Offers to Institutions

Introductory letter

Please allow us to reach out to you and introduce Human Rights & Science (HR&S). HR&S is a social enterprise and our mission is sustainable development. We work through international equal partnership and have identified scientific research, advanced laboratories, innovation, social enterprising, and coordination among development stakeholders to be key to our mission.

With this message we want to inform about that HR&S is offering coaching to institution managements targeting:

Scientific research

  1. Supporting the scientific institution management with:
    • Ensuring firm and sustainable scientific capacity procedures so that researchers are benefiting from an empowering environment and can deliver amazing results. This shall increase the world ranking of the university.
    • Empowering financial procedures so that the institution reaches a sustainable economy and financial independence.
  2. Supporting the scientific staff with the generation, dissemination, and implementation of scientific findings.
  3. Supporting laboratory procedures and technicians and thereby ensuring access to functioning advanced scientific equipment.

Advanced laboratories

  1. Supporting scientific laboratory management with:
    • Empowering institutional procedures in order to increase operational efficiency and reaching goals.
    • Empowering a sustainable economy and financial independence.
  2. Supporting the laboratory staff with the selection, transportation, installation, calibration, operation, maintenance, servicing, use and decommissioning of advanced scientific equipment.
  3. Bridging between a buyer and a seller. HR&S has experience from supporting the negotiation with reaching mutually beneficial deals between international advanced laboratory equipment manufacturers and laboratories in Sub-Sahara African countries, and then coach on the implementation of the deal. We support with selecting the most suitable pieces of equipment related to the needs of a researcher or the laboratory, the transportation, installation, on-site training and the service and maintenance agreements.

Social enterprising

  1. Supporting social entrepreneurs to scale their businesses.

Sustainable development

  1. Supporting sustainable development stakeholders to move from donor dependency and donor driven programmes to international equal partnership for development and user driven programmes.

Method: The coaching entails compiling and addressing the necessary conditions required to bring about a given impact. Our partners’ ambitions are compiled together with their related challenges. Then activities to address these challenges are agreed on and implemented together, until the expected impact has been reached. The coaching builds on the HR&S Real-time Outcome Planning and Evaluation (ROPE) management strategy and its narrative Strategy for Change (SfC), targeting research management (REACH), laboratory management (FAST), social enterprisising and sustainable development. Progress is evaluated through yearly assessment of progress markers and measurement of evidence based sustainable impact. HR&S also offers, as a component of the coaching package, to give training to the institution staff, and have a variety of related topics to offer. We can also involve with coaching a defined group of researchers and technicians.

Equal partnership & sustainable economy: The partnership between HR&S and the institution management is built on equal partnership rather than traditional aid, thus it is not donor driven nor donation dependent. The institution is requested to pay a fee for the service, and the coaching is expected to eventually generate an income that exceeds the fee. This is possible if all stakeholders address assignments, in time and according to agreements.

The intervention starts small and scales gradually as impact is achieved. The first half-year builds on monthly meetings lasting two hours and a chat communication on WhatsApp, and the fee is EUR 5,000. The coming year also builds on monthly meetings and a chat group, as in addition a two one-day webinars. The fee for the full year is EUR 20,000. Thereafter, the coaching level is agreed on together and may include for example on-site events. The coaching of the management can be combined with monthly webinars for the scientific staff, EUR 20,000 per year, or on-site workshops. The fee for 12 hour training for staff over a period of two weeks with examination and certificates for students passing the exam is EUR 5,000. Costs presented exclude, on-site related costs and VAT.

In order to discuss this offer, HR&S proposes to arrange a webinar session combined with a meeting, so that we can learn about your challenges and propose solutions.

Context: It is commonly agreed that scientific research is one of the cornerstones of the development of any nation. Unfortunately, Africa contributes with only a fraction of the global research output, less than 1% (Chu. et. al., 2014).  At the same time, Africa faces some of the toughest challenges worldwide, some of which include poor disease management strategies, poor infrastructural development, food insecurity, poor hygiene and sanitation, lack of potable water, and climate change hazards (Kirigia and Barry, 2018). Ngongalah et. al., (2018) claim that the barriers to conducting research in Africa are related to that the conditions under which research is done are severely flawed and do not encourage engagement in research, or continuity of research activity, and Pulford et. al. (2020) state that in many Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries, research management and support (RMS) capacity is poorly developed contributing towards low research production from SSA universities and research institutions, relative to their counterparts elsewhere. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa spend, on average, just 0.5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on funding research and development, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (Makoni, M. 2018). In order to address this the African Union has set a target of investing 1% of GDP on research and development by 2025.

A  general framework for action plans for regions or countries with weak physical infrastructures based on gap analysis and needs assessment had been proposed early on  (Öman and Lidholm, 2002; Öman et al., 2006). A general practical strategy was presented with the aim of being long term including: i) managing supplies of spare parts and repairing equipment, ii) providing technical expertise, iii) managing information databases, iv) arranging meetings and training courses addressing equipment repair and use, and v) encouraging the development of policies and guidelines at national and institutional levels to mitigate constraints.

References
Chu KM, Jayaraman S, Kyamanywa P, Ntakiyiruta G. (2014) Building Research Capacity in Africa:Equity and Global Health Collaborations. PLOS Med. 11:e1001612.doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001612.
Kirigia JM, Barry SP. (2018) Health challenges in Africa and the way forward. Int Arch Med. 1:27. doi:10.1186/1755-7682-1-27.
Makoni, M (2018) Research is often unpaid in sub-Saharan Africa, Nature, news. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07244-w. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07244-w.
Ngongalah, L., Emerson, W., Rawlings, N. N. & Musisi, J. M. (2018) Research
challenges in Africa – an exploratory study on the experiences and opinions of African researchers. Preprint at bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/446328.
Öman,C.B., Gamaniel, K.S., Addy, M.E. (2006) Properly functioning scientific equipment in developing countries. Anal Chem, 78, 5273-6 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ac069434o
Pulford, J.,Crossman, S., Begg, S., Amegee Quach, J., Abomo, P., El Hajj T., and Bates, I. (2020) Strengthening research management and support services in Sub-Saharan African universities and research institutions. Research Note. AAS Open Research. https://aasopenresearch.org/articles/3-31

Reaching out by HR&S Branches

  1. HR&S Country Branches approaches key persons at the institution management level and presents HR&S and the coaching offers.
    • Then shares the names and contacts of persons showing interest with Cecilia.
  2. Cecilia sends a letter describing the HR&S offer and proposes a meeting. The purpose is to arrange monthly coaching webinars targeting scientific capacity strengthening and a sustainable economy for the University. The University pays for the coaching and the purpose with paying is to break the aid (help-me) mind-set.
  3. Lessons learned and informed decision. Cecilia also continuously adds information to this page that the Branch representatives can use when interacting with our partners on this topic.
  4. An introductory one hour zoom meeting is held.
  5. An agreement is signed.
  6. Fee is paid to HR&S Sweden. 10 % of the amount is set aside for the Country Branch.
  7. Coaching starts.

We benefit from the Lean business model.

Coaching institution Managements

Agenda

    1. Introduction to the Strategy for Change (SfC)_Training.
      Each component builds on the Real-time Outcome Planning and Evaluation tool (ROPE) which measures whether the support provided by the enabled the partners to be successful.
    2. Ensure sustainable economy_Coaching
    3. Ensure scientific capacity_Implement REACH & Support coaching of researchers.
      The purpose of the Research Management (REACH) coaching is to ensure scientific capacity strengthening procedures and support scientific institutions with the generation, dissemination, and implementation of scientific findings.
    4. Ensure access to functioning advanced pieces of equipment_Implement FAST & Support coaching of technicians.
      The purpose with the “HR&S Functioning Advanced Scientific Equipment” (FAST) Support programme is to support laboratories with the selection, transportation, installation, calibration, operation, maintenance, servicing, use and decommissioning of advanced scientific equipment.
    5. Support for women_Coaching & participant engagement
    6. International collaboration_Participant Engagement
    7. Ensure institutional capacity with effective and efficient operations_Coaching.
    8. Continuous review the SfC road-map_Coaching 
      • Measure progress markers and sustainable impact
      •  

Coaching Researchers

Agenda

  1. The Strategy for Change (SfC)_ Coaching.
  2. The scientific method_Training.
  3. Manuscript writing_Participant Presentations.
  4. Literature review_Coaching
  5. The manuscript writing and peer-review_Training.
  6. Review the SfC road-map_Coaching.
  7. Seeking research grants_Participant Presentations.
  8. The grant application review process_Training.
  9. Support for women_Coaching.
  10. Review the SfC road-map_Coaching.
  11. Literature review and sources_Coaching.
  12. Review the scientific method_Training. 
  13. Review the SfC road-map_Coaching.
  14. Laboratory work & access to advanced functioning scientific equipment (FAST)_Coaching.
  15. International collaboration_Participant Engagement.
  16. Presenting at conferences_Training.
  17. Supervisor support_Coaching.
  18. Review the SfC road-map_Coaching.
  19. Bureaucracy & hierarchy_Coaching.
  20. Social enterprising targeting the implementation of scientific findings_Coaching.
  21. Reaching out to policy makers_Coaching.
  22. Review the SfC road-map_Coaching.

Coaching Technicians

Agenda

  1. The Strategy for Change (SfC)_ Coaching.
  2. Laboratory sustainable economy_Coaching
  3. Selection of advanced scientific equipment_ Coaching and expert advice.
    Identify the laboratory and user needs. Invite suppliers to share about their products.
  4. Maintenance and servicing_Supporting deals with the supplier.
    Coaching on the implementation.
  5. Tender procedures and procurement_Coaching
  6. Transportation, installation, equipment validation and installation training_Coaching and supplier agreements.
  7. Calibration and operation_ Training
  8. Maintenance and servicing follow-up_Coaching on the implementation.
  9. Use_Coaching, expert advice and laboratory own procedures.
  10. Accreditation_ Training and expert advice.
  11. Decommissioning_Coaching and laboratory own procedures.
  12. Review the SfC road-map_Coaching.
  13. Seeking research grants_Participant Presentations.
  14. The grant application review process_Training.
  15. Support for women_Coaching.
  16. Review the SfC road-map_Coaching.
  17. Literature review and sources of_Coaching.
  18. International collaboration_Participant Engagement.
  19. Presenting at conferences_Training.
  20. Bureaucracy & hierarchy_Coaching.
  21. Social enterprising_Coaching.
  22. Reaching out to policy makers_Coaching.
  23. Review the SfC road-map_Coaching.

 

Background

It is commonly agreed that scientific research is one of the cornerstones of the development of any nation. Unfortunately, Africa contributes with only a fraction of the global research output, less than 1% (Chu. et. al., 2014).  At the same time, Africa faces some of the toughest challenges worldwide, some of which include poor disease management strategies, poor infrastructural development, food insecurity, poor hygiene and sanitation, lack of potable water, and climate change hazards (Kirigia and Barry, 2018).

Ngongalah et. al., (2018) claim that the barriers to conducting research in Africa are related to that the conditions under which research is done are severely flawed and do not encourage engagement in research, or continuity of research activity, and Pulford et. al. (2020) state that in many Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries, research management and support (RMS) capacity is poorly developed contributing towards low research production from SSA universities and research institutions, relative to their counterparts elsewhere.

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa spend, on average, just 0.5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on funding research and development, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (Makoni, M. 2018). In order to address this the African Union has set a target of investing 1% of GDP on research and development by 2025.

It is also important to note that research on economic issues relating to developing countries is led predominantly by researchers based in the global north, according to an analysis of nearly 25,000 papers by Liverpool, L. (2021). The findings show that although many studies focus on countries or regions in the global south, researchers based there have been vastly under-represented in the literature for decades. Economists analysed data on development and development-policy research. They found that just 16% of articles published in 20 high-profile development journals between 1990 and 2019 were authored by researchers based in the global south, compared with 73% authored by researchers in the global north and 11% that were collaborations between researchers in the north and south. The team defined “southern” researchers as those working at a university or organization based in any country of Latin America, Asia or Africa, including the Middle East, whereas “northern” researchers were defined as those based anywhere else, including North American or European countries, and Australia. Meaningful collaborations can end this ‘helicopter research’.

Scientific research, innovation and enterprising, are key to development in any country. Although researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs in “lower-income countries” present amazing ideas, their solutions are often unrecognized and unsupported. Consequently, locally developed and locally adapted solutions are not implemented. The purpose with the training and coaching is to facilitate a change. When targeting change, it must be clear which components of a transformation programme are important for achieving an expected outcome and an expected impact. If we target change then we need a strategy addressing; i) why the status quo would change and ii) who would bring the desired evolution.

Ngongalah et. al., (2018) performed a cross-sectional survey aimed to identify the key challenges affecting research practice and output in Africa; and to highlight priority areas for improvement. The study was administered through an online questionnaire and included participants from six countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Participants included research professionals, research students, research groups, and academics. A total of 424 participants responded to this survey. The ability to conduct and produce high-quality research was seen to be influenced by multiple factors, most of which were related to the research environment in African countries. Barriers to conducting research in Africa included a shortage of training facilities, a loss of interest or motivation to continue research, and only little collaboration between researchers in Africa. Ngongalah et. al., (2018) also found that unpaid research is the norm for scientists in sub-Saharan Africa, according to an online survey of 412 academics that spanned over six countries. Eighty-five percent of respondents reported having had research positions with no pay. Of those, 33% had spent between 1 and 5 years doing research for free, and 4% had spent more than 5 years doing so.

Pulford et. al. (2020) performed twenty-eight research management and support (RMS) capacity assessments in 25 universities and research institutions from across 15 SSA countries between 2014 and 2018. They were following a standardised methodology consisting of semi-structured interviews. The survey was conducted with research and research support staff at the respective institution as well as document reviews and observation of on-site facilities. The results indicated 13 distinct capacity gap categories as presented below.

  1. Physical Infrastructure. Unreliable power supply; insufficient laboratory-, office-, study-, meeting or physical storage-space.
  2. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Infrastructure. Insufficient ICT hardware; nil/limited access to specialist software; limited internet access or bandwidth capacity.
  3. Operating Equipment. Absence or critical shortage of essential laboratory-, field- and office equipment; vehicle shortage.
  4. Laboratory Services and Support. Poorly maintained laboratory equipment; limited funding to support laboratory maintenance; limited/nil laboratory quality control systems or accreditation; insufficient biosecurity/laboratory safety protocols and resources; nil/sub-optimal revenue generation from the provision of laboratory services.
  5. Research Funding. Limited/nil availability of national and/or institutional research funding; limited funding to support post-graduate research required for the attainment of the award.
  6. Excessive workloads for research and research support staff; prolonged staffing vacancies due to hiring freezes and/or absence of suitably qualified candidates; aging workforce; under-qualified and/or unexperienced workforce; insufficient laboratory technicians and/or research support staff.
  7. Uncompetitive and/or insufficient salary relative to living costs; inequitable salary ‘top-up’ system applied to externally funded research grants (e.g. academics cost in, but support staff not).
  8. Professional Development. Limited/nil access to training/professional development activities for research and research support staff (technicians and support staff having lowest levels of access); limited/nil institutional structures/services to support professional development; limited/nil staff mentorship schemes; limited/nil staff appraisal and performance mechanisms.
  9. Career Progression. Limited promotion opportunities (especially for technicians and research support staff); job-insecurity; poor staff retention (primarily support staff); limited opportunities for junior academics to enter faculty positions (exacerbated by aging workforce remaining in the post).
  10. Institutional Support Services. Inefficient/inadequate financial management-, procurement-, data management-, human resource support services; limited access to research literature/e-resources; limited/nil functionality of institutional review boards.
  11. Research Support and Project Management. Limited/nil pre- and post-award support services, quality assurance, and monitoring; limited research cost recovery policies/expertise; limited/nil institutional research strategy.
  12. Internal Communication and Collaboration. Limited internal (inter-departmental) communication and collaboration mechanisms; limited access to and/or awareness of institutional polices and/or available support services.
  13. External Communication and Networking. Limited/nil institutional communications strategy; limited/nil institutional funds and/or staff incentives to support knowledge translation activities; limited/nil research output repository; limited support or oversight of institutional website (content and maintenance).
A  general framework for action plans for regions or countries with weak physical infrastructures based on gap analysis and needs assessment had been proposed early on  (Öman and Lidholm, 2002; Öman et al., 2006). A general practical strategy had been developed to be long term, and its implementation to require support from, and the involvement of, a variety of stakeholders. The action plan was based on maintaining existing equipment networks, service centres and research centres, and forming new ones in addition. Activities which were proposed to be performed by these institutions included: i) managing supplies of spare parts and repairing equipment, ii) providing technical expertise, iii) managing information databases, iv) arranging meetings and training courses addressing equipment repair and use, and v) encouraging the development of policies and guidelines at national and institutional levels to mitigate constraints. The FAST (Functioning Advanced Scientific Equipment) programme is an ambitious and detailed practical strategy developed by HR&S addressing; i) the management of advanced scientific equipment as well as ii) laboratories with advanced scientific equipment. The strategy is holistic and addresses all the related aspects; selection, procurement, delivery, installation, calibration, operation, maintenance, servicing, accreditation, use and decommissioning of advanced scientific equipment. HR&S offers coaching and training on the FAST programme.

References

Chu KM, Jayaraman S, Kyamanywa P, Ntakiyiruta G. (2014) Building Research Capacity in Africa: Equity and Global Health Collaborations. PLOS Med. 11:e1001612. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001612.

Kirigia JM, Barry SP. (2018) Health challenges in Africa and the way forward. Int Arch Med. 1:27. doi:10.1186/1755-7682-1-27.

Liverpool, L. (2021) Researchers from global south under-represented in development research. Nature, News. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02549-9?utm_source=twt_nat&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nature

Makoni, M (2018) Research is often unpaid in sub-Saharan Africa, Nature, news. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07244-w. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07244-w

Ngongalah, L., Emerson, W., Rawlings, N. N. & Musisi, J. M. (2018) Research challenges in Africa – an exploratory study on the experiences and opinions of African researchers. Preprint at bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/446328.

Öman, C. and Lidholm J. (Eds) (2002) International Workshop on Purchasing, Servicing and Maintenance of Scientific Equipment in Western
Africa, 5-9 November, Buea, Cameroon International Foundation for Science
(IFS), Stockholm, Sweden. https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Oman-2002-Purchasing.pdf

Öman C.B., Gamaniel K.S., Addy M.E. (2006). Properly functioning scientific equipment in developing countries. Anal Chem. 78, 5273-6.

Pulford, J., Crossman, S., Begg, S., Amegee Quach, J., Abomo, P., El Hajj T., and Bates, I. (2020) Strengthening research management and support services in Sub-Saharan African universities and research institutions. Research Note. AAS Open Research. https://aasopenresearch.org/articles/3-31