Recently, the University Council approved the decentralization of the grant management system (Pre-and Post-Award (PPA) Services at the Office of Research, Innovation and Development (ORID). Following this development, Dr. Ezekiel Acquaah, a Senior Research Development Officer of the Office of Research, Innovation and Development has been assigned to the College of Education to be in-charge of the College’s Research Grants Management Office.
Dr. Ezekiel Acquaah comes into office with a wealth of experience from his previous duties in a similar role. From the year 2012 to 2017, he was the Research Development Officer for the School of Biological Sciences, School of Engineering and School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences under the erstwhile Faculty of Science, now College of Basic and Applied Sciences. Whiles there, he facilitated a number of grant winning proposals which are currently actively running successfully. Amongst them include the West Africa Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens under the School of Biological Sciences, the Technology Development and Transfer Center now the Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property at the Office of Research Innovation and Development, the Technology Center for Quality Dairy Production and Processing in Ghana now the Diary Research Improvement and Innovation Consortium under the School of Biological Sciences. He also managed the Research Ethics Committee for the College of Basic and Applied Sciences from the year 2016 to 2018,
As the Senior Research Development Officer in-charge of the College of Education Research Grants Management Office, he is expected to work closely with the Provost, the College Finance Officer, the College Secretary and Faculty to enhance research productivity and research excellence within the College. Amongst his duties include managing the research proposal process, assisting in keeping the process on schedule and submitting proposals to funding agencies, assisting principal investigators (PIs) with interpretation, responding to grant guidelines, ensuring proposals are properly reviewed by all appropriate parties prior to submission, preparing award memos, ensuring funds availability for grant obligations and facilitating the drafting of support letters for grant proposal etc.
Dr. Ezekiel Acquaah, has distinguished himself in various capacities within the Office of Research Innovation and Development and the University. He currently serve as a member of the University of Ghana Academic Board representing convocation, he served as a member of the research board and academic board of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, served as Secretary to the ORID Management Board Sub-Committee on Sustainability and Management of UG funded Journals and also served as Secretary to the Committee on Trans-Disciplinary Research into Climate Change Adaptation which is one of the University of Ghana’s four research priority areas. Currently he is also an executive member of the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA), Legon Branch. He is a member of research professional bodies including the West Africa Research and Innovation Management Association (WARIMA), Southern Africa Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) and a steering committee members of the Research Management Network (ReMNet) supported by BRECcIA-GCRF. He is also a fellow of the Cambridge-Africa Partnership for Research Excellence (CAPREx), a fellowship in Research Management he undertook at the University of Cambridge in September 2014. He has attended numerous international research conferences and workshop and has contributed to a number of publications and book chapters.
He has received various commendations for his dedicated services including the Vice-Chancellor’s Letter of Commendation in 2013 for contributing to the development of a proposal that secured funding from the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation for the establishment of a Technology Development and Transfer Center at Office of Research, Innovation and Development and also a Letter of Appreciation from the Technology Center for Quality Dairy Production and Processing for making a chapter contribution on a training manual titled “Holistic Quality Dairy Production for Smallholder Farmers and Processors in Ghana”.
Dr. Ezekiel Acquaah, holds a PhD in Environmental Management from the University of South Africa, where his PhD thesis was centered on the nexus of climate change impact and hydropower. He has participated in a lot of short courses including certificate courses in Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, Fundamentals of Implementation Science and Leadership and Management all from the University of Washington e-learning center.
There is no doubt Dr. Ezekiel Acquaah, has the capacity to deliver on his mandate as the Senior Research Development Officer in-charge of the College of Education Research Grants Management Office.
The College of Education is proud to have Dr. Acquaah and hope his coming will be a major boost to the research profile of the College.