Benin/Regional workshop on the employability of doctoral students : IRD and AUF equip doctoral student trainers
The Institut de recherche pour le développement (Ird) and the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (Auf) are organizing a regional training of trainers workshop for the employability of PhD students from May 13 to 18, 2024. Taking place on the premises of the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie on the Abomey-Calavi campus, this training program aims to support the professional integration of doctoral students in West Africa...
From Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Togo, Guinea and Benin, some twenty doctoral student trainers are taking part in this important training course. To strengthen the skills of staff responsible for supervising doctoral students by providing them with the resources they need to foster their professional integration and enhance the value of their research findings. This is the aim of the training course organized by the Institut de recherche pour le développement (Ird) and the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (Auf).
According to Alioune Faye, Deputy Director General of Auf West Africa, the regional workshop is intended to provide a concrete response to a major concern: the professional integration of doctoral students. According to Faye, the employability of young doctoral students is a key issue, and this training course will equip their supervisors with the professional integration techniques best suited to young doctoral students.
While their supervisors provide them with scientific support, it is also important to offer them ways and means of making the most of their sometimes lengthy careers. This means giving them the tools they need to find a decent job. According to Alioune Faye, at the end of the training course, a pool of trainers will be set up to pass on the concepts acquired through training initiatives to other doctoral student trainers, with a view to maximizing the impact.
It should be stressed that the quality of supervision and professional integration of doctoral students is proving to be a major challenge for academic and economic development in Africa. In a context where 30 million young people are expected to enter the job market every year by 2030, it is imperative to strengthen the professional integration of doctoral students and support them in the valorization of their research results. This will require specific training schemes for the staff responsible for supervising them, going beyond the simple transmission of academic knowledge to include skills in career management, communication and entrepreneurship.
For Nicaise Ndam, Ird's Representative in Benin, this training program is perfectly in line with Ird's mission, which includes investing in training to find solutions to sustainable development issues, including the employability of young doctoral students. According to Nicaise Ndam, it is important to give young doctoral students the opportunity to make themselves useful, to put their skills at the service of society. According to Nicaise Ndam, these young doctoral students have the skills to solve the problems of the city, and it's important to equip them for self-employment and direct them towards job market opportunities.
To this end, it is essential to implement effective liaison mechanisms between universities and the professional world in order to promote the integration of doctoral students into the job market. The present initiative therefore aims to encourage collaboration between the academic and industrial sectors, to enable doctoral students to better understand market needs and adapt their research accordingly, thereby enhancing their employability and the impact of their work. This training course, which ends on Saturday, May 18, 2024, will enable those responsible for supervising doctoral students to acquire a sound understanding of the strategies and tools needed to help them find a job or set up a business.
Source: matinlibre.com/
