Directorate of University Research Administration

An overview of the Directorate

DURA is the Institutional arrangement for managing Research at the University. Following the approval of a Research Policy and Plan for the University by both Senate and the Governing Council of the University, the third, Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ikenna Onyido FAS, appointed a pioneer Director for the Directorate of University Administration with effect from March 1, 2007. The Directorate was thus established.

The Directorate is housed in Room 308 of the Alex Ekwueme building, University Administrative Block. The Research Policy and Plan document has guided the University’s research activities since its approval. Execution of policies and day-to-day activities driving Research in the University is vested in the Directorate of University Research and Administration.

The research will continue to play a vital role in any university worth its name. The relevance of our University will depend partly on innovation in Science and Technology generated through Research, and the results of our Research must impact the individual Scientist, the institution, and indeed the society. I, therefore, urge all stakeholders in Research to accord high priority to Research.

Duties of the Directorate

These are encapsulated in the Research Policy and Plan and are geared towards the realization of a “robust and flexible machinery to drive research efforts in the University and engage researchers in the re-orientation that is needed to implement the paradigm shift involved”.
To achieve the objectives of the Directorate, the following machinery is in place:

• An Organogram, consisting of a University Research Board (URB), with the Vice-Chancellor as chairman;
• A Directorate of University Research Administration (DURA), with a Director;
• Research Programmes, under Research Programme Leaders (RPLs), and
• Research Teams, under Research Team Leaders (RTLs)
• Eleven broad Research Programmes, namely:
  1. Agribusiness and Cooperatives;
  2. Animal Production and improvement;
  3. Crop Production and Improvement;
  4. Agricultural Economics and Resource Management;
  5. Agricultural Extension, Education and Gender Issues;
  6. Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering;
  7. Soils, Agro-climatology and Environmental Management;
  8. Food Science, Nutrition and Home Management;
  9. Renewable Resources and Wildlife Management;
  10. Engineering and Information Technology; and
  11. Biological and Physical Sciences.