RIPPLES: A Low-Cost Research Incubator Model for Under-Resourced African Universities

By emmannaemeka @ 2025-06-26T22:58 (+9)

Summary

I am piloting a research incubation initiative at my university in Nigeria to help early-career academics turn promising but undeveloped ideas into competitive grant proposals and publishable research. The model is low-cost, highly replicable, and designed to address epistemic neglect in academic institutions across Sub-Saharan Africa.

We call it RIPPLES:
Research Incubation for Proposal and Publication Launch at Early-career Stakeholders.

Context

I am the Director of Research and Development at Plateau State University, Bokkos (PLASU), a growing public university in central Nigeria. Like many institutions in the Global South, we have capable faculty with deep local knowledge but significant barriers to producing research that reaches the global academic conversation.

For instance, while many of our staff are supervising undergraduate projects or collecting primary data, very few have:

• Submitted a competitive research grant proposal,
• Published in peer-reviewed journals (exceptionally high-impact ones), or
• Been mentored through the writing or peer review process.

This results in an enormous loss of insight on topics of global importance: infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food security, water quality, urbanization, and more.

In addition, even when faculty do manage to produce high-quality manuscripts, publication fees often exceed their monthly salary. Open-access charges from international journals can be a significant barrier, exacerbating the research visibility gap.

The Intervention

We’re launching RIPPLES, a 6-month pilot program with the following features:

• Idea Incubation Clinics
  Junior staff bring 1-page summaries of their research ideas and receive feedback on scope, feasibility, relevance, and fundability.
• Mentor Circles
  Small peer groups with at least one senior mentor (internal or diaspora-based) to provide regular input and accountability.
• Mock Proposal Review Panels
  Simulated funder panels using anonymised successful (and unsuccessful) proposals, based on rubrics from funders like TETFund, TWAS, NIH, etc
• Grant Sprint Weeks
  Four-week structured sessions where participants finalize and submit a proposal to a live funding call.

Why This Might Be of Interest to the EA Community

1. Neglected Problem, High Leverage

The capacity gap in African higher education is well-known but remains structurally underfunded. Universities are among the most influential institutions in African societies, educating leaders, advising policymakers, and shaping local epistemologies. Yet their research capacity is rarely addressed with the kind of systematic thinking that EA favors.

2. Cost-Effectiveness

The pilot will engage at least 30 staff and result in 10–15 fundable proposals or draft manuscripts. We estimate a direct implementation cost of $5,000–$7,000, mostly to cover logistics, mentor stipends, and documentation. This is <$250 per researcher, orders of magnitude lower than conventional academic development programs.

3. Scalability

If successful, this model can be adapted by other universities in Nigeria and beyond. We aim to release an open-source “RIPPLES Toolkit” of templates, workshop designs, mentor protocols, and case studies that others can use.

4. Epistemic Justice and Global Reasoning

Many of the world’s most pressing issues play out differently in low-resource environments. Yet the people closest to these issues are often excluded from shaping research agendas. RIPPLES is a way to empower those voices not through extractive partnerships, but by building endogenous capacity to generate, frame, and communicate knowledge.

What We're Looking For

1. Feedback

• What blind spots might we be missing?
• Are there other successful models we could learn from or adapt?

2. Volunteer Mentors

• Can you commit 1–2 hours/month to provide comments on proposals or drafts?
• We welcome researchers in global health, agriculture, economics, education, and meta-science.

3. Micro-Donors or Funders

• We’re seeking modest funding ($5k–$15k) to implement the 6-month pilot without relying on university bureaucracy or TETFund timelines.
• All funds are allocated directly to program implementation, excluding salaries and overhead.

Final Thoughts

This is an experiment in institutional transformation at the micro-scale. Suppose we can move a cohort of under-supported academics from idea to output in an affordable, reproducible, and collaborative manner. In that case, this may offer one pathway toward rebalancing the global research ecosystem.

I would sincerely appreciate your feedback, critiques, or expressions of interest.

Let’s create ripples of research impact where they are most needed.

Dr. Nnaemeka Emmanuel Nnadi
Director of Research, Plateau State University Bokkos

eennadi@plasu.edu.ng