Mr. Ban Bunheng, Deputy Director of the ASEAN Study Center, and Mr. Travis Mitchell, Deputy Director for the Institute for Research and Advanced Studies, attended a five day workshop entitled, “Research Methodology and Proposal Writing,” held at the Angkor Paradise Hotel in Siem Reap from July 24-28, 2015. The workshop was developed as a continuation of a previous workshop titled, “Activating Interest for Research Grant Proposal Writing,” held earlier this year in Kampot Province. Sponsored by the Directorate General of Higher Education, the workshop aimed to increase capacity in research methodology and research design; to increase capacity in project and program management; to promote the institutional capacity of research, project, and program management (including policy, strategies, guidelines, monitoring and evaluation); to activate research interest and build capacity in grant proposal development; to disseminate information on several grants with upcoming due dates; and to develop a research network/society among relevant academics and researchers. The workshop contained five themes, including 1) research methodology and design 2) project and program management 3) institutional capacity building for project and program management 4) components and practical guides to proposal writing 5) introduction to grant opportunities and 6) establishment of a research network/society. Participants came from higher education institutes from all over the country and actively participated during the five day workshop.
Professor Dr. Richard Gilbert from the United States conducted several sessions, ranging from data instrumentation and management to discussing how to report and present data for international donors. Other speakers included Dr. Neth Baromey of RUPP, Dr. Kim Soben, Director of Center for Agricultural and Environmental Studies, Dr. Hul Seingheng of ITC, and Mr. Pin Tara of CSUK. Topics discussed included creating logical frameworks, problem and objective trees, and logical models; finding funding for projects; writing effective proposals; and establishing the Cambodian Society for Research and Development. At the end of every session, a twenty minute Question and Answer session was held, where all participants were able to provide feedback or clarify any concepts that were not clear. A networking dinner was held at the end of the second night, where the participants got to know each other and exchange ideas about possible collaboration for upcoming projects.
By the end of the workshop, participants increased their research capacity and skills, increased their project management abilities, enhanced their proposal writing skills, developed research and project collaborations between institutions of higher education in Cambodia, and gave advice and suggestions to Cambodia’s first research network.
