Research Week 2021 Kicks off

The 4th Annual University of Nairobi Research Week kicked off on a high note with three (3) conferences starting on Day 1. By the end of the event, over 500 participants would have benefited from, 30+ keynote presentations, 150 abstracts, and 8 conferences with the overarching theme ‘Rethinking Research, Innovation & Technology for Sustainable Development.

“For the second year since the pandemic struck, we are holding our conferences virtually. This year, we chose to focus on the issue of sustainability as a running theme across all our conferences. Sustainability is the key word in the global development agenda and countries across the world have aligned their development policies, plans, and resources to achieve this ideal in their development endeavours,” explains Prof. Margaret Hutchinson, the acting Associate Vice-chancellor, Research, Innovation and Enterprise.  “On the other hand, the developments during the last two years have made it necessary for every sector to rethink the strategies and approaches and ensure that we are not merely paying lip service to the commitment towards sustainability.  The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has taught us the importance of building resilient and sustainable practices, in every sector.”

on his part, the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Stephen Kiama, noted that “This is the fourth year that we are hosting the University of Nairobi Research Week, having had the inaugural Research Week in 2018, the initiative to embed the research week into the university calendar of activities was a deliberate and strategic decision to provide researchers with a platform to engage peers and stakeholders about their research, and also get the opportunity to network with like minded stakeholders in relevant respective fields.”

The Research Week is specifically intended to foster discussions on research activities and findings, create a platform for presentation of academic papers and foster and strengthen partnerships with other players in the research enterprise across various sectors.

The conferences running this week include: 4th Annual Forensic Victimology and Victim Support Conference Kenya 2021, 6th DBA-AMR International Conference, 3rd Annual Development Finance Conference (ADFC) 2021, 4th Annual Conference on Status of African Women, 12th Africa International Business Management Conference (AIBUMA) and Science outputs for societal transformation.