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The Research Office is the
central support office for research conducted at Aga
Khan University (AKU). The office was established by
the Board of Trustees in 1999 with the primary function
of supporting the University Research Council (URC)
and its standing committees, i.e. Ethical Review Committee
(ERC), Grants Review Committee (GRC), Ethical Committee
for Research on Animals (ECRA) and the International
Advisory Committee for Research (IACR).
The terms of reference provided
by the University Research Council to the Research
Office are:
- Co-ordination and oversight of research;
- To be a repository of research information;
- To act like a liaison office between the Principal Investigator and the external granting agency and;
- T o ensure that research at AKU is controlled both qualitatively and objectively as a University function.
The Research Office is a
facilitating office. It enhances the research environment,
for example by organising research meetings and presentations.
It disseminates information on grant funding in various
areas of specialisation, aids researchers with preparation
of grant applications including editorial activities
relating to writing of grants and reports. It assists
the researchers to seek required internal approvals
where an agreement is to be drawn up between a funding
agency and the University.
The Research Office maintains a Research Projects Database which is an on-line resource having comprehensive information about completed and in-process research projects conducted at AKU. This database also alerts the office to follow-up with Principal Investigators when progress reports are due.
The Research Office also maintains an Extramural Funding Alerts Database. From time to time, the office announces extramural grant funding opportunities for faculty and staff in various specialties, some cross-disciplinary in nature. For those who have missed out on these announcements for various reasons, the office has launched this database for their convenience.
The Research Office is responsible
for allocating space to researchers in Juma Building
, a building dedicated specially for research, in accordance
with the policy guidelines. The office also maintains
an inventory of equipment used for research in this
building.
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