Mazungumzo - African Scholarly Conversations

In this episode, we delve into a world where science and journalism intersect, uncovering the profound impact that they have in shaping a more informed society. Spearheading this mission is Verah Okeyo, a renowned science journalist, teacher, and communicator who has dedicated her career to bridging the gap between scientific advancements and public understanding specifically in healthcare. She re...

Postgraduate research is a journey of discovery and knowledge creation. It goes beyond simply learning how to think and delves into the realm of producing new knowledge. To embark on this journey, one must build upon existing knowledge, using it as a solid foundation. However, it is crucial to recognize that the pursuit of new knowledge requires support. On this episode of Mazungumzo- African Scho...

On this episode of the podcast, we had the privilege of catching up with Dr. Mac-Anthony Cobblah, an accomplished leader in academic librarianship, as he shares his insights on librarianship and leadership, especially when it comes to promoting open science within the realm of scholarly communication in African universities. He holds the position of chair for Academic and Special Libraries at the...

While there has been a shift in how Open Science is perceived in Africa, ‘Open’ is still being misconstrued to mean that it is a loose and unstructured approach to scientific research, without restrictions or regulations. This is not the case. What people have failed to understand is that Open Science not only promotes research credibility by promoting transparency and reproducibility but also pro...

For many years, African libraries have been struggling to keep up with the rest of the world in terms of access to scientific information and resources. This has led to a situation where valuable research findings are often shelved and not shared with the wider scientific community, and libraries are forced to operate with limited resources, hindering their ability to provide quality services to t...

Today’s episode features the inspiring story of Professor Chioma Blaise Chikere, a visionary leader and scientist, who is breaking barriers and defying stereotypes in research. As a mother and African woman, she's on a mission to show the world the potential of women and the importance of giving them a voice. Hear her story of overcoming academic bias and progressing to a successful career in acad...

Kickstarting our podcast series this year is self-proclaimed ‘woman in science’, widely published soil scientist and the National Chairperson, the Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) Nigeria Chapter, Professor Olayinka Nwachukwu. She talks about how her work with the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) is promoting gender equality in scie...

If you are a researcher, you are probably familiar with the research lifecycle and all the challenges and opportunities that come with it. With this in mind, Eider Africa- a women-led social enterprise, has been working towards supporting researchers by providing a safe space for mentorship throughout the research life cycle and amplifying the voices of African researchers. In this episode, Ms. Au...

This episode features the genesis of a four-part regional blended workshop addressing the pushback and advocating for the Adoption and Implementation of Open Science and Open Access practices in member institutions of the AAU. It features various higher education stakeholders including Presidents, Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Directors of Research, and Libraries of African U...

Do African Researchers understand what open access entails? What Open-Access Academic Publishing infrastructure is available in Africa to support researchers? We are joined by  Elizabeth Marincola, from Africa Academy of Sciences Open Research, Matt Hodgkinson from Africa’s oldest Open Access publishing Hindawi and Osman Aldirdiri from AfricArxiv, Africa’s own preprint repository in this disc...

Today’s episode features an engaging session on ‘Open Science & Open Access Principles and Practices in East African Community Partner States’ by Dr. Sylvance Okoth the Executive Secretary of The East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO), Joy Owango of TCC Africa, Ana Persic of UNESCO, Nokuthula Mchunu of the African Open Science Platform(AOSP), Rhoda Wanyenze of Makerere Univer...

‘You need to fall in love with and maximize the problem if you are looking to be able to come up with a brilliant solution”, asserts our guest, Ms. Agnes Tsuma as she narrates her journey coming into research innovation and commercialization. This episode features an engaging conversation that highlights the existing opportunities for early career innovators in Kenya, the current state of industry...

In today’s feature episode, speakers from African Journals Online (AJOL) Susan Murray, Kate Snow, and Kylie Van Zyl demonstrated the pertinence of Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) in the fostering discoverability of African research outputs and journals as well as how to practically implement the DOI’s within the journals. The meeting was hosted by Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa) exe...

This episode contains dynamic discussions on the importance of peer review in scholarly communication and African perspectives that need to be included in peer review by a panel of experts in various fields. The panel consists of Dr. Raoul Kamadjeu- Co-founder and Managing Editor at the Pan African Medical Journal (PAMJ), Dr. Stella Osoro Kerongo- Researcher and Clinical Psychologist at Kenya Powe...

Sub-Saharan Africa [is said to] account[s] for 13.5% of the global population but less than 1% of global research output. Part of the problem is that there is low visibility of its research output. Open access repositories have created a paradigm shift in enhancing African research output. Where are these repositories and how can we take advantage of them? How should African researchers make use o...

In this episode, we get insights from Titi Ajay- Doing a Ph. D. in Africa, and Andy Nobes- AuthorAID on research capacity support systems that exist for Ph. D. Scholars in Africa. Ajayi, T., Nobes, A., & Owango, J. (2020). Research Capacity Support Systems for Ph. D. Scholars in Africa [Webinar]. AfricArXiv. https://doi.org/10.21428/3b2160cd.bf2fbd69

One of the impacts of the globalization of higher education is the creation and rise of global rankings and its effect on the competitive nature of universities as we know them. Join Joy Owango, Lisa Bonney- Institutional researcher at the University of Johannesburg, Denyse Webbstock- Senior Director at the University of Johannesburg, and Prof. Ahmed Bawa - CEO, Universities South Africa as they d...

There are 526 journals indexed in the African bibliographic database African Journals Online (AJOL). Of these 526 journals, 32 countries have submitted their publications in the database. This episode features the webinar titled, 'What Does it Take To Produce High-Impact African Journals?', where guest speakers Raoul Kamadjeu of PAMJ, Susan Murray of African Journal Online (AJOL), and Joy Owango o...

Former TCC Africa trainee, Mr. Kenneth Monjero fondly known as Dr. Fun, shares how his passion for science communication has inspired his academic journey and led him to promote the accessibility of science and scientific innovations to better the lives of children and youth in Africa through his organization, Fun & Education Global Network. Fun & Education Global Network seeks to improve...

'Open Science will happen whether you're on it or not as the world moves through an era of digitization,' affirms our guest, Dr. Nokuthula Mchunu, the Deputy- Director of the African Open Science Platform (AOSP) and a Senior Researcher from the Agricultural Research Council of South Africa in the Biotechnology Platform.  In this episode, Dr. Mchunu shares her perspective on where Africa, and...

In this launch episode, we introduce Mazungumzo, 'African Scholarly Conversations' and the purpose of the podcast. Join us and get to hear various stakeholders in the world of academia share their perspectives on scholarly and science communication, and share their candid stories on their research journey.