikingly well in addressing potential inequalities between men and women and between small and large institutions

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Going forward

• Increase the critical mass

• Secure the future of our graduates

• Institutionalisation of innovations

• Ultimately CARTA aims to be redundant

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Thank you