Training Centre in Communication Explores Open Science Partnership with Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) for East African Researchers.

Dr. Paul-André Calatayud, IRD Representative for East Africa, and Joy Owango, Executive Director of TCC Africa, during exploratory discussions on potential Open Science collaboration initiatives at the TCC Africa offices in Nairobi on March 18, 2025.

The Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa) recently hosted Dr. Paul-André Calatayud, the IRD Representative for East Africa, at its offices for exploratory discussions on a potential collaboration focused on advancing Open Science practices across the region.

The talks centered on a new project that would address the growing need for Open Science skills among researchers in East Africa. Both organizations acknowledged that despite the recognized benefits of transparency, reproducibility, and accessibility in research, many scientists in the region lack formal training in implementing these practices.

During his visit, Dr. Calatayud shared a vision for the initiative that could equip researchers with essential skills in Open Science principles including Open Access publishing, Open Research Data management, and Open Peer Review processes.

The project will specifically focus on developing practical competencies in open-source research tools that are increasingly critical for modern scientific work. Researchers will receive training and not limited to  platforms such as GitHub/GitLab for version control, programming languages like R and Python for data analysis, and documentation tools including Jupyter notebooks and Quarto for reproducible research. Beyond individual researcher development, the collaboration will work with institutions to create supportive policies that encourage Open Science compliance. The partners will also promote citizen science initiatives to broaden participation in research and create a dedicated Open Science resource hub that will serve as a repository of training materials and best practices.

About Research Institute for Development (IRD), French Institute.

The French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development, or Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), is a French science and technology establishment under the joint supervision of the French Ministries of Higher Education and Research and Foreign Affairs.

Find out more on their website: https://en.ird.fr/ 

About TCC Africa

The Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa), is the first African-based training center to teach effective communication skills to scientists. TCC Africa is an award-winning Trust, established as a non-profit entity in 2006 and is registered in Kenya. TCC Africa provides capacity support in improving researchers’ output and visibility through capacity strengthening in scholarly and science communication. Over the last 15 years, TCC Africa has supported over 39,000 researchers in their research lifecycle. TCC Africa supports research institutes in various professional capacities that will help them improve their research output and increase their visibility. This is through professional services with support from our global partners.

For more information, visit: https://www.tcc-africa.org/