The Graduate Students’ Association of Ghana (GRASAG) has called for the newly launched Ghana National Research Fund (GNRF) to provide accessible, transparent and equitable funding opportunities for graduate researchers across the country.
The appeal follows the official launch of the Fund by President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday, June 16, as part of efforts to address long-standing funding challenges in research and innovation and support Ghana’s industrialisation and economic transformation agenda.
Speaking at the launch, President Mahama described the Fund as a key component of the government’s broader “resetting agenda,” aimed at providing sustainable and predictable financing for research and innovation.
He noted that strengthening local knowledge systems and research capacity remains essential to national development.
In a statement issued after the launch, GRASAG welcomed the establishment of the Fund but stressed the need for deliberate measures to ensure graduate students benefit directly from its resources.
“GRASAG therefore calls for the Fund to deliberately create accessible, transparent, and equitable funding pathways for graduate researchers, including support for thesis and dissertation work, field research, laboratory access, publication costs, innovation, and policy-relevant studies,” the association stated.
The association emphasised that graduate students constitute a vital part of Ghana’s research ecosystem, contributing significantly to data collection, analysis, innovation and the development of solutions to national challenges.
GRASAG also expressed its readiness to collaborate with the Fund, government agencies, academic institutions, industry players and development partners to ensure the initiative achieves its intended objectives.
According to the association, the launch of the Fund should mark the beginning of a new era in which research informs public policy, innovation drives industrial growth and graduate students are empowered to make meaningful contributions to national development.
The association commended the Government of Ghana, the Ministry of Education and all stakeholders involved in operationalising the Fund.
It further acknowledged the leadership of Prof. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, Chairperson of the Governing Board, and Prof. Abigail Opoku Mensah, Acting Administrator of the Fund, for their contributions to establishing the institution.
The Ghana National Research Fund was established under the Ghana National Research Fund Act, 2020 (Act 1056), to provide dedicated and sustainable funding for research, innovation and technology development across various sectors of the economy.
