Funding & Sustainability
Established with initial funds from the World Bank's African Centres of Excellence project, WACCBIP's main source of funding is its pool of research & capacity development grants won competitively from some of the world's major research support organisations/funding mechanisms.
The Centre has positioned itself as a globally competitive Centre of excellence for research and training, and its long-term sustainability depends on the quality of our graduates and the impact of our research.
Funding
WACCBIP's operations have mainly been supported by research and training grants; the most substantial among them being the World Bank's African Centres of Excellence (ACE) grant and the Wellcome Trust Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science (DELTAS) Africa grant.
The World Bank African Centres of Excellence (ACE) project, an $8 million World Bank facility provided through a financing agreement with the Government of Ghana, has empowered the Centre to enrol more than 80 MPhil students and 50 PhDs; train over 195 scientists and health professionals through short-term courses; and improve its research and teaching environment through a building extension, which has provided new lecture and seminar rooms, a well-equipped research core facility, and a biomedical high-perfomance computing unit. Support from the World Bank ACE project has also helped the Centre establish high-level research facilities that have aided the process towards developing new disease diagnostic/monitoring methods and novel drug/vaccine targets.
The Wellcome Trust Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science (DELTAS) Africa Programme, funded through the African Academy of Sciences’ (AAS) Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) initiative, with the support of the Wellcome Trust, the UK’s Department for International Development, and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), is a US$100 million facility supporting Africa-led development of world-class researchers and scientific leaders in Africa. WACCBIP has received in excess of $7 million over five (5) years to train 12 Postdoctoral fellows, 15 PhDs in Human Genetics of Communicable or Non-Communicable diseases, offer short courses in bioethics for about 50 trainees (10 trainees annually) on responsible biomedical research conduct, offer travel fellowships for 25 trainees for a six month visit to advanced laboratories under the co-supervision of mentors in the USA and UK, to learn specialised techniques or use specialised facilities and equipment for their training and research; and to attract and mentor 60 students newly graduated from the major Universities in Ghana, with a keen interest in science to work as research assistants and technicians.
Other Grants
World Bank ACE Impact Project
A renewal of the Centre's World Bank ACE project, this $5.5 million facility will place the Centre in a firm position to improve the quality, quantity and development impact of postgraduate education (Master’s and PhD degrees), and short-term professional level courses and training, through regional specialisation and collaboration.
The West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens and Non-Communicable Diseases (WACCBIP+NCDs) project will support WACCBIP to scale up its training and research in Infectious Diseases and expand to include non-communicable diseases and the interactions between infections and non-communicable diseases. The project will make a major impact on health research capacity by training 50 PhD and 100 Master's students, and also enhance the skills of at least 500 health sector professionals. Research under the project will also lead to the development of new diagnostic tools, characterization of new drug and vaccine candidates for IDs, and the identification of genetic factors and molecular mechanisms associated with non-communicable diseases.
The West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens and Non-Communicable Diseases (WACCBIP+NCDs) project will support WACCBIP to scale up its training and research in Infectious Diseases and expand to include non-communicable diseases and the interactions between infections and non-communicable diseases. The project will make a major impact on health research capacity by training 50 PhD and 100 Master's students, and also enhance the skills of at least 500 health sector professionals. Research under the project will also lead to the development of new diagnostic tools, characterization of new drug and vaccine candidates for IDs, and the identification of genetic factors and molecular mechanisms associated with non-communicable diseases.
Tackling Infections to Benefit Africa (TIBA) Ghana
Crick African Network (CAN)
Pan-African Malaria Genetic Epidemiology Network (PAMGEN)
NIHR Global Health Research Group Grant
Sustainability
The major plan for sustainability is to continue building our faculty and placing WACCBIP in a strong position for competitive funding from donor agencies by demonstrating consistency in teaching and research excellence. With the increased visibility and credibility that we continue to gain through the African Centres of Excellence Project and the Wellcome Trust DELTAS project, the Centre is well-positioned to access additional funding for its training programmes.
Winning competitive grants and research contracts
One of key indicators of a successful research institution is the ability to attract large, highly competitive research and training grants. The evidence so far shows that WACCBIP is on its way to this level of global competitiveness, and we will continue to strengthen our brand by developing innovative projects that will maintain our status as a major biomedical research hub and preferred partner for global health networks and initiatives. Some sectoral partners, such as the National Malaria Control Programme and the National Public Health Directorate are already using our services to obtain data for disease surveillance and tracking drug-resistant pathogens. It is expected these services would be scaled up to generate revenue for the Centre’s operations. Our private sector partners have also expressed a strong desire to use our facilities and scientists for research to address specific needs of their institutions.
Training contracts
The quality of our training products is also a major indicator of the Centre’s sustainability as a training programme. From the destination data gathered so far, it is clear that we are identifying Africa’s top talent and transforming them into globally competitive scientists. We expect to maintain similar high standards for our planned professional training programmes, which would position us to attract training contracts from both public and private sector industry partners on a sustainable basis. Our industrial partners have offered to share the cost of short courses by providing experts and hosting trainees for internships at their facilities by providing accommodation and waiving bench fees.
Fee-for-service core facilities
The purchase of high-end equipment such as a confocal microscope, genome sequencers, flow cytometers, and high-performance computing clusters come with high costs of maintenance. Therefore, as part of our sustainability plans, we open up these facilities to other users in the University community, as well as national and regional institutions that need these services. Revenue for these fee-for-service provisions would contribute towards defraying equipment running costs and maintenance contracts. Other services that the Centre provides at a charge include hosting workshops and conferences, and local transportation services using the Centre’s vehicles.
