TRAINING AND
MENTORSHIP
We are passionate and intentional about supporting and developing early-career researchers and young people interested in research. We provide training and mentorship including MSc and PhD opportunities and internships. Our Early Researchers Club is open to anyone interested in research.
TRAINING PROGRAMMES
Since 2008, we have been running a life skills course for adolescents living with HIV in Harare. This is a 12 session course run by volunteers from our research group, Tendai Muchena and Godwin Chizano along with staff at Harare Hospital and Parirenyatwa Hospital.
The sessions are delivered monthly on a Saturday and focus on issues that adolescents face. Sessions are interactive and participatory and include group activities, videos, games. Q&A sessions and individual activities. The sessions are updated based on feedback received from participants.
The Chiedza Life Skills Training Manual is for facilitators wishing to lead sessions with young people on HIV within a high HIV prevalence context such as Zimbabwe. It includes session outlines and guidance on how to talk through the disease and treatment and some of the difficult emotions which might arise.
Further resources are available from Mesh, a collaborative open-access web space for people involved with community engagement with health research in low and middle-income countries.
The University of Zimbabwe Higher Degrees Innovation and Industrialisation Series (HDII), and the Early Career Researchers' Club (HDII/ECR) is a collaborative platform hosted by the Biomedical Research & Training Institute (BRTI) in partnership with the University of Zimbabwe (UZ). The Club is dedicated to supporting postgraduate students, junior researchers, and early-career professionals across a wide range of disciplines, including health sciences, social sciences, and beyond.
Through regular seminars, training sessions, and networking events, the ECR Club promotes academic growth, research excellence, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Key features include:
Monthly seminars co-hosted with UZ’s HDII Series, offering research presentations, career development sessions, and opportunities to engage with senior academics
A vibrant network for early career researchers to connect, learn, and collaborate across institutions and disciplines
Access to supervisors, mentors, and examiners, including through international programmes
Joint research projects, grant applications, and academic events co-hosted by BRTI and UZ
HDII/ECR Club seminars are hosted monthly at the University of Zimbabwe, with support from the Centre for Postgraduate Studies (CPS). Students and staff from BRTI, UZ, and other national and regional institutions are welcome to attend.
This initiative plays a key role in building research capacity and fostering innovation by supporting early career researchers in Zimbabwe and beyond.
To join the ECR Club mailing list, get in touch with our coordination team- Dr Rudo Chingono and Edson Marambire
EMPOWA: Empowering Professionals for the Wellbeing of Adolescents
Lead Researcher(s): Dr. Constance Mackworth-Young, Professor Rashida Ferrand, Ms. Jacquiline Gumbo, Mr. Aveneni Mangombe, Professor Marvellous Mhloyi, Professor David Ross
Partner(s): Ministry of Health & Childcare, Ministry of Primary & Secondary Education (MOHCC), World Health Organization (WHO), ViiV Healthcare (ViiVHC), Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNH),London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of Zimbabwe, and Biomedical Research and Training Institute.
Background
EMPOWA-Zim (Empowering Professionals for the Wellbeing of Adolescents) Programme is a multisectoral programme for policy makers and programmers in Zimbabwe.
Programme aim(s)
To build skills across ministries and government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and youth advocates to strengthen the effectiveness of policy implementation and service delivery for the benefit of adolescents in Zimbabwe.
Programme design
The Programme is run jointly by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of Zimbabwe and the Biomedical Research and Training Institute.
The EMPOWA Programme is year-long and has been run annually since 2021 for a cohort of 20 senior-level participants each year. Each participant is supported to design a change project, which they implemented within their organisations, with the end goal of improving adolescent wellbeing.
Programme results
In 2021-2024, the EMPOWA-Zim programme delivered the year-long programme to twice, which included two in-person teaching weeks held at University of Zimbabwe, and each participant designing and delivering their own ‘change projects’ to improve adolescent wellbeing. 33 participants successfully graduated in 2024 and were awarded a Certificate of competence.
Future plans
In 2024, the Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health reached out to fund the translation of the EMPOWA programme to other countries. From 2024-2025, we will write a global manual to detail the design of the EMPOWA programme, and how other research and training organisations could adapt and deliver a similar programme. We will then support three country teams to deliver the EMPOWA programme with policy makers and programmers in their own countries.
Programme details can be found here:
From 6-10 May, 18 selected young people attended a residential training programme where they learned research concepts, methodology and implementation, focusing on sexual and reproductive health. At the end of the week youth researchers presented their research project plans to national and international stakeholders. Over the next 3 months youth researchers conducted their research projects with a mentor, and presented the results at a stakeholder ceremony hosted by UNICEF/UNESCO in October 2019.
For International Youth Day 2019 the youth researchers created their own videos about their experiences, representing the theme 'Transforming Education'.
It has been such a wonderful experience for me ... I know a lot about the youth, the problems they face.
Rosina Chuchu, menstrual health management team YRA
The Youth Researchers Academy (YRA) is youth-focused research training program aimed at equipping young people with research skills (from planning research questions to data collection and analysis, and information dissemination).
Following a two-week residential training, youth researchers are offered the opportunity to carry out supervised 12-week research projects, working with a dedicated mentor alongside a highly experienced research team. Project results are then shared with relevant stakeholders at a formal dissemination meeting.
Find out more see the YRA Manual (pdf).