Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI)

Who they are The Science Granting Councils Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa aims to strengthen the capacities of science granting councils in sub-Saharan Africa in order to support research and evidence-based policies that will contribute to the continent’s economic and social development. Science Granting Councils Science granting councils play a critical role in supporting the consolidation of a country’s national system of innovation, and are central to funding and catalysing research and innovation. These organisations are both agents of government and represent the interests of a country’s scientific community. They inter alia disburse funds for research and development; build research capacity through appropriate scholarships and bursaries; set and monitor research agendas and priorities; advise on science, technology and innovation policies; manage bilateral and multilateral science and technology agreements; and assess the communication, uptake and impact of publicly funded research. SGCI Contribution Science, technology and innovation landscapes across developing regions still suffer from a number of challenges including low capacities in research and research management. The importance of strengthening the capacities of publicly funded science granting councils in sub-Saharan Africa, important brokerage institutions for continued gains in STI development on the continent is an imperative. The SGCI contributes to strengthening the ability of science granting councils to: - Manage research - Design and monitoring of research programmes based on the use of robust science, technology and innovation indicators - Support knowledge exchange with the private sector - Strengthen partnerships between Science Granting Councils and other science system actors SGCI Outcomes - More effective research management practices among science granting councils - Increased use of STI indicators to design and monitor research programmes - Increased knowledge transfer to the private sector - Increasingly coordinated and networked science granting councils