Many African science graduates struggle to establish careers after leaving university as they do not receive enough assistance to define their research agendas and develop professionally, says the report, Foundations for the Future: Supporting the Early Careers of African Researchers.
Instead, post-doctorate graduates working as 'junior lecturers' in African universities are often overloaded with teaching and administrative duties, and have to pursue research and writing academic papers in their spare time.
To counter this, the report urges senior academics to encourage research by younger colleagues and to mentor them on collaborations, publishing and preparing funding applications.
It is essential that science be recognised as an "intergenerational endeavour", said the report's author Jonathan Harle: "One thing which is absolutely critical is … trying to find ways in which senior academics can be encouraged, enabled and incentivised to nurture [the early career researchers]."
The report builds on the Nairobi Process, a series of actions and initiatives developed to improve UK-Africa research collaborations in the humanities and social sciences, which is being coordinated by the British Academy and the ACU.
