Mentoring and Fostering a Global Research Career for Early Career Researchers Working in Africa

This presentation by Prof. Ogugua Charles Aworh, Emeritus Professor of Food Technology, University of Ibadan, is a keynote-style reflection on academic mentorship as a defining institutional tradition and a prerequisite for building a globally connected research career from an African base. The presentation opens with concern about the erosion of mentoring culture in Nigerian universities, then reframes the mentor as far more than a supervisor, role model, coach, advocate, or critic, and argues that doctoral supervision should be understood as the start of a lifelong relationship rather than the management of a single research project. The speaker draws on his own Cornell-era supervisors, with whom he has maintained relationships across five decades, as a working illustration.

The second half turns practical. It contrasts the ideal, well-resourced university setting with the mindset required in a resource-constrained one: focus from the outset, imaginative improvisation, and deep expertise in a defined area — and identifies mentorship and networking as the main routes past those constraints: cultivating relationships with scholars nationally and internationally, joining senior-led grant applications, and remaining active in professional societies and conferences. A list of international research fellowships open to African ECRs is provided, alongside the speaker's own fellowship history. The presentation closes by linking a global research outlook to open science principles, citing UNESCO on collaboration, FAIR data and inclusive knowledge production, and offers seven guiding principles for early career researchers.