FUTA NEWS ARCHIVE

FUTA Overview

FUTA International Strategy Office Holds Workshop For Young Researchers


A workshop for young researchers from African Universities to broaden their research knowledge and opportunities has been held at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA. The workshop organised by the International Strategy Office (ISO) FUTA is aimed at raising budding researchers and to strengthen the collaboration between it and the University of Michigan, United States of America under the University of Michigan African Presidential Scholars (UMAPS) programme for 2025/2026. The workshop held at the T.I. Francis auditorium of FUTA on Thursday 5th September, 2024.

In an opening remark, the Director of ISO, Professor Juliet Akinyele said it was a privilege for young academics to explore such opportunity through the collaboration between FUTA and University of Michigan. She said other African countries have benefited from the programme for years which Nigerian universities should not miss. According to her, in the last edition, two applicants from FUTA succeeded in the five months fully sponsored scholarship. She added that effort is on to increase the slot and that informed the workshop to tutor applicants on how to Package their applications.

Main speaker at the workshop and Associate Director, ISO, Professor Adebanjo Badejo said the aim of UMAPS was to strengthen faculty members in African universities on the most effective ways to contribute to the continent’s growth and continued excellence. He said the U-M African Presidential Scholars (UMAPS) program has helped retain and strengthen faculty members working in African institutions of higher education, and empowered them to contribute to international academic networks and set their own research agendas. Professor Badejo added that the UMAPS Program brings early career faculty from African Universities to Ann Arbor, Michigan where scholars are paired with a faculty collaborator during their stay and have full access to the University of Michigan's (U-M) resources to further their work on a research project, an academic degree, publications, grant proposal, or other relevant activity.

According to him, the aim of the program is to support the development of the next generation of African scholars by integrating them into international academic networks, and promotes U-M’s international commitment to research and teaching collaborations across diverse disciplines, from engineering to literature to economics. The programme covers a wide range of disciplines that closely align with the following initiatives: African Heritage and Humanities Initiative (AHHI) which supports research related to the arts, humanities, and interpretive social sciences, which highlights the dynamic, contested process by which African cultures and histories are made; African Social Research Initiative (ASRI) which promotes social science research on democratic governance and distributive politics; income dynamics and poverty; and gender, health, and development; and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Initiative (STEM-Africa) which seeks to nurture the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in Africa, which extends scientific knowledge and yields solutions to global problems.
The don added that to be eligible for the programme, applicants must be an academic with ten years unbroken teaching experience, must have support from home institution and willing to return home to impart younger academic and others.

He urged them to be original in the content of their applications, write excitingly and include how it will benefit UMAPS.He said the application which is online should not be more than five pages, written professionally to include background, problem methodology and expected benefits. On the part of FUTA, Badejo said the International Strategy Office will do the needful in the area of documentation adding that the programme encourages networking, collaboration with other opportunities.

The five months programme for successful applicants, which attracts a minimum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), holds twice in the year: January to May and August to December. Participants at the workshop were drawn from FUTA, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko and Elizade University, Ilara Mokin.