Research Fairness Initiative » News

Photographs from RFI Implementation Workshop in Dakar, Senegal

editor — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 11:57:43 +0000

The RFI and CAAST-Net Plus ran an RFI Implementation Workshop in Dakar, Senegal from June 11-13, 2017. This workshop was a success and many participants expressed their interest in the RFI and it’s core principles.

The following photographs were taken during to the newly opened laboratory of IRESSEF (Institut de Recherche en Santé / Health Research Institute, in Dakar, Senegal.

Above, from left to right:

Prof Souleymane Mboup – Director

Prof Carel IJsselmuiden – COHRED

From left to right:

Prof Coumba Touré Kane – Deputy Director

Dr Golbahar Pahlavan – COHRED Associate

Ms Katharina Kuss – FCSAI and CAASTNET

Prof Souleymane Mboup – Director

Prof Carel IJsselmuiden – COHRED

Prof Soukèye Dia Tine – Director Research Finances, Ministry of Higher Education and Research

Prof Tandakha Ndiaye DIEYE

RFI discussed by Senegal’s Ministry of Higher Education and Research

editor — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 08:15:31 +0000

Senegal’s Ministry of Higher Education and Research (Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche) posted video’s on YouTube and on their webpage discussing the RFI and the implementation workshop that took place on 11-12 June 2017.

See the clip below, or go to their page discussing the RFI for more information.

Global Challenges Research Fund: Global Engagement Event – June 8, 2017, British Academy, London.

editor — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 05:58:19 +0000

Dr Cathy Garner attended the Global Challenges Research Fund’s (GCRF) Global Engagement Event on June 8, 2017 at the British Academy in London. She was on the panel discussing Fair and Equitable Research Partnerships.

The audience was primarily researchers from academia interested in obtaining funding. As the meeting the previous day had been with the Arts and Humanities Research Council – the attendees were primarily from the Arts and Social Sciences. The session was focused on practical approaches to collaboration and therefore RFI was well received – the main discussions however were about language barriers and ethics.

Please see the following links for more information on the programme for this event and the attendee’s:

GCRF_Programme_2017

GCRF Attendees

Presentation on RFI at ARESA Ethics Seminar – May 11-12, 2017 – Stellenbosch, South Africa

editor — Tue, 23 May 2017 07:19:50 +0000

The first session of the ARESA meeting was devoted to partnerships in research. There were two presentations that were very complementary. Carel presented a talk with the title: “The Research Fairness Initiative – Beyond Ethics?”.

Dr Patricia Kingori, from the Ethox Centre at Oxford University presented a paper on “What is good research collaboration? Views of international research scientists.” Her results focused on perceptions of senior African scientists on research collaborations and highlighted many of the problems for which the Research Fairness Initiative intends to provide solutions. There was ample time for discussion from an active audience of 120. There was strong resonance with both the problems highlighted and the potential for the RFI to create a dynamic in systematically addressing these.

To access Carel’s presentation on the RFI, please click the link below:

20170511_RFI_Stellenbosch.

Latest News

editor — Mon, 15 May 2017 07:44:49 +0000

Three articles have been recently published in the light of the RFI entering its implementation stage around the world:

In February 2017, the UK Collaborative on Development Sciences (UKCDS) have published a piece on the Research Fairness Initiative on their blog. Please access the article here.

Article source reference:

Botti, L. and IJsselmuiden, C. (2017). ‘Implementing an intervention for fairness, trust and equity in research collaborations. UK Collaborative on Development Sciences (UKCDS). Available at: http://www.ukcds.org.uk/blog/implementing-an-intervention-for-fairness-trust-and-equity-in-research-collaborations

In March 2017, the Policies for Equitable Access to Health (PEAH) shared a text on the RFI and fair research partnerships on their website. Read the publication here.

Article source reference:

Botti, L. and IJsselmuiden, C. (2017). ‘Creating and maintaining fair, trustworthy and sustainable research collaborations’. Policies for Equitable Access to Health (PEAH). Available at : http://www.peah.it/2017/03/creating-and-maintaining-fair-trustworthy-and-sustainable-research-collaborations/

In March 2017, Research Africa published an article focusing on the implementation of the RFI. The article is available here.

Meeting with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), on March 29, 2017 – London, UK

editor — Tue, 02 May 2017 08:08:18 +0000

The Secretariat of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) (https://www.acu.ac.uk) convened a meeting of its core staff to discover the RFI and discuss its potential use as a tool by the Secretariat and / or to recommend to its membership of over 500 universities worldwide. The 1.5 hour meeting was attended by 8 staff and senior management for whom this was the first exposure to the RFI. The ACU also acts as coordinator of the CAASTNET Plus programme, an EU funded programme to improve policy debate between the African Union and European Union. (http://www.cta.int/en/article/2013-06-02/caastnet-plus.html) CAASTNET Plus has adopted the RFI as a major tool to improve research collaborations. For the ACU, the RFI and the experiences of CAASTNET Plus seemed to provide great relevance to their own mission and areas of focus – specifically their work on Open Science (https://www.acu.ac.uk/focus-areas/open-science/) and on Research Management and Uptake (https://www.acu.ac.uk/focus-areas/research-management-uptake/). With the imminent change in leadership at the ACU, the RFI will be presented as a possible major tool to help ACU achieve its worldwide goals to the coming years.

One participant stated: I am not surprised by the remark made in your earlier meeting today at UKCDS : “that it is actually amazing that you present us with a mechanism that focuses on 15 areas of partnership – and I can not disagree with any one of them.” I have exactly the same impression – the RFI touches many areas where the ACU is focusing its efforts.”

Meeting hosted by the UK Collaborative on Development Sciences (UKCDS) on March 29, 2017 – London, UK

editor — Tue, 02 May 2017 08:07:46 +0000

The 2-hour meeting was kindly hosted by the UKCDS (www.ukcds.org.uk). It was attended by 14 persons representing 7 of the major UK research funding agencies operating in the international environment.

The RFI was well received and was considered to have great potential to measure and improve the ‘partnership’ component of research collaborations. Several follow-up invitations to the RFI Team are likely in the near future – i) to focus on the application of the RFI in different fields on research and ii) to explore how the RFI can add value to future grant making in research collaborations and partnerships.

One participant – for whom this was the first time to hear about the RFI – stated: It is actually amazing that you present us with a mechanism that focuses on 15 areas of partnership – and I can not disagree with any one of them.

Another participant said: the RFI holds major potential to improve research management, an area on which we are focusing – indicators 3,4 and 5 go to the heart of what we are trying to do!

In advance of the meeting, the UKCDS had published a blog on the RFI: http://www.ukcds.org.uk/blog/implementing-an-intervention-for-fairness-trust-and-equity-in-research-collaborations

Horizons editorial mentions the RFI – December 2016

editor — Tue, 02 May 2017 08:07:03 +0000

The RFI was mentioned in the editorial of the Swiss National Science Foundation Magazine, Horizons, in its 111th edition.

Access the full Horizon No. 111 here.

RFI features in KFPE newsflash – November 2016

editor — Tue, 02 May 2017 08:05:34 +0000

The Commission for Research Partnerships with Developing Countries (KFPE) shared the three latest RFI documents presenting the newly developed framework of the initiative in their Newsflash on November 29th, 2016, to encourage public input before the RFI piloting in February 2017.

SciDev.Net interviews on the RFI

editor — Tue, 02 May 2017 08:04:35 +0000

SciDev.Net conducted an interview with Prof. Carel IJsselmuiden, Executive Director of COHRED, and Dr. Glaudina Loots, Department of Science and Technology (DST), South Africa, for their input following the RFI Conference in Brussels on September 28th, 2016.