Faculty Of Economics, Energy And Management Science Research Workshop
“Research is not only critical to the economic and social development of society; it is also critical to the mission of the School”,said the Deputy Principal Assoc. Prof. Moses Muhwezi. He was opening a day research workshop that was organized by the Faculty of Economics, Energy and Management Science at the MUBS main campus Nakawa. The Day Manager for the workshop was Dr. Susan Watundu and it was chaired by Mr. Ramathan Ggoobi (Director of the MUBS Economic Forum). Prof. Muhwezi thanked the Dean and Heads of Departments and colleagues in the Faculty of Economics Energy and Management Science for organizing the workshop.
He also with great pleasure appreciated the works of the Dean Prof Joseph Ntayi and the different Heads of departments in resolving different conflicts in the Faculty and he called upon the participants and members of the Faculty to have a culture of consensus, promoting peace and accepting the influence of peace to strengthen the Faculty. He further applauded Prof. Ntayi for mentoring staff in the Faculty and showing them academic direction where he said the quality of any institution depends on the quality of its staff which is highly reflected in the quality of work through research and skilling. He advised all staff to operate no matter the challenges faced in order to become a successful institution of researchers. He called upon all academic staff to increase the zeal in research and publication. Prof. Muhwezi called upon the faculty to become a role model within the institution. He advised members to have wide realm of knowledge beyond boarders of their field of study or specialization, knowledge should be universal and also requested them to be open to the world of research because it will open up their inner ability and take them to greater academic places.
The major presenters included; Assoc. Prof. Vincent Bagire, who presented on the topic “Motivation for research and publication”. He said the passion for research should be part and partial of us if we are in the academia to learn, learn to read and learn to write. He said getting started in research all starts with excitement as a researcher, academician and knowledgeable person. He appealed to all participants in the workshop that given the constant as a lecturer start by having excitement of learning, getting interested in setting a foot in the scholarly community, understanding the language of writing, idea of attending conferences and writing journals. He also urged members to have interest in themselves and critical reading.
Dr. Joseph Kizito Bada a Senior Lecturer and Grant winner presented on the topic “Writing Grant Proposals”. Where he said there are many organizations that are calling upon institutions in Africa to apply for grants for development projects and research. Africa as a continent has many unsolved problems which can be observed within the community where we live and because of the many challenges this leaves room for research. Grant proposal defines a problem in the community, the specific community, incidence/prevalence of the problem and the influencing factors and proposes solution to include method, time-lines and cost detail, expected outcome/benefit and how the success will be measured.
Prof. Will Kaberuka a Senior member of the Faculty presented on the Topic “Consulting and mentorship”. He said consulting is the process of seeking expert knowledge from professionals. In order to be the best consultant, one has to have theoretical grounding in the field of study and it requires one to look for a niche and specialize. He also advised staff to study and get the necessary qualification to become a fully fledge consultant. He defined mentorship as a practice where a more experienced person guides a less knowledgeable or experienced person about something.
It’s all about knowledge and there is nothing like age aspects in mentorship, Mentorship is a two way process i.e. the mentor can deliver to those to be mentored but the mentor also learns from them in the process and there must be a connection or some form of relationship between the mentor and the mentee. The workshop closed by Prof. Joseph Ntayi, the Dean Faculty of Economics Energy and Management Science who put forward the major objectives of the workshop.
