Africa Capacity Building Initiative case study: Challenges and benefits for PhD students

Abstract

Strengthening research capacity in low-and-middle-income countries is recognised by international research funders and development agencies as a major contributor to a country’s socioeconomic development and to achieving Sustainable Development Goals The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Royal Society (RS) have funded the Africa Capacity Building Initiative (ACBI) which aims to ‘strengthen the research and training capacity of higher education institutions and support the development of individual scientists in sub-Saharan Africa through UK-Africa research collaborations’. ACBI funds 10 research consortia; each consortium comprises one UK and three African institutions. Research within ACBI focuses on water and sanitation; renewable energy; and soil-related science. The ACBI programme supported 38 PhD candidates from 26 African research institutions across 18 African countries. The Centre for Capacity Research (CCR) at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, led the monitoring, evaluation and learning component of the ACBI programme. CCR’s research investigated the factors influencing the progress of PhD students and the benefits that PhD students acquired from belonging to an ACBI research consortium This case study highlights some of the challenges reported by ACBI-affiliated PhD students, summarises the benefits to the students of belonging to a consortium, and outlines lessons learned that can inform the design and evaluation of other research capacity strengthening programmes