Welcome to the Postgraduate Research Centre

The office of the Vice President of Research warmly welcomes you all to a new and exciting year of research and higher degree learning across the University in 2023!

We acknowledge and thank the efforts of former Vice President Higher Degrees and Research Associate Professor Josh Kurian who we said farewell to at the end of 2022.

What is our direction for 2023?

As we set our direction for 2023, it is first important to reflect on the key principles and strategic research themes set under the DWU Strategic Plan 2016-2026. This will guide us towards achieving the goal of becoming a leading university in research excellence in the provision of high quality education in Papua New Guinea. It provides us with accountabilities and directions for actions as envisioned in overarching Strategic Objective 3 of the DWU Strategic Plan 2016-2026 on intensified research and knowledge exchange.

Let us not forget that the vision and mission of DWU requires the application of knowledge as a public service, thus, both teaching and research will often involve a component of community engagement. In research this may take the form of commissioned to serve public need, and collaborative research with partners external to DWU. Which is really strongly emphasised in the University theme of this year which is a quote taken from Cesar Chevez

“The end of all knowledge, should be service to others”

Giving prominence to community orientated and policy research that can serve our people and our country.

In a reflection on the Strategic Research Themes of the University, we find a call for us to find a balance of academic and scholarly culture with research.

The strategic research themes:

1. Balance of fundamental research as an academic pursuit for the sake of generating new knowledge for its own sake and applied research to serve public need
2. Develop a scholarly culture that sees a natural relationship between research and teaching, research and learning, research and leadership and tmanagement. All staff with postgraduate qualifications will be motivated to develop a research mindset such that the practices of scholarship and research become an engrained culture.

So how do we achieve all this?

In brief the research plan for 2023 to achieve the strategic research themes are:

1. 1.     Student Transformation

• Focus on promoting Ethical Principles in Research to ensure the credibility of our research and accountability to the generation of knowledge provided through research.

2. 2.     Innovation in learning and teaching

1. Research Conversations: Monthly Conversation Topics
2. “Talk with a Pro” Professorial Feature-Live Stream-Higher Degrees and Research
3. Marketing our capacity in academia and research through: Academic research profiles that can be found on DWU website/Twitter and Linked to showcase our academic and research capacity
4. Increase in Action research by academics through a simple guide

• on “How to do action research?” and Action research workshops

1. Writing retreats and informative sessions on writing will be important to enhance our capacity to publish our research.

3. 3.     Intensified research and knowledge exchange

• Establishment of a new and exciting Research Centre/Station for the Faculty of Business Informatics and Tourism. The aim is to establish a Research Centre or Station that combines tourism, research, and promotes business for DWU, Example the Motupore Research Station/Centre UPNG.
• Marketing Strategy to encourage also research consultancies both nationally and internationally.
• Research Supervision training to encourage effective research supervision.
• Academic Research Mentoring Program-pair up and learn from a senior academic to help you throughout the year talk through your publications.
• ‘Presentation to Publication program’ -incentivise Publications

4. 4.     Productive Partnerships

• Do a tracer study on staff -on Australia Awards Programs as Alumni and fostered relationships to establish or strengthen existing partnerships that can increase collaborative opportunities if mapped out and strategically approached.
• Make better use of existing network memberships, such as the Association of Commonwealth Universities and PIURN, and consider joining others;
• Stakeholder mapping study of strategic partner institutions in the Asia-Pacific region to approach for partnerships.

5. 5.     Enhanced staff capabilities

1. Establish baseline in 2016-current and analyse trends to determine:
2. Increase the proportion of academic staff with doctoral qualifications to 20%;
3. Increase the proportion of all staff with postgraduate qualifications to 95%;

6. 6.     Optimum organizational effectiveness

• Revised Governance Arrangements
• Ensure policy updates and development to support research initiatives

7. 7.     Financial sustainability

• Research Income generation model
• Fundraising for research by running short research related workshops targeting external private sector participants.

So what can we look forward to this year?

Research:

For Research, we look forward to capacity being built to increase research excellence across the University!

We want to have increases dialogues and conversations around research:

Watch Broadcast to join monthly conversation on research:

Let’s Talk!

“Thinking about it? let’s talk about!!”

Higher Degrees

Under the Higher Degrees, this year we will launch and open the Masters in Philosophy program, to be launched in April 2023!

In closing this welcome address

I leave my contact and location within the University where you can reach me to get involved and a fun year of research, learning, and community service.

Dr Pamela Kamya, PhD

Vice President Research and Higher Degrees

Postgraduate and Research Centre

Room 13 - Level 02

P O Box 483, Madang

Papua New Guinea
Ph: 422  2937  Ext: 781
Fax: 422 2812;

Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

WISHING YOU ALL THE VERY BEST FOR 2023!

Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible

~St Francis of Assisi~