The University of Ghana Pan-African Doctoral Academy (UG-PADA) programme has awarded 106 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) candidates with certificates after completing a two-week intensive course.
The academy offers courses, which run parallel to the regular PhD studies and are geared at equipping doctorate students with the requisite skills needed to succeed in their respective programmes.
Courses offered include: managing the PhD system, academic writing, presentation skills, qualitative and quantitative research methodology and analysis, career and professional development, educational technology, innovative thinking, teaching and research.
The programme, which is held twice every year, (January and June) since 2015, had students from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and India, participating in the courses.
PhD
At the closing ceremony of the January session of the programme, the Pro-Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic and Student Affairs of the University of Ghana, Professor Gordon Awandare, expressed his delight at the progress of the school.
“Going through a doctorate programme is one of the biggest times in your life and so, having this guidance and mentorship, really helps to find your way,” he said.
Prof. Awandare entreated all PhD students to participate in the school, adding, “I think this programme is so valuable, sometimes when I think through, I say, I wish I had this opportunity when I was a PhD student”.
He also said undertaking a doctorate degree required a lot of sacrifices and moving out of comfortable positions, adding that time management was very key when undergoing a PhD programme.
Aim
The Doctoral School’s Coordinator, Dr Collins Badu Agyeman, said PADA aimed to train cutting edge scholars, researchers who would be able to carry out research to address the fundamental challenges in Ghana, Africa and the world as a whole.
“The goal is to supply complimentary support courses so that PhD students, doctoral researchers, graduate students will have a smooth transition through their doctoral programme to successfully finish and become astute researchers to help Ghana,” he added.
He also said many students complained about the difficulties they faced during their graduate programme, and so, PADA sought “to change these narratives” by assembling astute experienced supervisors, facilitators to be able to facilitate different models that support the PhD students.
Mr Agyeman added that not only did the programme provide facilities to support researchers in the graduate programmes, it also provided them with logistical aid such as laptops and financial support for those who would need them to facilitate their chosen research fields.
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