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Botswana Open University (BOU) Chancellor, Professor Sheila Tlou, has advised researchers to always share their research findings with government and other stakeholders.

Professor Tlou shared this during her visit to the Okavango Research Institute (ORI) recently. She was accompanied by BOU Vice Chancellor, Dr Daniel Tau. She emphasised the need for collaboration between ORI and BOU.

Professor Tlou further highlighted the need for a research informed policy making process. She called upon ORI and BOU researchers to make sure decision makers constantly received information.

In addition, Professor Tlou encouraged researchers not to aim at making their research findings available in journals only but to make sure they disseminated them in local newspapers that everyone read as well. Another critical area that Professor Tlou said Botswana should cater for was research funding.

She was keen on tropical diseases in that she would like to see ORI involved in research that aimed at eradication of diseases such as malaria, bilharzia as well as HIV/AIDS. For his part, Dr Tau highlighted the long history that the University of Botswana and BOU shared hence the need for collaborative research between the two institutions.

He noted that from the onset, BOU had involved UB staff in some of its key committees such as that of the Appointment and Promotion of Academic staff. He also noted that BOU and ORI had developed a joint graduate programme on Climate Change which would involve collaboration of the two institutions on supervision of students.

Meanwhile, Professor Tlou and Dr Tau were taken on a guided tour of ORI during which they expressed gratitude for having been welcomed at ORI.

On the other hand, Ori Director, Professor Joseph Mbaiwa, said he also felt honoured to have hosted such a high-powered BOU delegation. Professor Mbaiwa shared with the delegation a brief history of ORI and it’s mandate.