The Director, Pan African University of Life and Earth Sciences Institute, University of Ibadan, Prof. Esther Akinlabi, has reiterated the need for universities across Africa and beyond to collaborate on research for breakthroughs in science and technology.
Akinlabi spoke recently during a virtual presentation on ‘International collaboration: A nugget for international inbounds,’ facilitated by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Akinlabi was a lecturer at the University of Johannesburg where she grew through the ranks and became a professor in 2016 and delivered her inaugural lecture in 2018 prior to leaving UJ in 2020.
Noting that knowledge sharing would help in cross fertilization of ideas, the don stressed, “It is when you collaborate with faculty members across the world that they would be able to send their students and interns to your institution. Many of the students that I had hosted came through grant proposals that we submitted and won.
“I love sharing knowledge and it helps a lot, so we talk about encouraging inbounds among universities the world over. I had a decade of service at the University Johannesburg, Department of Mechanical Engineering from 2010 to 2020. The Head of Department, Mechanical Engineering Science in the University, Prof. Tien-Chien Jen, contacted me to say that he wanted me to give a talk to share from my experience with the staff of the department.
“My experience impacted on my field of expertise greatly in the sense that I have many collaborators across the world and that has enabled me to conduct researches globally. It has also opened doors of opportunities for me to visit many countries across the globe. We do research and published papers together. I will also say that a major impact that my international repute has on me is being able to conduct bilateral research.
‘Today, I have co-authored over 600 publications. My talk has impacted on the participants because I linked them to people in other countries.”
The Director of Internationalization, University of Johannesburg, Malefo Lebethe, who was in attendance on the occasion, indicated the readiness of the university to host some Pan African University students for internship.
Akinlabi said, “Right now, we have a student that would be going to the Department of Chemistry, University of Johannesburg from January to August 2022. She is enrolled in the Medicinal Plant Research and Drug Development programme at PAULESI. For those in engineering, I have linked up my colleague at Pan African University of Science, Technology and Innovation, Kenya to the Faculty of Engineering. They are already talking on how the students can go for their internship in South Africa.
“University of Johannesburg is rich in equipment for cutting edge research and internship. It is where I had been for 10 years and I know what is obtainable there. As you can see, the talk has started yielding result.”
