UG Vice-Chancellor urges swift operationalisation of National Research Fund

University of Ghana Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, has called for accelerated efforts to operationalise Ghana’s National Research Fund, more than six years after the legislation establishing it was passed.

She said that although progress had been made towards establishing a sustainable mechanism for financing scientific research and innovation, the Fund was yet to become operational and provide the intended support to researchers.

Prof. Appiah Amfo made the remarks during a roundtable discussion organised by the Ghana Students Association at Johns Hopkins University in the United States on October 6, 2026.

Established under the Ghana National Research Fund Act, 2020 (Act 1056), the Fund is intended to support scientific research, technological advancement and innovation. Its governing board was inaugurated in June 2025, and the Fund was officially launched in June 2026.

Prof. Appiah Amfo stressed the need to expedite the remaining processes to ensure researchers could access funding, noting that policy commitments must translate into tangible opportunities.

She also highlighted the University of Ghana’s Graduate Research Fund, which provides grants to postgraduate students, as well as research partnerships with organisations including the Mastercard Foundation, Wellcome and the European Union.

However, she identified undergraduate participation in research as an area requiring greater attention, encouraging students to engage faculty members and seek opportunities to contribute to ongoing research projects.

The Vice-Chancellor further called for stronger collaboration between Ghanaian scholars abroad and institutions at home, urging professionals to apply their international experience and expertise to Ghana’s development.

“Success is not geographically bound,” she said, encouraging Ghanaian students and professionals abroad to maintain connections with their home country and contribute to national development.

The roundtable was held at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health under the theme, “From Global Opportunities to Local Impact: Building Networks, Careers, and Capacity Across the Ghanaian Diaspora.”

It brought together Ghanaian students, faculty members, alumni and other members of the university community to discuss research financing, professional development, institutional collaboration and opportunities for scholars abroad to contribute to Ghana’s development.

The discussion featured Prof. Appiah Amfo; Dr Serwaa Karikari, a lecturer at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School; and Dr Emmanuel Elorm Adom-Nortey, a life sciences consultant and founding president of the Ghana Students Association at Johns Hopkins University.

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