Mentor

Outputs and Achievements


In addition to achieving the specified objectives of the SIRCA program, it was clear that collaborative networks did blossom out of the mentor-PI relationship. This unique approach indeed made a difference to the quality of research produced by SIRCA PIs, and also resulted in progressive network building between mentors and PIs.


To quote Dr. Roger Harris on his engagement with his PI Md. Mahfuz Ashraf:

My activities with SIRCA dovetail nicely with the other work that I do with universities, especially in bringing academics, practitioners and beneficiaries together so that each can better understand the others‘ perspectives as they work towards a common set of goals. My mentoring opportunity in Bangladesh is heading in this direction and I am now advising the University of Dhaka on further activities relating to this topic.

More statements from mentors describing how the SIRCA program benefitted their work and helped to further their professional research expertise:

My main work this year has been focused on a research topic triggered by the SIRCA mentoring process. On my field visit to Vietnam, I saw how climate change was increasing the problems of landslides and erosion, but also increasing the need and opportunity for ICTs to play a role. This led to a proposal to IDRC which I’m now working on: a two-year project on ICTs, climate change and development. We are just in process of publishing a set of thematic papers reviewing the key areas in which ICTs can have an impact: adaptation, mitigation, monitoring and governance. And we will shortly publish a set of case studies from Africa and Asia bringing new case evidence to light. Dr. Richard Heeks on his experience mentoring Pham Huu Ty.

The SIRCA experience has helped to widen my regional network and collaborations in health communication especially in Cambodia where the mentorship was based. Thanks to SIRCA, I was able to include Cambodia in a recent study on an international health crisis communication project. Prof. May Lwin on her experience mentoring PI Chivoin Peou.

The program also gave the mentors a refresher course on new research methods:

I was inspired by what I saw in [my PI‘s] class when they went over the transcript of the online counseling. She had combined her research project with a class seamlessly and meaningfully. Students were learning how to be better counselors through live cases that happened only a few days before. That ―let‘s-do-it‖ spirit that was in the air inspired me to run a new course on Internet governance, which is my area of research. It is a lot of work as the whole area is new, without a proper text. But it‘s been refreshing and rewarding. Prof. Ang Peng Hwa on his experience mentoring PI Regina Hechanova.

The SIRCA Program has served as a platform for the cross-fertilization of ideas between first generation ICTD scholars and the new generation, between the old school and the new crop. And this collaboration has occurred across academic traditions, cultural backgrounds and ethnic boundaries. In this sense participation in program has brought higher order benefits to both its principal investigators, mentors and staff. Prof. Alexander Flor on his experience mentoring PI Grace Mirandilla.