The National Research Fund in collaboration with Maasai Mara University would like to organize the Inaugural National Postgraduate Students Conference to bring on board the postgraduate students funded by NRF, other development partners and those that are self-financed to have a platform to share their research findings for peer review and quality assurance. The proposed Conference will enable NRF to establish the quality of research and progress of the postgraduate students who were funded under different calls.  This conference will also be critical in providing monitoring, evaluation and impact reports on the status of postgraduate funding in Kenya. The Inaugural conference will take place at the Maasai Mara University, Narok County, from 28^th – 30^th May 2025.

Objectives:

The Bi-annual conference aims to achieve the following objectives:

• Knowledge Sharing – Provide a platform for postgraduate researchers to share the latest developments, research findings and best practices in their fields.
• Professional Development – Offer workshops, seminars, and training sessions on Proposal grant writing, job market search, entrepreneurship, innovation and commercialization to help postgraduate attendees enhance their skills and knowledge.
• Strategic Discussions – Address critical issues and challenges facing postgraduate research in Kenya and develop strategies to tackle them.
• Showcasing research outputs – Highlight new technologies, products, and services from funded projects that can drive progress and efficiency.
• Policy and Advocacy – Discuss and influence policies that impact the industry or community, advocating for beneficial changes.
• Recognition of researchers with impactful outputs
• Networking – Facilitate connections among attendees, fostering collaborations and partnerships that can lead to new opportunities and innovations.

Theme:

Innovation for Sustainable Development: Postgraduate Research for Societal Transformation

Sub Themes:

• Technological Innovations for Socio-Economic Growth (ICT and emerging trends in AI)
• Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action (Earth sciences and climate change)
• Policy, Governance, and Societal Impact
• Emerging issues in Education
• Pure, and Applied sciences in technological advancements
• Business and Economics for sustainable economic development
• Arts and social sciences for societal transformation
• Innovations in Agriculture and food security

Conference registration:

All participants must fill the registration form on the following link: https://shorturl.at/A4bTj.

You will receive a confirmation email through the conference email: nbpsconference@mmarau.ac.ke  as soon as your application has been submitted

Registration fees

• A nominal fee of 1,000/= is required.

Timeline

• Registration Deadline: Friday, 14 March 2025
• Submission of abstracts deadline: Monday, 31 March 2025
• Notification of Acceptance of abstracts : Monday, 21 April 2025
• Conference Dates: Wednesday – Friday, 28 – 30 May 2025

Contact

For more information don’t hesitate to get in touch with Marjan Khamis at  marjan@mmarau.ac.ke  or Emmanuel Chitechi at echitechi@nrf.go.ke