For any university, research is one of the major pillars; it is one of the three components in the University of Nairobi (UoN). In Africa, research output visibility is low as the most common avenues of sharing research information is through academic journals and books. This form of distribution has not been effective as it does not have the desired global reach.

To this end, UoN through the office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research, Production and Extension and the University Library is working on an open access initiative. The two recently held a sensitization workshop on biodiversity and open access content targeting researchers in the College of Biological and Physical Sciences (CBPS) and College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences (CAVS).

Sponsored by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) through the African Regional Cooperative Agreement (AFRA) for Research, Development and Training, the ‘Train-the-Trainers for Radiation Protection Officers Workshop’ was recently held at the Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology.

The workshop which attracted the participation of 15 African countries and the United Kingdom was officially opened by Prof. Lucy Irungu, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research, Production and Extension, University of Nairobi.