The six-month programme aims to ease a shortage of mentors and research networks for early-career scientists
By Bunmi Yekini
The Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) has launched a mentorship programme that will match 25 early-career researchers with 25 established scientists, seeking to help a new generation of Nigerian researchers build careers and collaborations.
The Research Leaders Mentorship (ReLM) Programme began with an orientation workshop on Sept. 7 and will run for six months. Mentors will include Fellows of the Academy and other senior researchers.
The Academy said the scheme responds to problems that young scientists in Nigeria routinely face, including limited access to experienced mentors, professional guidance, research networks and collaboration opportunities.
Participants will be Nigerian postgraduate students and post-doctoral researchers who completed their terminal degree within the past seven years. They will be paired with mentors according to research interests, career goals and discipline.
Mentees will discuss research progress, career development and challenges with their mentors. The programme will also hold group sessions on navigating research careers, writing competitive grant proposals, communicating scientific findings and building professional networks.
The Academy said it sees mentorship as a strategic tool for strengthening Nigeria’s scientific community and improving research capacity, with the aim of producing researchers who can deliver work of benefit to society.
“Through the NAS Research Leaders Mentorship Programme, the Academy is positioning mentorship as a strategic tool for strengthening Nigeria’s scientific community,” the statement, signed by Academy President Abubakar Sambo, Public Affairs Secretary Chinedum Babalola and Executive Secretary Oladoyin Odubanjo, said.
The Nigerian Academy of Science describes itself as the country’s foremost independent scientific body. It says it seeks to bring scientific knowledge to bear on national policy and to advance science, technology and innovation in Nigeria.