African researchers 'struggle' to establish careers

According to a joint report by the British Academy and the Association of Commonwealth Universities ,African universities need to better support early career researchers if they are to build a thriving research environment and boost the continent's overall number of PhD-qualified staff Many African science graduates struggle to establish careers after leaving university as they do not receive enough assistance to define their research agendas and develop professionally, says the report, Foundations for the Future: Supporting the Early Careers of African Researchers. Instead, post-doctorate graduates working as 'junior lecturers' in African universities are often overloaded with teaching and administrative duties, and have to pursue research and writing academic papers in their spare time. To counter this, the report urges senior academics to encourage research by younger colleagues and to mentor them on collaborations, publishing and preparing funding applications. Link to full report available here.