The re-positioning agenda of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), which was spurred by changing trends and patterns of multi-faceted and interlinked socio-economic, political and cultural issues, is anchored by a new era of active engagement in quality research. Among the numerous interventions that centre-stages research at UCC is the redefinition of the mandate of the then Consultancy Unit to include oversight responsibilities of research and innovation. This led to the establishment of the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC) in 2013. The expected outcome indicators of DRIC’s mandate in superintending

activities related to research, innovation and consultancy include, but not limited to, increased number of national and international research grant contracts and consultancy, improved researcher productivity, improved ranking of UCC among Universities in Ghana, Africa and beyond, and increased number of patents. These outcomes are expected to culminate in the

transformation of lives, thereby making UCC more visible in serving as an indispensable hub for hosting and producing high quality researchers as well as engaging in cutting-edge research. Since the dawn of the new research era in UCC, faculty members have been resourced in diverse ways.

The services and resources offered include: organising sensitisation workshops on issues related to publication and visibility; offering mentorship workshops on article writing; revamping the provision of research support grants; streamlining and expanding the provision of travel grants for conference attendance; and publicising calls for external research grants, contracts and consultancy. The University Management, on the other hand, has witnessed provision

of new research services in the areas of documenting research output and productivity; ranking Departments, Faculties/Schools and Colleges based on aggregate number of publications and citations of faculty members; developing policies specifically Research Policy and the

Intellectual Property Policy for UCC; and providing advise on all matters related to research, innovation and consultancy. Notable, of the advice are matters related to improved quality of research and visibility. Following from the four years of intensive engagements aimed at

strengthening research output in UCC, the time has come to showcase to the global community the rich and diverse research capability, capacity and track record of faculty members in UCC. This maiden research report tends to serve this purpose. With academic units comprising five colleges, 15 faculties/schools and more than 80 Departments/Centres/Institutes/Directorates/Units, research output is indeed diverse. This corroborates the scope of the University’s research theme - Health, Education and Environmental Sustainability for National Development In Changing Global Contexts - for the period 2013 - 2017. Guided

by the theme and internal support received over the period as well as scope, nature and regularity of external calls for research grants, contracts and consultancy, faculty members in the last five years have executed various research assignments worth showcasing to the global community. This publication is intended to show appreciation to funders and collaborators of

research conducted in and by faculty members of UCC, industry partners who have utilised capacity endowed in the University and also, to sustain and attract new collaborations, funding and industry engagement.

The DRIC with support from University Management will ensure sustenance of the interventions and as well, introduce new tools to improve research capacity in UCC.

Among the new research tools to be introduced in the 2018 calendar year are Elsevier’s solutions (ScienceDirect, Scopus and SciVal) and the establishment of an Industry

and Innovation Unit.