Guest Post: AuthorAID Workshops in Ethiopia

[This post is from Ravi Murugesan, AuthorAID training coordinator. Thank you, Ravi! —Barbara]

Greetings from London!

I’ve just returned from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, where I facilitated an AuthorAID workshop on research writing and a train-the-trainers workshop.

The research-writing workshop was attended by nearly 25 researchers from more than 15 universities in Ethiopia. This diversity was matched by the diversity in their fields of research.

At the workshop, I gave lectures on how to approach a writing project, how to publish a paper in a journal, and how to write various parts of a scientific research paper. I used the lecture content developed by Prof. Barbara Gastel, and the lecture files are freely available in the AuthorAID Resource Library.

I was fortunate to have the support of 2 very capable co-facilitators at the workshop: Mr. Teklemichael Wordofa, from Addis Ababa University (AAU) Libraries, and Prof. B.S. Chandravanshi, from the Department of Chemistry at AAU. Mr. Wordofa gave a well-received lecture on how to use e-resources, and Prof. Chandravanshi mentioned many fascinating examples from his area of research during the lectures and discussions.

The discussions and small-group activities made up nearly half of the workshop. In one of the activities, the participants analyzed published journal papers to check the structure, length, citations, etc.

After the 3-day research writing workshop, there was a 1-day train-the-trainer workshop. Here, the participants worked in small groups to develop interesting plans for workshops on research writing using AuthorAID material. The lecture files for this workshop are also available in the resource library.

I had an excellent time in Addis Ababa, but because of my tight travel schedule I didn’t get to see the city. I hope to return to Ethiopia and have time for sightseeing. I would especially like to visit the ancient city of Axum.