Generation of Future Science Leaders through Mentorship and Research: The case of Carnegie Post-Doctoral Fellowship

A postdoctoral fellowship was awarded to support research focusing on grain legumes and dryland cereals. Training of young scientists towards masters and doctor of philosophy (PhD) degrees was embedded within the fellowship. Collaborative networking to exploit research potential by leveraging on available resources across institutions was adopted, whereby a multi-institutional framework to cater for regional and or international collaboration in training and research was embraced. A total of six students were brought on board under the fellowship, who are being trained to be future researchers with passion of driving Agricultural interventions for food and nutritional security forward. Additional international networking was sought, that created a strong platform for student knowledge exchange and support in their research. Through the fellowship, technologies geared at enhancing legume and sorghum production in the region were generated. The postgraduate students were exposed to modern research methods and their applications so as to be the future champions in modernization of agricultural research operations for more impact.