Directorate of Research and Innovation

ABOUT THE DIRECTORATE

The Directorate of Research and Innovation (DRI) was established in the year 2022 to promote and facilitate all research and innovation related activities in Ho Technical University (HTU). The functions and activities of the Directorate include but not limited to identifying research funding sources and modes of acquisition, dissemination of research findings, ensuring that research and innovations conform to approve ethical standards, evaluation of research effectiveness and impact, as well as building research capacity of faculty members through cutting-edge training across the research and innovation ecosystem. The Directorate strives to streamline the processes of research and innovation by continuously exploring key research areas, and designing strategies for the accomplishment of research goals in line with the University’s Research Strategic Plan.

MISSION AND VISION OF THE DIRECTORATE

Our Vision
To become a Directorate of Excellence by actively promoting and facilitating research and innovation for HTU faculty, staff and students while complying with all required administrative standards of research.

Mission Statement
The Directorate strives to make HTU a leading research institution in partnership with stakeholders through capacity building trainings, and research and creative scholarly activities of faculty, staff and students.

Dr. Emmanuel Letsyo is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Food Science and Technology and until his appointment as the Acting Director of the Directorate of Research and Innovation was the Head of Food Science and Technology Department from July, 2018 to August, 2022. Dr. Letsyo is a Food Chemist with deep interest in analyzing toxicants in food and herbal products and their health implication. He has also been involved in research activities in the application of Countercurrent chromatography, GC-MS, LC-MS and NMR techniques in the separation and purification of bioactive compounds in plant materials. He has extensive experience, with over 26 years of experience in teaching in both second cycle and tertiary institutions, in research collaborations with partners in both developed and developing countries.

Dr. Letsyo holds a PhD in Food Chemistry from Brunswick University of Technology, Germany. He also graduated with a BSc. in Chemistry and MSc. in Food Science and Technology both from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. Dr. Letsyo has held several prestigious scholarships including German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Government of Ghana scholarships (2013-2017).

As the Head of Department of Food Science and Technology (2018-2022), Dr. Letsyo established collaboration with several food industries, developed curricula for accreditation and re-accreditation purposes, submitted proposals for new programmes for the consideration of GTEC and obtained funding for the development of the Department. He vigorously pursued an agenda of equipping the Food Science and Technology laboratories and was instrumental in the donation of equipment and accessories worth over 80,000 Ghana Cedis to the Department in 2017.

Dr. Letsyo has been a member and chaired a number of committees in the University. He has reviewed for more than 10 different international journals and authored/coauthored more than 30 journal and conference papers.

In his current role as the Acting Director of the Directorate of Research and Innovation, Dr. Letsyo is overseeing and promoting external and internal research funding, technology transfer and intellectual property protection and commercialization, research collaborations and dissemination.  

Dr. Emmanuel Letsyo
(Ag. Director, DRI)

MANDATE OF THE DIRECTORATE

In support of the overall mandate of Ho Technical University, the mandate of the DRI is enshrined in Statute 27 of the Ho Technical University Statute of August, 2018. The Directorate is to:

1. be the custodian of all the meta-data and research materials generated by staff or faculty and students, the data repositories and the research data server and store them in a confidential and robust manner;
2. support any potential Researcher(s) and Innovator(s) with any institutional document (s) required in seeking funds to conduct research and innovation activities;
3. be responsible for preparing a research development plan for the University;
4. managing research data and innovation materials;
5. promote academic authorship;
6. ensure that research and innovations conform with standard and approved ethical guidelines;
7. organise regular or annual review of research and innovation protocols of the University;
8. provide periodic reports on research and innovation activities conducted by the University to the appropriate authority; and
9. publicise the innovations and inventions of staff and students in collaboration with Public Affairs.

OPERATIONAL UNITS OF THE DIRECTORATE

The Directorate is headed by a Director who reports to the Vice Chancellor through the Pro-Vice-Chancellor. It consists of five (5) operational units that attend to the day-to-day duties of the Directorate. The Directorate collaborates with four main offices/committees/centres in accomplishing its mandate. Currently, the Directorate is headed by Dr. Emmanuel Letsyo, the Ag. Director of the Directorate and administratively supported by Mr. Jonathan Jojoe Tuokumah, an Assistant Registrar, seconded to the Directorate.

The five (5) operational units of DRI are outlined below:

1. Research and Technology Transfer Unit

• Commercializing research and Technology
• Protecting Intellectual Property (IP) created by researchers
• Licensing the IP
• Reporting newly created software or a patentable invention

2. Research and Publications Dissemination Unit

• Re­questing for annual research outputs from Depart­ments, Sections and Units and publishing same in HTU publications bulletins
• Negotiating research collaboration with allied academic institutions and industry
• Recommending research proce­dures and regulations to Departments

3. Conferences, Workshops and Seminars Unit

• Organizing research skills capacity-building workshops, seminars and conferences for staff and students
• Conducting periodic staff research needs assessment
• Monitoring staff research activities

4. Funding, Grants and Scholarships Unit

• Scouting for grants for research and innovation on behalf of the University
• Establishing a database system of funders, researchers and their interests
• Managing the University’s research funds and recommending to Management for the granting of awards/grants to deserving staff

5. Research Ethics Performance Unit

• Preparing appropriate forms for ethical approval of research proposals in collaboration with Research Ethics Committee (REC)
• In collaboration with REC, assess applications and grant ethical clearance to staff, students and ex­ternal researchers who propose to use staff and students of the University for research
• In collaboration with REC, approve research proposals that meet the University codes of ethics for researchers
• Monitoring approved proposals to ensure compliance with the guiding ethical standards
• Ensuring that humans involved in research are treated with dignity, and that their well-being is not com­promised

Office Location

4^th Floor

G. M. Afeti Auditorium Wing (Glass house)

Ho Technical University

P.O. Box HP 217

Email Address: dri@htu.edu.gh