ED-Ethiopian SuperStars: Strengthening the advisory and coaching skills of academic staff at Ethiopian higher education institutions

GO2023ITP252A103 01/09/2023 - 31/08/2026 The recent change in the landscape of Ethiopian public higher education institutions (HEIs; university differentiation) has increased the demand for PhD holders in the newly designated research-intensive universities (RIUs). Despite various initiatives by both the Ministry of Education (MoE) and HEIs, PhD trajectories at Ethiopian HEIs are either delayed or in worst case not completed. Experiences from the VLIR-UOS Network on Inter-university Collaboration for Quality postgraduate Education and Research in Ethiopia (IQ-GEAR) indicated that improved supervision is an important factor for the success of PhD trajectories and that academic staff are inadequately supported to improve their advisory/coaching skills. The long-term vision of this ITP is therefore to have a nationwide PhD supervision training network that is fully embedded into the RIUs and that acts as an accelerator towards (i) both improved quality and increased individual PhD trajectories, (ii) smooth transition of RIUs towards their new role in the revised HEI landscape, and (iii) maximized return on investments of (inter)national efforts. To this end, we will further contextualize and implement trainings on PhD supervision. Such a training has been successfully implemented at Ghent University by Impetus Academy (spin-off of Ghent) and has been piloted within the IQ-GEAR project. Subsequently, this aspired training will be provided by qualified local trainers to be trained by Impetus Academy (this will be covered by the IQ-GEAR project). To further maximize return on investment, we prioritize academic staff from RIUs that are involved in ongoing partnerships with Flemish HEIs (e.g., VLIR-UOS IUC Bahir Dar and Arba Minch, and NASCARE). We anticipate to train 90 participants. Meanwhile, we continue improving the engagement of key stakeholders of the HEI landscape to enhance the delivery of a nationwide PhD supervision training across Ethiopian HEIs.