Research Cooperation

This presentation is taken from the outcome assessment of the results and lessons learned of Swedish development cooperation with Nicaragua 2001 – 2008 – for full text and detailed references see document Outcome Assessment 2001-2008.

RESEARCH COOPERATION

(2001 – 2011; 300 MSEK)

The overall conclusion of the assessment is that there has been a substantial progress in the program in the period 2001 – 2008. The Swedish strategy to support the entire research environment, and not only individual research projects and researchers, has started to pay off. The impact of the investment is visible, though still on a small scale, both within the university and in society. Generally all programs are progressing well towards their long term objectives. Today all programs have well established contacts with other sectors of society, and researchers are increasingly participating as experts in national commissions and other situations where specific expertise is required.

Research cooperation with Nicaragua started in the early 1980s through the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation, SAREC. Since 1995, SAREC is integrated into Sida as the department for research cooperation. In contrast to other parts of Swedish bilateral cooperation, which are increasingly handled by Swedish embassies abroad, research cooperation continues to be administered from Stockholm.

The general objective of Swedish research cooperation is to empower knowledge systems and create institutional analytical capacity, i.e. domestic capacity to generate scientific knowledge of international quality that may contribute to the global production of knowledge and to provide solutions to national needs and priorities in terms of reducing poverty and improving living conditions. The Regional Strategy for Central America and the Caribbean 2001-2005 and the Country Program for Nicaragua 2003-2005 view research cooperation as an essential element to achieve economic and social equality and democratic development. Research is considered to play a special role in national and regional capacity building. Well trained researchers have the ability to draw on globally produced knowledge and to formulate appropriate national and regional development policies.

Nicaragua´s research capacity is still very limited and research is poorly supported by its Government. There is no national strategy on how to use science and technology to enhance development, and the National Development Plan adopted in 2005 does not directly address issues of higher education and research and their relevance for development and poverty reduction. In an attempt to take a holistic approach to research, the Nicaraguan Council for Science and Technology (CONICYT) was created in 1995.

Since 1999, Swedish cooperation has included support to the development of national research policies and priorities, reforms of the system of higher education, research management and administration at university level, and the building of platforms to facilitate interaction of national innovation systems.

Universities and entities supported

In the period under review, 2001 – 2008, Swedish research support has been directed at Nicaragua´s four public universities, and two research related entities, as follows:

 

• The National Agricultural University (UNA),

• The National University of Technology (UNI),

• The National Autonomous University in León (UNAN-León),

• The National Autonomous University in Managua (UNAN-Managua),

• The National Council of Universities (CNU).

• The Nicaraguan government’s liaison office for science, technology and innovation (CONICYT). This support did not commence until 2006.

 

At the National Agricultural University, UNA, research cooperation is primarily oriented towards Agronomy, Plant Breeding; Crop Protection, Animal Science, Soil Science and Forestry. They are grouped into three research lines covering Biodiversity, Sustainable Agrarian Production, and the Assessment of Goods and Environmental Services. The Swedish partner is the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).

Key research areas of the National University of Technology, UNI, are Electrical and Computing Engineering and Research in Chemical Engineering. Swedish partners are the Dept. of Industrial Information Control Systems and Dept. of Signals, Sensors and Systems at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), and Dept. of Electro science at Lund University

The University UNAN-León focuses on research in Demographic and Health Research, Occupational and Environmental Health, and Infectious Diseases. Swedish partners are the Dept. of Health and Clinical Medicine at Umeå University; and the Dept. of Women’s and Children’s Health at Uppsala University, the National Institute for Working Life, and the Microbiology and Tumour Biology Centre at the Karolinska Institute.

The University UNAN-Managua is giving priority to an Environmental Research Multidisciplinary Program. Swedish partners are the Departments of Geotechnology, Biotechnology, and Ecology at Lund University, and the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital, Lund.

The National Council of Universities, CNU, is responsible for developing a national policy for higher education and has a key role in the reformation and modernisation of the university system. The CNU is independent of the Government but channels state funds to the universities. Swedish cooperation includes support to the universities for the implementation of strategic research plans in accordance with National System for Higher Education (SINIES), and the national system for research and postgraduate training (SINAP), improvement of information systems on statistics on higher education, implementation of evaluation and accreditation systems of universities and research centres, and a small grant research fund.

The Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, CONICYT, is a government entity created in 1995 with the aim of developing a national system of science and technology (SINACYT). Since 2006 Sida supports CONICYT in the development of a legal platform to facilitate interaction in science, technology and innovation between different actors in society.

To sum up, Swedish research cooperation is composed of support to research training (PhD) and building research environments, a small grant research fund; improved university research management and administration, library and ICT infrastructure at the four universities, and institutional support for policy development/reform of higher education.

Total Swedish support to research cooperation 2001 – 2008 amounted to 190 MSEK. The universities themselves contribute an increasing share research funding, and there are also a few other sources of financing. In 2006, Sida contributed 48 %, the public Nicaraguan universities 42 %, and other donors and organizations about 10% of research funding.

Results of the research cooperation

As of 2008, through the Swedish PhD training support 34 individuals had received their PhD degree and 21 students a licentiate degree. 50 more PhD students were being trained. There is unfortunately no gender based data on researchers. Retention has been very good. A majority of researchers remain at the public universities and there is no sign of them looking for better jobs abroad. It can be concluded that there has been a significant increase in the research capacity at the public universities. This has also improved the quality of university education at the undergraduate level.

There has been a notable increase in study pace as a result of improvements in different areas in the universities. Whereas in the past PhD students at the UNA obtained their degree after 7 – 9 years, the time of study is now reduced to 4 – 5 years. Students are now better prepared thanks to the availability of courses in English, access to local tutors and research groups, easier access to information, modernized laboratories and ICT facilities. These improvements are directly related to the Swedish cooperation.

Thanks to the growing number of PhD holders, all four public universities have started or initiated local training programs for MSc students. The programs have been developed in close cooperation with Swedish universities. In the period 2004 – 2008 four out of seven planned MSc courses were successfully implemented: at the UNAN-León in the areas of occupational health, infectious diseases, and epidemiology, and at the UNAN-Managua in disaster mitigation. The remaining three MSc programs (in ICT, chemical engineering and ecological agriculture) were delayed due to the lack of human resources and physical space. Researchers at the four universities have together published more than 130 papers in scientific journals. It deserves to be mentioned that an article on rota virus vaccine written by a PhD student at UNAN-León was published in the Lancet and selected as the best article in 2006.

During the period 2001 – 2008, a major evaluation of Sida´s bilateral research cooperation was undertaken in four countries including Nicaragua. The Country Report on Nicaragua concludes that overall the past five years (2001 – 2006) had seen a qualitative leap in terms of efficiency and results in most of the programs; some research groups were even approaching a level where they could attract other sources of competitive funds for research activities. The universities had made good use of the capacity and experience gained, for example in terms of reform, enhanced quality of educational programs, and increased efficiency. Efficiency gains were perceived as the result of improved management structures and administration of the research programs, detailed yearly planning and follow up. There is also positive progress towards recognition of the role of researchers as equal to other duties, such as teaching, among university staff and faculty leaders.

One of the reasons for this positive development was considered to be the delegation of responsibilities to the Nicaraguan counterparts in terms of project planning, administration of funds, and the selection of counterparts. As a result, the sense of ownership by the Nicaraguan counterparts had increased. Other positive factors were Sida´s support to capacity building in research management and administration, improved monitoring and financial control, and the strengthening of the Council of Universities in its coordinating function and its role of promoting reforms of higher education.

The evaluation concludes that the impact on the Nicaraguan society of the enhanced national research capacity is still relatively small, but there are nevertheless some good examples. A majority of the Sida supported research teams have established good links with stakeholders in society, such as governmental organisations, private companies, and NGOs. These contacts have been used to identify and find solutions to problems where elements of research are needed. CONICYT and its efforts to create a legal base for platforms to promote innovation systems are important and well worth supporting. In this connection, the instability of political institutions in Nicaragua is however a cause of concern.