Notre Dame International hosts IREX UASP Fellows from Nigeria
Notre Dame International welcomed two fellows from African universities as part of the IREX University Administration Sponsorship Program. IREX is an international development organization based in Washington, D.C., that helps build research management capacity of African administrators and faculty. On Feb. 19, Angela Itegboje and Titilayo Olaposi arrived on campus as part of the new fellowship program.
Fellows met with faculty and staff from NDI, Notre Dame Research; the IDEA Center; the Keough School’s Pulte Institute, Kellogg Institute and McKenna Center; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Department of Electrical Engineering; the Pamoja Initiative; the Graduate School; and the Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health.
“Hosting the IREX UASP fellowship has been a great experience. Notre Dame has played an active role in enabling research leadership to thrive in sub-Saharan Africa by allowing a bidirectional exchange and acquisition of knowledge and skill by showcasing the best global practices in innovation and research management as well as commercialization of the intellectual products of research,” says Jackie Oluoch-Aridi, director of Notre Dame in Nairobi.
Jonathan Noble, senior assistant provost for internationalization at Notre Dame, also spoke of the partnership, saying, “We are extremely grateful for the enthusiastic engagement and sharing by numerous colleagues across campus. We trust this exchange will catalyze more opportunities for administrative and scholarly exchange with research institutions in the African continent.”
Since arriving in February, Itegboje and Olaposi, who are both IREX UASP Research Management Fellows from Nigeria, have met with leaders all across campus to compare their institutions’ practices with Notre Dame’s research ecosystem, and are each responsible for proposing plans to improve their own institution’s performance, using a template provided by IREX.
Olaposi, principal research fellow at the African Institute for Science Policy and Innovation of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, says, “Most of my research focuses on technological entrepreneurship and innovation management. Coming here, I have been very impressed. The people are very friendly and always willing to share knowledge. We have touched different centers, institutes and offices and it is very helpful to me because I have become an administrator, even as a researcher.
“The knowledge I have gained here is very useful to me to oversee research management within my own university. I have learned so much regarding grants, management, proposal development and assessment, and communication,” she concludes.
Itegboje, assistant registrar and research administrator in the Research Management Office at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, adds, “Notre Dame is an environment that is open to learning, and our visit has been both fruitful and informative. I am focusing on innovation, technology and commercialization and have already gained so much knowledge on how to make the best use of research to impact and serve societal needs.”
IREX, a global development and education organization working in more than 100 countries around the world, contacted Notre Dame International in fall 2022, seeking a partnership wherein Notre Dame would host African university leaders under the UASP (University Administration Support Program) Research Management Fellowships. UASP builds the research management capacity of African administrators and faculty to design and lead related reforms at their institutions following the program.
Learn more about Notre Dame International’s commitment to supporting faculty research through its global network and strategic partnerships.
Originally published by international.nd.edu on March 16.
atLatest International
- CANCELED: University to host Cardinal Pedro Barreto of Peru and Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana as part of Notre Dame ForumAs part of the 2024-25 Notre Dame Forum, Cardinal Pedro Ricardo Barreto Jimeno, S.J., of Peru and Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Ghana will visit the University of Notre Dame to participate in a conversation with President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., at 11:30 a.m. April 25 in the Smith Ballroom of the Morris Inn. The conversation is open to the public and will also be livestreamed for both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking audiences.
- ‘Who the messenger is matters’: Cultural leaders can positively influence population growthFertility rates across the world have been steadily dropping since 1950. Pinpointing the reasons is at the heart of Lakshmi Iyer's work as a professor of economics and global affairs. Her research exemplifies the kind of population-level research that Notre Dame Population Analytics (ND Pop), a new research initiative at the University, seeks to foster.
- Lessons from Venezuela’s democratic collapse: How opposition movements can defy autocratic leadersLaura Gamboa, a political scientist at the University of Notre Dame, explores how opposition movements navigate authoritarian regimes in a study of Venezuela's political transformation. The research analyzes the effectiveness of various strategies, including electoral participation, in the face of eroding democratic norms.
- U.S. Ambassador to the EU visits Notre Dame as second Nanovic Forum Diplomat in ResidenceMark Gitenstein, U.S. ambassador to the European Union (2022-25), will join the University of Notre Dame between March 22 and April 4 as the Nanovic Forum Diplomat in Residence at the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, part of Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs.
- Diverging views of democracy fuel support for authoritarian politicians, Notre Dame study showsA new study from Marc Jacob, assistant professor of democracy and global affairs at Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, found that diverse understandings of democracy among voters shape their ability to recognize democratic violations and, in turn, affect their voting choices.
- Through respectful dialogue and encounter, students learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and work for peaceA recent intercultural encounter in Rome enabled Notre Dame students to learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by meeting and talking with people who have lived through it. The trip, which built upon a Notre Dame class and a related Notre Dame Forum Series, reflects the University's larger focus on civil dialogue and the empathetic, people-first approach it has taken to teaching and learning about the conflict.