On Wednesday 25 January, the CSC Alumni Team launched the 2023 CSC Development in Action webinar series. To kickstart the series, the team hosted a special conversation event with recent CSC Research Impact Award (RIA) winners, Commonwealth Alumni Dr Mirriam Makungwe and Dr Olajide Olusola about the impact of their doctoral research. The speakers discussed their winning research articles, the important role of research and researchers in addressing global challenges, and how they intend to contribute to sustainable development through the implementation and uptake of their findings.
In the webinar, Dr Makungwe talked about her experience of conducting research in the field of agriculture and food security in Zambia and Dr Olusola will discussed his experience as a researcher in the clean renewable energy sector in Nigeria. This webinar addressed the CSC development theme of Science and technology for development.
The CSC’s Development in Action webinar series aims to highlight the work and research of Commonwealth Alumni across a range of development impact areas.
About the speakers
Dr Mirriam Makungwe is currently a Research Officer at the Innovations Scaling for the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). She is also a member of the Zambian Women in Agricultural Research and Development (ZaWARD) platform and an Africademics Scholarship Ambassador.
Dr Mirriam Makungwe is a 2019 Commonwealth Split-site Scholar from Zambia. She completed a PhD in Integrated Soil Fertility Management at the University of Nottingham.
Dr Olajide Olusola is Senior Lecturer and Examination Officer in the Department of Physics at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Nigeria. He serves as a reviewer for both Nigerian-based and international journals of high impact. He also tutors undergraduate and postgraduate scholars working in the technology of thin films fabrication field across various universities in Nigeria.
Dr Olajide Olusola is a 2012 Commonwealth Scholar from Nigeria. He completed a PhD in Environmental and Sustainability Systems at Sheffield Hallam University.
Designing research for real-world impact
In this webinar, Dr Makungwe and Dr Olusola gave a lively and engaging presentation on their RIA winning research articles and their ongoing role in actualising their research findings and contributing to real-world change. Following the presentation, the speakers discussed the development impact potential of their research, the challenges they faced as researchers, and the future scope of their research.
This webinar presentation was followed by an interactive Q&A session with Commonwealth Scholars and Alumni. A recording of this webinar will be available soon on the CSC’s YouTube channel where you can also watch previous events in the series.
Join future Development in Action webinars
The CSC’s Development in Action webinars take place each month and are open to all Commonwealth Scholars and Alumni.
To find out about upcoming webinars, please visit the CSC’s events webpage.
