Guest Post: Beyond AuthorAID Workshops!

[This post is from AuthorAID community member Dr. Haseeb Md. Irfanullah. Haseeb works for Practical Action, a UK-based charity, in Bangladesh. He is available at hmirfanullah@yahoo.co.uk. Thanks very much, Haseeb! —Barbara]

Earlier this month, I voluntarily designed and facilitated a 2-day workshop for a group of young biologists of Bangladesh on improving their research communication skills. Since late 2011, I have had a couple of opportunities to train similar groups on this topic, fully supported by AuthorAID grants. But, this time round it was different!

All began a couple of months back when I wrote a blog post on the impacts of one of my AuthorAID workshops. Having seen that post, a friend of mine, who is a professor and Director (Research and Extension) at the Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU), asked me to design and facilitate a similar event for his young lecturers. His enthusiasm grew bigger!

In the end he brought together 23 young researchers from 4 universities located in Chittagong—the port-city of Bangladesh. These universities were the CVASU, the Chittagong University (CU), the University of Science and Technology Chittagong (USTC), and the Asian University for Women (AUW). Part of the expense of this event was covered by TWAS. And the rest was borne by the participants.

I have realized 3 simple things.

First, we must continually share our experiences, insights, and thoughts with others. You never know who might pick them up and act on them.

Second, one important factor in going forward is convincing others to join you. Even a simple collaboration can transform a vague possibility into an admirable reality.

Third, there is a huge demand and interest among the young researchers of developing countries to learn research communication skills. Willingness to pay is a strong indication to that. We must find ways to nurture that with our limited resources.

Until I share my next experience, goodbye!