Research and Community Service Policy

ASSOSA UNIVERSITY
Research and
Community
Service Policy
Office of the Vice President for Research and
Community Service
ASSOSA UNIVERSITY
P.O. Box: 20, Assosa, Benishangul Gumuz, Ethiopia
Website: http://www.asu.edu.et
November, 2005
Assosa
Assosa University/VPRCS:Research Policy
Table of Contents
Contents Page
ACRONYMS .................................................................................................................................................6
1. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................................7
2. MISSION AND VISION OF RCSCP ......................................................................................................8
2.1. Mission..................................................................................................................... 8
2.2. Vision ....................................................................................................................... 8
3. CORE PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY SERVICE IN ASSOSA
UNIVERSITY ..........................................................................................................................................8
4. OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY SERVICE POLICY IN ASSOSA
UNIVERSITY ........................................................................................................................................ 10
5. RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES IN CONDUCTING RESEARCH .......................................... 12
5.1 Rights of faculty members ...................................................................................... 12
5.2 Responsibilities of Faculty to Staff and Students ................................................... 12
5.3 Health and safety..................................................................................................... 13
5.4 Research Misconduct: Investigating and Reporting Allegations ............................ 13
5.4.1 Definition of Misconduct ................................................................................. 13
5.4.2 Applicability .................................................................................................... 15
6. RESEARCH ETHICS COMMITTEE .................................................................................................. 15
6.1 Research involving animals .................................................................................... 16
6.2 Research involving Environment and Bio-safety ................................................... 17
7. OPENNESS IN RESEARCH ................................................................................................................. 18
7.1 Definition ................................................................................................................ 18
7.2 Secrecy in a research Program ................................................................................ 18
7.3 Retention of and access to research data................................................................. 21
7.4. Transfer of data ...................................................................................................... 21
8. REVIEW OF THIS POLICY ................................................................................................................. 22
9. ESTABLISHING AND MANAGING INDEPENDENT LABORATORIES, INSTITUTES AND
CENTERS AT ASSOSA UNIVERSITY .............................................................................................. 22
9.1 Definitions............................................................................................................... 22
9.2 Principles for establishing independent laboratories, institutes, units or centers ... 23
9.3 Procedures for establishing the Units ..................................................................... 24
9.4 On-going evaluation of units .................................................................................. 24
10. MANAGEMENT OF RESEARCH ..................................................................................................... 25
10.1 Research Priorities ................................................................................................ 25
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10.2 Initiation, submission and review of research proposals ...................................... 26

10.2.1 Format for research proposals ........................................................................ 26
10.2.2 Quality of a Research Proposal ...................................................................... 30
10.2.3 Procedures for review of proposals................................................................ 31
10.2.4 Decision on reviewed proposals .................................................................... 32
10.2.5 Restrictions on the use of research funds ....................................................... 34
10.2.6 Incentives for researchers .............................................................................. 35
10.2.7 Contract agreement ........................................................................................ 35
10.2.8 Requests for extension of time....................................................................... 36
10.2.9 Documentation and records ........................................................................... 36
10.2.10 Monitoring and evaluation ........................................................................... 36
10.3 Progress and final reports...................................................................................... 37
10.3.1 Progress report ............................................................................................... 37
10.3.2 Final report .................................................................................................... 38
10.4 Dissemination of results........................................................................................ 39
10.5 Research agreements and memoranda of understanding ...................................... 39
10.5.1 Research collaborations and agreements ....................................................... 39
10.5.2 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) ....................................................... 40
10.5.3 Memorandum of agreement (MOA) ............................................................. 41
10.5.4 Articles of agreement ..................................................................................... 41
11. FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF SPONSORED PROJECT ADMINISTRATION ............................... 42
12. CONFLICTS OF COMMITMENT AND INTEREST ...................................................................... 43
12.1 Conflict of commitment ........................................................................................ 43
12.2 Conflict of interest ................................................................................................ 43
13. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY .......................................................................................................... 44
13.1. Definitions............................................................................................................ 44
13.2 Patent policy.......................................................................................................... 45
13.3 General criteria for patentability ........................................................................... 46
13.4 Invention disclosure .............................................................................................. 46
13.5 Responsibilities of the inventor ............................................................................ 46
13.6 Ownership of intellectual property ....................................................................... 47
13.7 Revenue from intellectual property ...................................................................... 49
13.8 Copyright policy ................................................................................................... 49
14. NON-FACULTY RESEARCH APPOINTMENTS ........................................................................... 50
14.1 Criteria for appointment ........................................................................................ 51
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14.2 Appointment procedures ....................................................................................... 51

14.3 Intellectual property agreements ........................................................................... 51
15. APPROVAL OF VISITING SCHOLAR/RESEARCHER APPLICATIONS .............................. 52
15.1 Contact between scholars and ASU faculties/academic units .............................. 52
15.2 Formal application ................................................................................................ 52
15.3 Definitions............................................................................................................. 52
15.4 Types and amount of fee ....................................................................................... 53
15.5 Duration of stay..................................................................................................... 54
15.6 Reporting time table .............................................................................................. 54
15.7 Depositing publications ........................................................................................ 55
15.8 Co-researcher ........................................................................................................ 55
15.9 Visa and travel permits ......................................................................................... 55
15.10 Support from government organizations ............................................................ 55
16. RULES, REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES ON TEACHING MATERIALS AND THE
COMMISSIONING OF TEXTBOOKS .............................................................................................. 56
16.1 General .................................................................................................................. 56
16.1.1 Short title........................................................................................................ 56
16.1.2 Definitions...................................................................................................... 56
16.2 Rules, regulations and procedures applicable to teaching materials..................... 58
16.2.1 Determination of priority areas ...................................................................... 58
16.2.2 Determination of priority areas and procedures for processing teaching
material proposals.......................................................................................... 58
16.2.3 Manuscript already produced ......................................................................... 58
16.2.4 Working conditions of an author preparing teaching materials ..................... 58
16.2.5 Criteria that qualify a manuscript as a teaching material ............................... 58
16.2.6 Evaluation of manuscripts by a responsibility centre found to be sufficient
enough to qualify as a teaching material ....................................................... 59
16.2.7 Organ vested with final authority on the approval on an author and on the
sufficiency of manuscripts to qualify as teaching materials .......................... 59
16.2.9 Effect of non-compliance ............................................................................... 60
16.2.10 Author's honorarium .................................................................................... 61
16.2.11 Income tax and expenses ............................................................................. 61
16.2.12 Obligations of authors of manuscripts that qualify as teaching materials ... 61
16.2.13 Ownership of teaching materials ................................................................. 61
16.2.14 Obligation of the University ........................................................................ 62
16.3 Rules, regulations and procedures applicable to textbooks .................................. 62
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16.3.1 Principle ......................................................................................................... 62

16.3.2 Criteria for commissioning ............................................................................ 62
16.3.3 Working conditions of a commissioned author ............................................. 62
16.3.4 Criteria that qualify manuscript as a textbook ............................................... 63
16.3.5 Author’s remuneration ................................................................................... 63
16.3.6 Obligations of authors of manuscripts that qualify as textbooks ................... 63
16.3.7 Copyright ....................................................................................................... 63
17. CREATING A RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY SERVICE SUPPORT ENVIRONMENT ...... 64
17.1 Academic freedom ................................................................................................ 64
17.2 Enhancing staff research culture ........................................................................... 65
17.3 Women’s involvement in research and community service ................................. 65
18. MECHANISMS TO ENCOURAGE RESEARCH ............................................................................ 66
18.1 Research capacity building ................................................................................... 66
18.2 Incentives and employment modalities of academic and research staff ............... 66
18.3 Research infrastructure/facilities .......................................................................... 68
18.4 Promoting student research ................................................................................... 68
18.5 Efficient administrative support ............................................................................ 68
18.6 Documentation and Dissemination of Research Outputs ..................................... 69
19. CONSULTANCY/EXTENSION.......................................................................................................... 69
19.1 Initiation ................................................................................................................ 70
19.2 Agreements ........................................................................................................... 70
19.3 Payments ............................................................................................................... 70
20. PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING RESEARCH FUNDS FROM THE UNIVERSITY .............. 71
20.1 Procedures for obtaining Research funds outside the University ......................... 71
20.2 The mandate of Research and Community Service Core Process ........................ 72
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Acronyms
ASU Assosa University

E.C Ethiopian Calender
PI Principal Investigator
RCSCP Research and Community Service Core Process
REC Research Ethics Committee
SRPC Senate Research and Publication Committee
SREC Senate Research Ethics Committee
VPRCS Vice President for Research and Community Service
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1. Introduction
Assosa University is one of the nine newly opened public higher learning institutions in
2004 E.C committed to advance teaching-learning activities, need based research and
community service. It is well situated in the North Western Ethiopia endowed with
diversified natural resources and suitable for investment. The existence of a number of
disciplines, diversified researchable culture and natural resources have created the
opportunity to foster multidisciplinary, demand driven, problem solving and quality
research. With these scenarios, we are committed to generate technology, knowledge and
information and disseminate the outputs of research and innovation to the end users to
enhance economic growth and development of the nation.
To do so, standardization of operations, formulation of a sound, clear and thoroughly

worked out research policy, operational procedures governing research inputs, processes
and outputs of Assosa University are critical to direct, organize, control and manage the
overall research activities. With these objectives, this policy document is prepared to
guide various parties on their roles, activities and responsibilities, lay strong positive
research culture in the university, motivate the staff to carry out applied and action
research without relegating basic research and endorse knowledge and technology
transfer to the end users.
The policy will also be instrumental in promoting and maintaining the highest standards
of integrity and quality in the conduct of research and provides operational guidance
which establishes procedures for identifying priority research problems in Assosa
University. The research policy has to serve each member of the researcher in the
university and meet internal administrative requirements as well as be acceptable and
clear to external partners, which may be research collaborators, funding agencies or target
customers.
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Principles, criteria and objectives described in this research policy document will be
applied to all Assosa University organizational units (e.g. faculties, departments and other
offices) starting from the date approved by the senate.
2. Mission and Vision of RCSCP
2.1. Mission
 Undertake problem solving and demand driven research and disseminate the
results to benefit the community/end users.
 Deliver fast, qualified, cost effective and problem solving services to improve
the livelihood of the community.
2.2. Vision
 To be one of the top ten research and community service university in the
country by 2012 E.C.
3. Core Principles of Research and Community Service in

Assosa University
Research and Community Service in Assosa University will commit the following core
principles:
 Excellence and quality: improving the livelihood of the community is at the top
of our agenda. Therefore, we seek to produce excellent and high standard
researches and services which would be recognized both nationally and
internationally.
 Relevance: by considering the needs of the community, researching on relevant
areas to solve the problems of the society is one of our core principles.
 Impact oriented: achieving tangible and valuable results that would help to
change the livelihood of the community and contribute to the generation of
knowledge will be given great emphasis.
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 Innovation: by encouraging our researchers to be innovative, imaginative, and

original, we would help them make their mark on the community and conduct
rewarding researches.
 Ethical standards: research and community service in Assosa University must meet
the highest standards of ethics, accountability, social responsibility and scientific and
professional standards of integrity.
 Sensitivity: respecting different outlooks on culture, religion, gender and other
social values.
 Collaboration and engagement: seeking to ensure that our researchers are active
in pursuing opportunities for inter-disciplinary, cross-disciplinary, inter-
institutional, and international collaboration in research. In doing so, they will be
able to establish reciprocal relationships with those who are capable of using the
knowledge developed through wits research.
 Good governance: respecting the dignity of researchers by promoting mutual
respect, understanding, friendship and tolerance and by committing to democratic,
fair, inclusive and accountable leadership and management.
 Responsiveness: responding to socio-economic and bio-physical changes.
 Participatory: promoting active participation of the society and stakeholders.
 Autonomy: ensuring that wits researchers are free to set their own research and
community service agendas, to choose their collaborators, to select those whom
they wish to train and mentor, and to determine how they contribute to the
generation, preservation, transmission and application of knowledge
 Focus: expanding and consolidating in our areas of greatest strength and
developing new thrusts where appropriate.
 Research Environment: creating an enabling and efficient environment where
discovery and creativity are fostered and encouraged and where ideas are
discussed freely and critically in a spirit of openness and tolerance.
 Sustainability: ensuring the sustainability of high quality research and
community service by securing large-scale financial support for research, thus
ensuring that existing and new initiatives can be supported over time.
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4. Objectives of the Research and Community Service Policy in

Assosa University
In principle, each university shall have overall responsibility for all research and
community service activities undertaken within or on behalf of the university. The
guiding principles and general objectives of Assosa University research and community
service policy is to develop a framework for research prioritization, create an enabling
environment for research, research networking, research funding, improve researchers’
access to research outputs and database, design mechanisms for effective research output
dissemination, monitoring research effectiveness and delivering problem solving
services.
As a higher learning institution following innovative educational philosophy, Assosa

University needs to develop a comprehensive research and community service policy and
operational guidelines that enable it to integrate training, research and service for national
development. The policy has the following specific objectives:
1. Ensure that research and community service aim at advancing and refining knowledge
and technology.
2. Increase and diversify research and community service funding basis from sources
other than government recurrent budget allocation.
3. Improve research organization, facilities and environment to promote and deliver
quality research output and outstanding research training of an international standard.
 Strengthen and equip the research and community service core process (RCSCP)
for planning and administration of research and different services.
 Provide a mechanism of ensuring that the research and community service agenda
addresses the national development objectives and priorities.
 Provide for modality of research and community service coordination at all levels
of the university.
 Strengthen institutional capacity for strategic, technical and operational planning,
budgeting and control for research.
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4. Create stable research and community service support services and environment. Such
services should include researcher honorarium, equipment accessories and
consumables and financial management support and training.
 Provide and improve management information systems and facilitate and support
access to international literature and databases through the internet.
5. Set guidelines for research quality management.
 Develop a general framework guiding preparations and approval procedures for
research proposals.
 Set a clear procedure for control and monitoring of research.
 Set up the mechanism to ensure that academic staff attains the desired mix of
research output, teaching and consultancy so as to achieve the level of scientific
professionalism demanded by the University mission. In order to achieve this
mix, it may be necessary to remunerate staff engaged in research and community
service, to make it as attractive as possible.
6. SET SOME GENERAL GUIDELINES WITH RESPECT TO ALLOCATION/SHARING OF

RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT RESOURCES AND RELATED
RESPONSIBILITIES, INCLUDING INSTITUTIONAL OVERHEADS.
7. Encourage regional and international collaboration on global university research
networking.
 Set guidelines on ethics in research and community service.
 Enhance marketing skills of the university and academics so as to make full
utilization of the research expertise to address the needs of both the public and
private sectors. This is also in view of the increasing competition for the scarce
research and community service funds available.
8. Minimize unfavorable environmental impact of research and community service
projects.
9. Ensure dissemination of research results through regular participation in relevant
forum to achieve coordination at national/regional and international levels.
 Encourage and support inclusion of research findings/publication into accessible
databases (electronic or otherwise).
 Ensure that the research and community service agenda remains relevant and
monitor that research and development outputs are effectively utilized.
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5. Rights and Responsibilities in Conducting Research
5.1 Rights of faculty members

Assosa university is committed to academic freedom and is determined to put this policy
in to work with a view to realize its research and community service mission effectively.
Thus, faculty members should enjoy academic freedom when they are conducting
research and they have the right to publish and disseminate the results and findings of
their research to the society without any interference or pressure from internal
management systems or external sponsors so long as they follow up with those provisions
clearly stated in the research and community service policy. They also have the right to
engage in external consultancy activities provided that they abide by relevant regulations
of Assosa University and in some cases their respective faculties. It is important that
faculty members adhere to both the spirit and the guidelines stipulated in this policy.
They should also bear in mind that along with the freedom related responsibilities will
come.
5.2 Responsibilities of Faculty to Staff and Students
Faculty members must be aware of their obligations to fellow members and students
working as part of a research and community service team. It is particularly important
that, at least annually, each faculty member reviews the intellectual and tangible property
rights and responsibilities dealing with such matters as the management of data and
proper authorship with all members of the group working under his or her direction,
including faculty members, students and visiting scholars. Members have the right to
know who is sponsoring the research and community service and where the money paid
to them as salary or stipend comes from.
ASU is committed for the development of staff members and students in their respective
carriers. Thus, the University is expected to provide staff development opportunities and,
if possible, play a mentoring role to bring about the desired professional and academic
progress of those working in the institute.
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5.3 Health and safety
Faculty members are responsible for training members of their team in health and safety
procedures relevant to their particular research and community service area and the
management of laboratory or other workplaces. Principal investigators (PIs) are also
expected to carry out periodic inspection of laboratory facilities, and to cooperate in any
inspection by Assosa University personnel or by other external agencies. Such
collaborations may refer to senior and junior researchers as well as those engaged in
conducting interdisciplinary investigations within Assosa University or together with
research institutes of other countries.
5.4 Research Misconduct: Investigating and Reporting Allegations
Under this section, procedures for reporting and investigating allegations of misconduct
of research and mechanisms for informing federal agencies of such allegations and
investigations are discused.
5.4.1 Definition of Misconduct
Research misconduct is defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing,

performing, reviewing research or in reporting research results.
 Fabrication: refers to making up data and results and recording or reporting them.
 Falsification: is said to occur when a researcher manipulates research materials,
equipment, or processes; or when s/he changes or deliberately omits data / results
with the result that the research is not accurately represented in the research
report.
 Misconduct: refers to the unnecessary use/misuse of research facilities and
resources for private or other purposes that are not written in the research
procedure. It also happens when the researcher refuses participating partners who
are mentioned in the research protocol and those included in the course of the
conduct of the research and when s/he denies their share of ownership/authorship
of data, results, publications or other research outputs. Misconduct also includes
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violation of ethical norms and regulations for research involving human subjects
or animals, violation of safety norms, practices and regulations for research and
community services involving environmental hazards and misuse of research and
community service funds.
 Plagiarism: is another form of misconduct and refers to the use of another person's
ideas, processes, results or words without giving the appropriate acknowledgment
or without obtaining the appropriate consent of the original authors.
Research misconduct does not, however, refer to honest mistakes or differences in

interpretation of data. A finding of research misconduct requires that there is a significant
departure from accepted practices of a relevant research community; the misconduct was
committed on purpose with the intent of gaining material benefits or reputations. In all
cases, allegations must be proven by prevalence of evidence. It should be noted that
disciplinary procedures may call for a different standard of proof for disciplinary actions
based on the Assosa University Senate Legislation, which is believed to be compatible
with international and national norms of judging research misconduct.
The University undertakes to thoroughly investigate all allegations of research

misconduct and act appropriately, according to the outcomes of such investigations.
Complaints regarding the conduct of any researcher should preferably be made in writing
and referred to both the Departmental Head and the Chair of the Research Ethics
Committee that approved the protocol.
The complaint will be investigated by either the Head of Department and/or Chairperson
of the research ethics committee as deemed appropriate. Minor issues will be discussed,
and resolved at Committee or Departmental level. More serious issues will be referred to
VPRCS office for further investigation and action. Standard university disciplinary
procedures will be followed, if appropriate. Any matter of alleged research misconduct,
initially investigated at departmental or faculty level, should be referred either to the
appropriate REC, if the matter could potentially present any form of risk to the
University.
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5.4.2 Applicability
It is important to note that the University’s definition of research misconduct and

procedures for investigating and reporting allegations of misconduct are in conformity
with international norms and regulations. In addition, it is consistent with the definitions
used by federal funding agencies that have policies on this matter in general and project
agreements or protocols in particular.
Conditions in which Assosa University’s research and community service policy apply
will include the following:
 Research and community service undertaken at Assosa University by:
 Assosa University research and community service personnel and/or

individuals that are employees of the university or that have official
association with the university, including faculty, students and visiting
scholars who make significant use of the university’s research and
community service resources or who participate in any sponsored project
awarded to Assosa University.
 Those with other ASU teaching and/or research and community service
titles such as adjunct clinical or consulting appointments;
 Research and community service undertaken elsewhere by Assosa University
research and community service personnel and/or affiliated individuals as part of
their regular duties or activities; and
 At the discretion of Assosa University, research and community service where
such a research and community service is claimed, cited or implied to have been
done at Assosa University, or where an appointment or official affiliation of
Assosa University is claimed, cited or implied in connection with the research
and/or community service.
6. Research Ethics Committee
All non-health related research involving human subjects and conducted under the
sponsorship of Assosa University should be abided by the regulations of the REC:
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Human Research (Non-Health). The researcher is ultimately responsible to apply for

ethics approval for a given project and should make this decision after discussion with
peers, the Head of Department, and the REC administration office, which will refer the
matter to the chairperson of this committee for a decision, if necessary.
6.1 Research involving animals
The responsible committee will be mandated by the Senate Research Ethics Committee
(SREC) of the University to function as an independent research ethics committee under
the support of the SREC for the purpose of reviewing and approving research and
teaching involving animals.
The term “Animals” in this framework policy refers to all animals having the power of
sense perception or sensation.
The use of animals in scientific research can only be justified if the benefits to both
humans and animals outweigh the potential harm to the animal subject. All research and
teaching involving animals must be approved by a research ethics committee before the
research commences, so that a formal evaluation of the potential harm/benefit equation
can be undertaken. “Justification for causing psychological or physical distress, illness or
pain to animals should not be based on any explicit or implicit assumption that non-
human animals experience these conditions in qualitatively different ways to humans.”
All animal research conducted under the auspices of the University should uphold the
“Three R" principles for humane animal research, namely:
 Replacement of so-called “sentient” animals wherever possible, with “non-

sentient” research models or systems in order to eliminate the use of animals
that can experience unpleasant sensations.
 Reduction of the number of animals in experiments by designing strategies

that facilitate use of the smallest number that will allow valid information to be
obtained from the study.
 Refinement of animal sourcing, animal care practices and experimental
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procedures to eliminate physical and psychological distress within limitation

imposed by the objectives of the research.
All research and teaching programmes involving animals that will be conducted at
Assosa University must be submitted to the REC for review and approval.
The REC also has a mandate and a responsibility to oversee and monitor the care and use
of all laboratory and other animals kept for teaching and research purposes at, or under
the auspices of the University.
6.2 Research involving Environment and Bio-safety
The committee responsible will be mandated by the Senate Research Ethics Committee
(SREC) of the University to function as a Research Ethics Committee (REC) under the
support of the SREC for the purpose of reviewing and approving research involving
environmental matters.
Care should be taken to ensure that all research is carried out with the necessary respect
for the impact that it could have on the physical, biological and spatial environment. All
researchers undertaking research with bio-hazardous material that could potentially cause
harm to humans, animals or the environment or the researcher and supporting staff must
familiarise themselves with appropriate bio-safety and containment procedures. All
research that poses a risk to the natural environment or the researcher and supporting
staff, must be submitted to the REC: Environment and Bio-Safety for review and
approval. This includes the following:
 all research involving recombinant DNA techniques or genetically modified

organisms
 research involving organisms that are pathogenic to humans
 research involving radiation, and
 research which may potentially cause harm to the natural environment.
Bio-hazardous research involving humans or animals will be reviewed by the applicable

human or animal REC and not by the REC: Environment and Bio-safety.
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The researcher is ultimately responsible to apply for ethics approval for a given project
and should make this decision after discussion with peers, the Head of Department, and
the REC’s administration office, which will refer the matter to the chairperson of this
committee for a decision, if necessary.
7. Openness in research
In Assosa University, openness in research defines and prohibits secrecy including
limitations on publishability of results. The following regulations on openness in research
deal with the definition of openess, the need for such regulations, and the situations in
which they should apply.
7.1 Definition
Openness in research refers to the principle of providing all interested individuals or

bodies with free access to the data collected, to information about the entire research
process, and final results obtained in a study.
This definition applies for all researches undertaken both at a national or international
level whether it is conducted independently or in partnership with other inistitutions. This
principle should be implimented to the fullest extent and no program of research that
requires secrecy is to be conducted at the university with the exception of few situations
which are stated in 7.2.
7.2 Secrecy in a research Program
A research program shall be regarded as requiring secrecy:

 If the data gathered evokes ethical values of the society, damage national security
or if there are disputes over the ownership of results between the collaborating
parties
 If any document to be generated during the course of the research project is
subjected by sponsor to restrictions on publication for a period reasonably
required so that the sponsor can learn whether confidential information that
particular collaborator is entitled to have per the project procedure would be
disclosed by publication.
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 If in the course of the project access to confidential data so centrally related to the
research that a member of the research group who was not authorized to the
confidential data would be unable to participate fully in all of the intellectually
significant portions of the project.
 If any possibility or reasonable doubt that will lead to secrecy to the thesis or
dissertation is expected when the topic is determined, the research, thesis or
dissertation should not allowed to be conducted.
 No secret thesis or dissertation should lead to awarding a degree unless the
Committee on Graduate Studies is convinced that the imposition of secrecy could
not reasonably have been foreseen until the work reached a point where
modification of the thesis topic would have resulted in substantial inequity to the
student.
 The university should not enter any contract and receive any grant to undertake
research if the grant or contract restrains the freedom of the University to
disclose:
 The existence of the contract or fund,
 The general nature of the research or project to be conducted,
 The identity of the external contracting or granting or collaborating entity or,
 The research results
Nevertheless, these do not apply to those anonymous gifts or funds that do not follow a
specific line of inquiry or to research funds or contracts from individuals or people who
work for non-governemntal organizations who request anonymity out of a reasonable
need to maintain their privacy.
A research that is relevant to the University shall not be seen as unacceptable for
requiring secrecy under the following circumstances:
 When the research involves interviewing a living human subjects or using other
techniques for getting information. During this circumstance, the individual’s
right to privacy shall be maintained.
 In a program of research the purposes would be significantly advanced by access
to information generated elsewhere. But if that information is subjected to
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security classification, provision may be made for security clearance and hence
for access to that information on the part of one of several of the participating
investigators:
 A member of the research group who did not hold a security clearance
would nevertheless be able to participate fully in all of the intellectually
significant portions of the project,
 There is no substantial basis for an expectation that any part of the final
results of the research, or any but a trivial part of the research processes
will be subject to restrictions on publication more enduring than those
described in7.2, above.
 In a program of sponsored research, provision may be made in the
contractual agreement between Assosa University and the sponsor for a
delay in the publication of research results, in the following circumstances:
 For a short delay or extension of time (which should not exceed 90

days) and needed for patenting purposes or for a review and comment
on manuscripts by the sponsor, provided that no basis exists at the
beginning of the project to expect that the sponsor would attempt
either to suppress publication or to impose substantive changes in the
manuscripts.
 For a longer delay in the case of multi-site clinical research (the period
of delay not to exceed 24 months from the completion of research at
all sites), where a publication committee receives data from
participating sites and makes decisions about joint publications. Such
delays are permitted only if the Assosa University investigator is
assured the ability to publish without restrictions after the specified
delay.
 The office of VPRCS may approve the contract that could lead to a longer
publication delay if it is in the best interest of the research. The request for
delay should include the following:
 The justification for the request,
 An explanation of who will have authority over publication decisions,
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 A statement of the provisions that will allow the researcher to publish

within a defined period of time, regardless of other considerations.
A faculty member should never engage a student, a research collaborator or trainee in a

research led by an extended delay agreement or contractual agreement that could bring
about a hindrance to timely submission of the student’s thesis or to the publication of a
trainee’s work.
If, in a program of research, private papers, documents, diaries or analogous materials

have been provided to the investigator, provision may be made to preserve the
confidentiality of those materials for the purpose of protecting the individual privacy of
the author, or of the addressee, or of the immediate family of either the author or the
addressee.
7.3 Retention of and access to research data
Accurate and appropriate research records represent an essential feature of any successful
research project. It is the right and obligation of both the University and the researcher to
access, use and maintain original research data. Except where precluded by specific terms
of sponsorship or other agreements, tangible research property, including the scientific
data and other records of research conducted under the sponsorship of Assosa University,
belong to the University. However, the PI (Principal Investigator) is responsible for the
maintenance and retention of research data in accordance with this policy. Questions on
the interpretation of this policy may be directed to the office of the VPRCS.
7.4. Transfer of data
When individuals who are involved in research projects at Assosa University leave the
University, they may take copies of the research data of the projects on which they have
been engaged in. The PI, however, must keep the original data at Assosa University
database. If a PI leaves Assosa University, and a project is to be moved to another
institution, ownership of the data may be transferred with the approval of the VPRCS. In
addition to the approval by an appropriate body, a written agreement from the PI's new
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institution that confirms its acceptance of custodial responsibilities for the data, and
guarantees the right of Assosa University to maintain access to the data, should that
become necessary.
8. Review of this policy

This policy should be revised at least annually by the research council (RC) in one of its
meetings and the meetings that are held for revision of the policy should primarily be
announced to the public through the website of the university and/or other suitable
means.
9. Establishing and managing independent laboratories,

institutes and centers at Assosa University
Promoting interdiciplinary research can be enhanced throgh the existance of
laboratories, institutes and centers which operate independent from the faculties and
academic units. This will expand faculty research and community service in to new
areas and provide students and others with an opportunity to practice and explore
interdiciplinary studies. Since these units operate outside the usuall principle of
conducting research and organizing research progarms within the regular system, they
may bring new challenges. Therefore, there should be outlined procedures for
establishing and managing these components.
9.1 Definitions
For the purpose of this policy, the term independent laboratory, institute and center refers
to formally organized research or scholarly programs which involve faculty members
from more than one unit, and are accountable to the VPRCS. These entities have the
following characteristics:
 They are normally directed by tenured faculty (with a legal right to use a
particular building during a fixed period of time)
 They may not offer courses that are not cross listed with regular academic units.
 They neither admit students nor confer degrees.
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 Typically, they do not have faculty members outside regular academic units.
The term interdisciplinary research describes research collaboration across at least two
disciplines of study. The purpose of interdisciplinary research is to remove the barriers
between traditional areas of study in order to solve complex problems at the intersection
of various disciplines. Such interdisciplinary collaborations are essential in the search for
solutions to significant global and societal problems and to tap the expertise of
individuals of diverse experience.
9.2 Principles for establishing independent laboratories, institutes,

units or centers
There are many reasons for establishing these independent units at Assosa University.
First of all, they have the potential to expand research and community service areas of the
university beyond the regular academic units and they require reciprocated effort from
the various disciplines. Secondly, they help to bring focus to multidiciplinary research
that can attract new faculty and external funding. Thirdly, these entities directly and
indirectly influence the interactions, program directions and priorities of faculty and
graduate students and their relations to their academic units. However, they make further
demands on resource in terms of funding, space, and/or administration.
Therefore, the impact of proposed independent laboratories, institutes or centers must be

carefully assessed before they are approved. The following key issues should be
addressed when considering the need for a new independent unit:
 What will be achieved by running and managing programs outside of existing
organizational units?
 What is the possibility of faculty and graduate students to actively participate in
the program sustainably?
 What impacts (positive or negative) will they have on the participating faculties'?
 What resources will be required to support the unit, and how will these resources
be obtained and managed?
 To what extent will establishment of the new unit help to attract external support?
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9.3 Procedures for establishing the Units
Those faculties which are interested in organizing a new independent laboratory, institute
or center should first informally discuss their proposal with relevant academic unit chairs,
school deans, and the VPRCS. After the plan recieves approval from the concerned
bodies at the unit level, a formal proposal should be submitted to the VPRCS.
In addition to the considerations mentioned above, the proposal document must contain
the following:
 Description of the proposed unit
 Objectives
 Mission and vision
 Benefits to the society
 Participation of faculty
 Draft charter
 Plan of governance
 Potential funding sources
 Other resource requirements
The proposal should clearly state the out come of creating the units on Assosa
University’s general fund. Additionaly, incase the proposed source of fund doesn’t
succeed, alternative source of fund should also be identified.
All regulations and policies related to the conduct of research and community service,
including those dealing with environmental protection and safety, protection of human or
animal subjects and fiscal management are applicable to independent laboratories,
institutes and centers.
9.4 On-going evaluation of units
The established laboratory, institute, unit or center should be reviewed periodically to

check whether the conditions that facilitated for the creation of the units still exist and
whether they are meeting the goals of their establishment. The reviews should evaluate
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the intellectual importance of the units, the dedication of the faculty to its program, the
involvment of students and visiting scholars, and the availability of funds and other
resources.
In order for the independent unit to carry on, the VPRCS must endorse the continuation
of the research program. Possible outcomes of such reviews include discontinuation of
the unit; revision of the charter to reflect changes in program direction, priorities and/or
participants; restructuring of the unit into a new academic units within a school; or
renewal of the unit without change.
If the assimilation of the unit into a school or academic units is deemed neccesary, the
decision should require transfer of budget responsibility to the dean concerned unless
there is a convincing reason for treating the case as an exception. It is important to clearly
articulate the financial implications of decisions to continue or phase down an
independent laboratory, institute or center.
10. Management of research
10.1 Research Priorities
Based on the research priorities set at the national level, ASU shall set its share of
institutional research priorities every five years. The Senate Research and Publication
Committee (SRPC) shall approve the prioritized research thematic areas and pass them to
the Senate for final approval through the VPRCS. Faculties, schools, colleges and
research institutes shall set their research priorities based on the Senate approved research
priorities. The faculty research and publication committee, or any such relevant
committee established for this purpose shall approve the respective research priorities.
Departments shall set their research priorities based on the Faculty research priorities and
the department’s research and publication committee shall approve this.
In funding research, the office of the VPRCS shall give priority to research programs and
to multi-disciplinary research falling within the institutional research priorities.
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10.2 Initiation, submission and review of research proposals
Faculty members who are planning research projects initiate the review process by
submitting their research proposals to the dean of the respective departments. The dean
passes on the proposal to the Faculty Research and Publication Committee (FRPC). The
committee organizes virtual (temporary) team for scrutiny, preliminary review and
selection of reviewers and finally classifying and prioritizing the projects according to the
prioritized themes of ASU. The proposal is approved by this team and they also approve
the budget. If in case there are inter-department research proposals, they may be
simultaneously submitted to the collaborating departments and they are reviewed and
prioritized at the Office of the VPRCS.
10.2.1 Format for research proposals
Project proposals that are to be submitted to Assosa University shall generally be

prepared according to the following outline:
 Project title
 Name(s) of investigator(s), academic rank and qualification should be appended
 Academic units
 Summary (Abstract): A paragraph summarizing the topic of research, the
objective(s) of the study, how the data will be collected, how it will be analyzed,
and what results (possible outcomes) are expected.
 Background: This introductory section is often intended to provide the overall
theoretical background underlying the issue at hand. The theoretical background
should cover the importance or significance of the study, its rationales and
justification. In order to generate this information, questions such as what is
known, what the current state of affairs regarding the issue of interest is, the
possible benefits of the study, the likely beneficiaries of the outcome, relevance of
the study in contributing towards the overall development of the country should
be addressed. This section of the proposal should provide a clear and concise
description of the central problem to be investigated and the questions that
indicate the gap and the initiation of that specific project or research. It may also
discuss points such as how the research relates to the development priorities of the
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country; the magnitude of the problem and how the research will contribute to
societal development; why and for whom the research is important; and whether
the research relates to any of the researcher's or the institution's other ongoing or
planned activities. This section should also discuss how the research project will
help to fill up some knowledge gaps or be instrumental in the formulation of
policies. This section should be short, exact and must be devoid of technical
details and confusing arguments.
 General and specific objectives: This section contains a brief but convincing
statement (general objective) why it is important for the organization or individual
to undertake the research project, followed by a clear precise objective (specific
objective) of the proposed research that the methodology will address. It specifies
exactly what the researcher intends to do. It must clearly show that the problem
under consideration is researchable and that the objectives themselves are
attainable.
A statement of a research objective or purpose generally takes the form “The
purpose of this research is to identify, find out, describe, explain, etc.”
 Review of literature: The Research review should show that the researcher is an
expert in his/her area of endeavor by demonstrating mastery of relevant literature,
and it should identify relevant previous work to find out where there are gaps of
knowledge which call for research intervention.
If time is not spent on reading some of the key relevant literature, important
insights available from other researches and guidance on the best use of particular
methods, pitfalls that should be avoided, concepts that have special appeal or
relevance, etc. can be missed.
The review should be concerned with literature that is specific to the topic of the
research proposal. Only pertinent information should be included in the review. It
should be complete enough that the reader can be convinced that the research
proposal being presented is building upon a sound information base, and is going
to contribute something new.
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It is very important that the researcher refer all citations in the bibliography.
Moreover, any person who wants to read and know more about the quoted idea
can do so if the source is properly indicated.
 Methodology (materials and methods): The methodology section should
describe how each specific objective will be achieved, with enough detail to
enable an independent and informed assessment of the proposal. This section
should include:
 Research tasks: hypotheses, research questions,
 Target population and sampling: description of study areas, populations and
the procedures for their selection;
 Data collection: description of the approaches and methods used to collect
information;
 Data analysis: description of the procedures for processing and analyzing data,
 Laboratory procedures: descriptions of standardized procedures and protocols
and new or unique procedures; and the specific tools that will be used to study
each research objective,
 Mechanism of intervention in studies that involve human subjects.
Here, enough details should be given so that the reader can evaluate whether the
methods are feasible, most practical and will achieve the objectives of the
proposal.
 Work Plan/Timeframe: It is important to list all the activities in the project and
mention the time interval in which they will be carried out. This component
should state the work schedule, roles and responsibilities of participants, the
monitoring and evaluation tools, an estimate of the time needed to carry out each
major phase of the project, as well as the total amount of time needed to complete
the study and the possible constraints in adhering to the timetable.
Implementation cannot proceed without such a schedule.
 Research ethics: the things included under this area are clearly identified ethical
issues and a description of how the study will deal with human and other animal
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subjects, manipulation of genetic materials, etc., providing a basis for application

for ethical clearance.
 Capacity building: Where training is required, it is important to indicate the sort

of training, identify the critical part of the project where that specific training
becomes imperative and how it would be organized. In addition, information on
how this training would eventually lead to the overall institutional capacity
building of the academic units that undertake the project should be included.
 Expected output and beneficiaries: This section outlines the possible outcomes
of the research, what can it contribute to solving the problems in question or what
can it add to a better understanding of a certain phenomena. Then it indicates the
potential beneficiaries of the research output.
 Strategies of dissemination of research results: This is where plans for

disseminating or implementing the findings of the proposed research and details
about intended audience and language of communication are outlined. It is also
important to include information on how the research should be presented
(seminars, workshops, conferences or meetings) and the mechanism for
dissemination of findings (i.e., reports, publications, policy briefs etc.).
 Project administration and budget: After ensuring that the objectives of the
proposal are worth investing for, the University pays great attention to this
component during evaluation of the research proposal. Care should be taken in
estimating the cost of the project. Over estimation of the requirement may result
in a refusal by the University to fund the project. Under estimation may affect the
realization of the objectives of the project. The important factors to be considered
when estimating budgetary requirements are:
 Staffing and staff support
 Equipments
 Materials (including reference materials)
 Travel and subsistence
 Communication expenses
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 Printing and reprographic services

 Training (costs incurred during a trainee’s participation in short courses)
 Conferences (costs of attending project related seminars, meetings and
conferences that may be organized to disseminate research results)
 Others, and
 Contingency
 Personnel: List who will be involved in carrying out the project (both from
within the institution and any external experts), their roles, time commitments,
qualifications, experience and other relevant information; include CVs of the
principal professional staff.
 Bibliography/References: During the course of the investigation, the researcher

makes reference to the works of other researchers. This use of the work of others
has to be acknowledged in the bibliography section. A bibliography is an
alphabetical or numerical list with complete source of relevant information about
a given subject. The information includes, among others, name of the author, title
of the book or article, date of publication, volume (if any), and name of publisher.
In Assosa University, all researchers should use APA style in citation.
10.2.2 Quality of a Research Proposal
The research proposal should not be too long, nor should it be filled with too many
technical terms, or scientific jargons. Hence clarity, simplicity and parsimony should be
the aim of the researcher when preparing a research proposal. Brief and clearly written
proposals are more impressive than voluminous one, which are full of descriptive and
winding phrases. The proposal should be technically and economically sound. This
means:
 The problem can be solved with the proposed method
 It should not be beyond the technical capability of the researcher
 The budget must be reasonable
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Serious considerations should be given to the style and language of the proposal.
Commonly accepted standards of proposal preparations should be employed and the
sentences should be grammatically correct.
10.2.3 Procedures for review of proposals
Reviewers or evaluators shall be required to consider the following key issues in

reviewing the research projects:
Significance/relevance
 Is the research testing a sound scientific hypothesis, developing a new technology,
seeking to improve or document a new technique, technology or policy?
 How unique, original and innovative is the proposed research?
 How relevant and complete is the literature review?
 Is there adequate data to demonstrate the feasibility or focus of the project?
 Does the proposed project demonstrate awareness of alternative approaches
previously used in dealing with the problems?
Objectives
 Are the objectives clear and consistent with the problem statement?
Contribution
 How relevant/important is the proposed research?
 How does the project advance knowledge?
 Is the research consistent with national goals, aspirations and priority areas of
research at Assosa University?
Research design and methodology

 What strengths and/or weaknesses are there in the design, strategy or
methodology?
 Does the work plan follow a logical approach?
 Has adequate time been allocated?
 Is the methodology well described, suitable, feasible and cost effective? How will
the data be managed and analyzed?
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Results
 How significant is the impact of the results likely to be?
 Can the project be completed within the proposed time frame?
Budget
 Is the budget adequate, relevant and cost effective with specified activities?
 What is the partner’s contribution?
Collaboration
 How are responsibilities and workloads shared among each partner or

collaborator?
 What specific qualifications do collaborators have?
Monitoring and evaluation
 What mechanisms are in place for monitoring and evaluating the progress of the
project work and the tools developed for the purpose (e.g. periodic reports,
seminars, publications, etc.)?
Dissemination
 Are the proposed strategies viable?
10.2.4 Decision on reviewed proposals
The decision on reviewed proposals shall be based on the following considerations:
 Institutional research priority

 Recommendations and assessment of reviewers on the merits of the research
 Availability of adequate funds
 Potential for institutional capacity building: Will the research benefit the
academic units concerned in enhancing its research facilities, producing required
manpower needs of the academic units, etc.?
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 The relative ratio of budget to be expended on personnel and travel (e.g. per diem,
fuel, air ticket, etc.) compared to fixed assets (e.g. equipment and/or accessories;
books and periodicals; etc.)
 Inter-disciplinarily nature of the research
 Participation of other colleagues and students in the research
Decision on reviewed proposals may take the following forms:
 Approved: The proposal successfully addresses all of the review criteria. No

further action is required from the investigator(s) prior to initiating the study;
 Clarification required: The proposal meets most or all of the review criteria but
lacks one or more minor areas for improvement that must be addressed in
subsequent versions.
 Revise and resubmit: The proposal fails to meet one or more of the major criteria,
but is deemed to be of sufficient potential merits to encourage a resubmission.
 Rejected: The proposal fails to meet most or all review criteria, and does not have
the required scientific, professional or ethical merit.
Proposals recommended by departments for approval shall be forwarded directly to the

VPRCS. When submitted to the VPRCS, the proposals need to be accompanied by all the
reviews, reaction of the authors of the proposals, CVs, consent or agreement letters, etc.
While approved proposals are directly routed to the department by VPRCS, proposals to
be revised or rejected are returned to authors of the proposals, with written comments.
Reviewed and resubmitted proposals need to incorporate comments and make changes
suggested by reviewers. Authors of the proposals need to write a letter explaining in
some detail how they dealt with the issues raised at different levels including the Faculty
Research and Publications Committee (FRPC).
The Faculty Research and Publication Committee (FRPC) will meet at least twice each
semester, with dates designated and circulated to all members of the faculty before the
beginning of each semester. Research proposals should be submitted to the FRPC at least
two weeks before the committee meeting. Any proposal that does not meet this deadline
33
will be reviewed during the next scheduled meeting. The FRPC will formulate virtual
teams so that they can evaluate the proposal. This team will have five members and out
of them, only the two are permanent. The rest are chosen according to their profession
which should be appropriate for the submitted proposal.
Individuals may be invited to a meeting of the committee for clarification or the

committee may contact researchers to respond to questions and concerns regarding a
proposal prior to the scheduled meeting of the committee.
Proposals recommended by the FRPC shall be forwarded to the VPRCS, within one week
of the meeting. Approved projects shall be sent to the VPRCS’s office with completed
Grant Data Sheet forms.
10.2.5 Restrictions on the use of research funds
 No payment or other benefits may be paid to research project staff from research
grants. Research grants could however comprise honoraria as agreed upon
between researchers and funding organizations.
 Research support personnel (i.e. other than those submitting the research
proposal) may be employed on a contractual basis from research grants only under
conditions where such staff is required to maintain continuity of an ongoing
research program. Care must be taken that proper University Human Resources
Policies and Procedures are followed in the employment of such support
personnel.
 Research funds should not be used to hire consultants or other experts to perform
a major portion of the research.
 Under normal circumstances, research funds should not be used for expenses that
the academic units concerned should cover (such as office furniture and
infrastructural expenses salaries of faculty members involved in the research).
 Travel funds should not be used for travel expenses unrelated to the approved
research.
 Research funds are not meant to be used for post-doctoral fellowships or
trainings.
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10.2.6 Incentives for researchers
In order to encourage faculty to increase their research output, Assosa University shall
institute the following:
 Some international journals charge fees per page to have articles published in
them. Assosa University (through the Office of the VPRCS) will cover such costs
for authors when their articles are accepted for publication in such reputable
journals.
 Assosa University will pay honorarium equivalent to 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% of
authors’ monthly salary (for professors, associate professors, assistant professors
and lecturers, respectively) whenever authors’ articles are published in peer-
reviewed journals.
 Assosa University will provide seed money to departments with low
infrastructural resources in order to enhance their capacity to undertake original
research and help publish their work. Priority will be given to inter-disciplinary
research programs.
10.2.7 Contract agreement
The Research and community service core process (RCSCP) shall enter into a contract
agreement with the researcher(s) prior to executing the research project. The contract
agreement shall contain important information pertaining to the following areas:
 Code number of the Project

 Name(s) of researcher(s)
 Title of the project
 Duration of the project
 Statement indicating number of copies of the final report to be submitted (at least
four)
 Statement indicating ability and willingness of the researcher to abide by
procedures and guidelines for the conduct of research in the Faculty.
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10.2.8 Requests for extension of time
If the researchers find that the project will continue beyond the final date specified in the
project document, they must apply directly to the VPRCS Office for extension, not
exceeding one year. Subsequent extension requests must be submitted in writing to the
same office for approval within one month after the date of agreement expires. Any
remaining funds will return automatically to VPRCS Office for redistribution (allocation)
or other uses. In all cases, any application to extend research programs or any request to
seek for additional fund with a view to bringing a research program to completion
requires a complete monitoring and evaluation report to be submitted to the VPRCS.
10.2.9 Documentation and records
All records of research must be kept by the Principal investigator(s) after their
completion. The records may be proposals, research data and note books, progress
reports, and copies of all correspondence related to the research. The academic/research
units must maintain an active documentation center where data regarding research in the
Unit, project proposals, expenditures, reports, evaluations and publications are
documented.
10.2.10 Monitoring and evaluation
Research requires an effective monitoring and evaluation system that provides

information on progress, resource utilization, impact and effectiveness of a program. It is,
therefore, important that a proper monitoring and evaluation system be implemented to
ensure proper accountability.
The Office of VPRCS will be required to work out a schedule of visits and formulate a
competent monitoring team. Such a team shall be provided with original project
proposals including its budget and a plan of action. The team shall undertake the
following tasks:
 Evaluate progress at each stage of the research.

 Examine the relevance of each activity in fulfilling the objectives.
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 Identify operational problems and seek for solutions on how to overcome them.
 Make sure that researchers follow the standard methodologies as specified in the
research projects approved.
 Find out whether there are any changes or modifications to the original program
or plan of action and whether these have been explained.
 Make sure that the codes of ethics have been followed.
 Assess the utilization of resources (human, financial, equipment, infrastructure
and transport)
 Assess the degree of participation, skill and involvement of collaborating
members.
 Assess the quality of the work that has been done.
 Give recommendations.
10.3 Progress and final reports
10.3.1 Progress report
The appropriate number of progress reports to be submitted by the researcher(s) during

the life of the project shall be determined by the Research and Community Service
Director. The researcher should submit progress report to the RCSCP every 3 months.
Progress reports should cover the following:
 Overview of the project
 Objectives of the project
 Status of the project at the time the report is produced
 A summary of tasks accomplished and work remaining
 Interpretation of new findings
 Summarized results including tables and figures
 Revised plan for next phase of the project
 Operational problems faced, if any, and suggested solutions
 Assess whether the project objectives are being addressed
 Likelihood of success of the project
 Financial statement for the period covered by the report showing details of fund
acquisition
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 Indicate objectives that have not been achieved and reasons for non-fulfillment.
 Suggestions to make the following phases of the project successful in terms of
methods, efficient utilization of resources, time, materials, finance, personnel use,
etc.)
10.3.2 Final report
A researcher who has received research fund either from the University or other funding
agencies who have agreement with the University is obliged to submit to the RCSCP 4
bound copies of the final result and settle financial matters. Unless these are proven, the
individual will not receive another grant; will be denied clearance when leaving the
university in any manner (scholarship, transfer, pension etc).
The final report shall include:

 An executive summary
 Acknowledgement of source of funding or any technical assistance
 A detailed table of contents (including a list of figures, tables, abbreviations,
acronyms etc.)
 An introduction (describing the background, problem statement and objectives)
 Literature review of what was previously done in the area both locally and
internationally
 Materials and methods used in the study
 Detailed analysis of data
 Results and discussion section, where data and findings are presented, interpreted
and discussed in relation to objectives and findings from previous research and
trends revealed by the data.
 Conclusions, recommendations, take home messages and issues for further work
if any (continued research and/or outcome extension).
 References and appendices of supplementary materials and data used.
10.3.2.1 Delegation
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When a researcher leaves the University, without completing a research work, s/he
should delegate a person who is co-investigator. In no co-investigator, s/he should
delegate through legal procedures.
10.3.2.2. Change in the project document
Once a research project and the budget is approved by the Senate Research and
Publication Committee, the researcher cannot change the place of work, work plan,
methodology or objective of the study unless s/he informs the RCSCP in written and get
permission from the Senate Research and Publication Committee.
10.4 Dissemination of results
The researcher shall have an obligation to present his/her findings to the University
community, inform responsible community members and implementer. In addition, s/he
shall publish the results in any appropriate journal.
10.5 Research agreements and memoranda of understanding
10.5.1 Research collaborations and agreements
Research agreements can be of two major types, namely, research collaboration and
contract agreements. These are explained as follows.
10.5.1.1 Research collaboration
These are agreements governing relationships in the conduct of research signed when
there are two or more parties working together on a research project. It should identify
the rights and obligations of parties and determine how the funding and work are to be
divided. It also provides the structure for decision making, conflict avoidance, and
conflict resolution and exit mechanisms.
10.5.1.2 Contract (sponsored) research agreement
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It is a written agreement used when a company or an organization provides funds to

Assosa University or any of its academic units /faculties /schools /institutes, etc. for an
organized research project.
Among others, research collaboration agreements and contract research agreements

should cover the following areas:
 Project identification (project title, investigators, etc.)

 Specific dates for the beginning and closing of the project
 The scope of work and its budget (project cost)
 Milestones/deliverables and associated payments
 Provisions for confidentiality of information
 Right for publication
 Clearly defined intellectual property and ownership rights
 Ownership of equipment purchased under the contract agreement
 Provisions for termination
10.5.2 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
Research teams of Assosa University that undertake research projects may initiate
partnership with other national or international institutions to generate reciprocal benefits
and sign memoranda of understanding. A MOU provides an umbrella for activities such
as faculty, support staff and graduate student exchanges, joint research activities and
publications, and participation in seminars and academic meetings that relate to funded
projects. Although a project is typically initiated by a certain academic unit, potential
benefits for other faculty units may also be considered when entering a MOU. It is
expected that fruitful collaborations will lead to more binding agreements. The overriding
principle of Assosa University should always be the maximization of academic
excellence which otherwise could not be achieved by the research teams of Assosa
University alone.
Among others, a MOU should have (or should be accompanied by a document

containing) the following points:
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 A profile of the proposed partner institution, including a description of its unique

contributions to research and how it may complement research by units of Assosa
University.
 An outline of the collaborative activities that have already taken place or are
currently underway or are intended with the proposed partner institution.
 A description of the planned joint activities, a list of the faculty members, and the
proposed partner institution involved in these activities and an indication of the
potential sources of funding.
 A description of the possible short and long term benefits of the collaboration, for
the academic unit in particular as well as for the partner institution(s).
The document should finally be endorsed by the VPRCS of the University.
10.5.3 Memorandum of agreement (MOA)
MOA is a binding document governing the relationships and commitments between two
or more parties that enter into an agreement. The following outline may be followed
when preparing MOA with collaborators.
 Needs, mission and objectives of Assosa University
 Institutional interest for collaboration and networking
 Background/basis for collaboration
 Institutional provision which calls for or permits collaboration with others
In all the above points and those that follow each sub-area should be indicated briefly and
precisely.
10.5.4 Articles of agreement
 Areas of collaboration and cooperation will include:

 Training
 Staff exchange
 Student exchange
 Research and publications
 Program evaluation
 Resource sharing and upgrading
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 Improvement of organization and management

 Specifics about each area of cooperation
If it involves training, the kinds of elements that should be considered include:
 Type of training
 Participants
 Duration
 Role of each party (as in funding)
 Certification, if appropriate
10.5.4.1. Final sections
These sections should indicate the following:

 Term of agreement
 Follow up mechanisms
 Provision for renewal, if appropriate
 Conditions and procedures for termination
Research collaboration agreements and contract research agreements should be co-signed

by the investigator(s), head of academic units and the dean of the faculty while MOU and
MOA should be approved by the VPRCS or a delegate.
11. Financial aspects of sponsored project administration
The principal investigator at Assosa University holds the overall responsibility for the
technical and financial management of a sponsored project. The responsibility includes
managing the project within the funding limitation, adherence to the agreed upon project
protocol, timely reporting and notifying sponsors when significant conditions related to
the project changes. The day-to-day management of the project fund may be deligated to
administrative or other staff but the accountability for the compliance with Assosa
University policy and sponsor requirements ultimately rests within the responsibility of
the principal investigator (PI).
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12. Conflicts of commitment and interest
12.1 Conflict of commitment
The accademic staff of the University who is a full time employee owe his/her primary
commitment of time and intellectual ability to the program of the University on which
he/she is working. When an engagement of an individual outside the University interferes
with the obligation s/he has to the University, a conflict of commitment appear. This
principle also applies to those who are employed at the University on part time basis to
the extent of their required commitment to the University. This emplies that they can give
consultance and participate in other roles provided that it doesn’t interfere with their
obligation to the University.
The following points relate to conflicts of commitment:

 Outside consulting privileges are not normally available to full time faculty of
ASU. They may involve in consultancy activities only with permission. Under
no circumstances may the time spent by any faculty on consultancy work
exceed the limits imposed by Assosa University Senate Legislation, 2012.
 Faculty may not use University resources, including facilities, personnel,
equipment, or confidential information, except in a purely incidental way, as
part of any consultancy activities to which the University is party or for any
other purposes that are unrelated to the mission of the University.
 Faculty must not allow other professional activities to detract them from their
primary allegiance to Assosa University. For example, faculty employed on a
full time basis must not have significant outside managerial responsibilities.
12.2 Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when there is a divergence between an individual's personal

interests and his or her professional obligations to Assosa University, such that an
independent observer might reasonably question whether the individual's professional
actions or decisions are determined by considerations of personal gain, financial benefits
43
or otherwise. A conflict of interest depends on the situation, and not on the behavior or
actions of the individual.
Conflicts of interest are common and practically unavoidable in a modern research and
community service University. Faculty should conduct their affairs in a way that avoids
or minimizes such conflicts of interest and must respond appropriately when conflicts of
interest arise.
The following points of policy relate to conflicts of interest:

 Faculty must promote honest and timely exchange of results of scholarly
activities, and inform other faculty, students and colleagues about his or her
commitment outside the University that might influence the free exchange of
scholarly work.
 Academic staff must disclose at the right time the creation or discovery of all
potentially patentable inventions or discoveries in the course of their university
activities or with more than incidental use of the University’s resources.
Ownership of such inventions must be assigned to the University regardless of
source of funding. The inventor will have a share in royalties earned.
 Academic staff must disclose in writing to their supervisor, or to the PI on
their research findings.
 In situations where the objectivity of a department appears to be questionable,
the supervisor or PI is expected to bring the issue to the attention to the chair of
the faculty dean for review and appropriate action. Deans may consult with the
VPRCS on this matter.
 Where conflict of commitment or interest arises, faculty members are urged
to discuss the situation with their supervisor, PI, or other relevant University
officials at different levels.
13. Intellectual Property

13.1. Definitions
Intellectual property (IP) is defined as any new and useful process, machine,
composition of matter, article of manufacture, software, copyrighted work or tangible
44
property, including such things as new or improved devices, circuits, chemical

compounds, drugs, genetically engineered biological objects, data sets, software, musical
processes, or unique and innovative uses of existing inventions.
A patent is a grant issued by the government, (through the delegated authority), giving
an inventor the right to exclude all others from making, using, or selling the invention
within Ethiopia for a fixed number of years. When a patent application is filed, the
government (through a relevant agency) reviews it with a view to establishing facts about
whether the invention is new, useful, and non-obvious and, where appropriate, granting a
patent.
An invention is a novel and useful idea relating to processes, machines, manufactures,
and compositions of matter. It may cover such things as new or improved devices,
systems, circuits, chemical compounds, mixtures, etc. Invention is assumed to have been
made when something new and useful is conceived or developed, or when unusual,
unexpected, or non-obvious results are obtained and can be exploited.
Copyright is the ownership and control of the intellectual property in original work of
authorship which is subject to copyright law.
13.2 Patent policy
 All potentially patentable inventions conceived by members of the academic

staff (including students) of the University shall be disclosed on a regular basis
to the Office of the VPRCS.
 Assosa University shall share royalties from inventions disclosed to the VP for
research and community service with the inventor.
 The inventors are free to place their inventions in the public domain if they
believe that would be in the best interest of technology transfer and if doing so
is not in violation of the terms of any agreements that supported the work or
the project.
 Waivers of the provisions of this policy may be granted by the President of
Assosa University on a case-by-case basis, giving consideration among other
things to the University’s obligations to sponsors, whether the waiver would be
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in the best interest of technology transfer and whether the waiver would result
in avoiding any conflict of interest.
 In addition to academic staff and student employees, the provisions of the
University's patent policy will extend to all graduate students, post-doctoral
fellows, visiting faculty and non-employees who participate in research and
community service projects at Assosa University.
13.3 General criteria for patentability
An important criterion of patentability is that an invention must not be obvious to a

worker with ordinary skills in that particular field. It must also be novel, in the sense that
it has not been previously publicly known or used by others in this country or patented or
described in a printed publication anywhere.
13.4 Invention disclosure
 An invention disclosure is a document that provides information about the

inventor(s), inventions made, circumstances leading to the invention and facts
concerning subsequent activities. It provides the basis for determining
patentability and the technical information for drafting a patent application. An
invention disclosure is also used to report technology that may not be patented
but is protected by other means such as copyrights.
 Inventors must prepare and submit on a timely basis an invention disclosure for
each potentially patentable invention conceived or first actually reduced to
practice in whole or in part in the course of their university responsibilities or
with more than incidental use of university resources.
13.5 Responsibilities of the inventor
Faculty members who create intellectual property shall:
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1. Officially disclose the creation of intellectual property to the appropriate

University officials, namely, the respective departments and the VPRCS with
sufficient evidence on the originality of the invention.
2. Conduct technology transfer activities in a manner consistent with University and

Faculty / Academic units policies and procedures, including those governing
conflicts of commitment and interest, and
3. Cooperate with the University in defending and prosecuting patents and in legal
actions taken in response to infringement.
13.6 Ownership of intellectual property
1. In general, Assosa University has the right to obtain title to intellectual property
developed as a result of support either directly from or channeled through it.
2. Assosa University’s support (in this case, research and community service grant
unless and otherwise specified) is defined as financial or other support,
regardless of origin, which is used in the discovery or development of
intellectual property and is provided through Assosa University’s channels. In
the absence of the University’s support, rights of ownership of intellectual
property remain with the inventor. Assosa University may decline to accept any
rights of ownership by assignment or otherwise, in which case all rights revert
to the inventor.
3. When software or other unpatented tangible research property is developed by

researchers using the University’s support, Assosa University will own all rights
to such property, including copyright (subject to agreements with appropriate
funding sources).
4. Copyright to, and royalty from, literary or scholarly works in tangible or

electronic form (e.g., textbooks and other curricular materials, reference works,
journal articles, novels, music, photographs, etc.) produced by faculty members
as part of their regular teaching services, research and community service
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activities, and which do not result directly as a specified deliverable from

projects funded in whole or in part by Assosa University or a sponsored
research agency shall belong to the researcher who prepared such works and
may be assigned or retained by them (see Section 13.8, below).
5. Assosa University claims ownership of the IP (intellectual property) created by

researchers in the course of their duties.
6. If researchers create IP that are unrelated to their regular professional duties at

the University, Assosa University will not have the right to claim ownership of
such IP.
7. Collaborating with faculties in ASU may be required to enter into agreement
with the University concerning the ownership of IP and confidentiality.
8. If no employment relationship exists between Assosa University and a student,

or if there is no relationship with a third party as a sponsor of a program, or
project that could claim part or full ownership, then the student owns the IP s/he
creates during her/his research.
9. In the event that the IP of a student's work is considered commercially viable,

the University will encourage the student to protect and develop this property. If
the student decides to assign the ownership of the IP to Assosa University to
facilitate its protection and commercialization, the student will be entitled to a
share of the net surplus on the same basis as University faculty, provided that a
license to enhance the commercial potential of the IP is conferred upon Assosa
University.
10. Where IP is originated by a student independently or privately, then the

University will not consider assisting the student to protect or develop the
property unless a proportion of the net surplus is assigned to Assosa University.
11. Assosa University retains all rights of thesis written and defined in its faculties.
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12. Where IP is developed jointly by faculty and students, the share of ownership
of the IP shall be subject to a separate agreement negotiated between the faculty
and the students addressing the revenue arrangements.
13.7 Revenue from intellectual property
1. Revenues received in the form of cash royalties and/or equity holdings shall be
distributed in such a way that encourages technology development within and
technology transfer from Assosa University. "Revenues" shall not include funds
received for research and community service support.
2. Expenses covered by ASU for patent prosecution, licensing, and license

maintenance, shall be reimbursed from gross revenues.
3. All shares of revenue, including the inventor's share should contribute to the
reimbursement of ASU costs for patent infringement actions. The manner and
amount of such reimbursement will be determined in consultation with the
VPRCS, faculty and the PI or the inventor(s) so as to maintain fairness and
adequate incentives in the distribution of revenues.
4. The schedule for distribution of net revenues shall be worked out to provide
personal incentives to inventors.
13.8 Copyright policy
1. Copyright is the ownership and control of the intellectual property in original

works of authorship which are subject to copyright law.
2. It is the policy of ASU that all rights in copyright shall remain with the creator
unless the work is a work-for-hire (and copyright vests in ASU under
copyright law), is supported through direct funding by ASU for the pursuit of
a specific project, is commissioned by the same, makes significant use of
university resources or personnel, or is otherwise subject to contractual
obligations.
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3. In accord with academic tradition, except to the extent set forth in this policy,
ASU does not claim ownership to pedagogical, scholarly, or artistic works,
regardless of their form of expression. Such works include those of students
created in the course of their education, such as dissertations, papers and
articles. ASU claims no ownership of popular nonfiction, novels, textbooks,
poems, musical compositions, unpatentable software, or other works of artistic
imagination which are not institutional works and did not make significant use
of ASU resources.
4. ASU shall retain ownership of works created as institutional works.

Institutional works include works that are supported by a specific allocation of
ASU funds or that are created at the direction of ASU for a specific purpose.
Institutional works also include works whose authorship cannot be attributed
to one or a discrete number of authors but rather result from simultaneous or
sequential contributions over time by multiple academic staff members and
students. For example, software tools developed and improved over time by
multiple faculty and students where authorship is not appropriately attributed
to a single or defined group of authors would constitute an institutional work.
The mere fact that multiple individuals have contributed to the creation of a
work shall not cause the work to constitute an institutional work.
5. Royalty income received by ASU for such works will normally be distributed
in accordance with ASU policy set for the purpose.
6. All academic staff members, student employees, graduate students and
postdoctoral fellows, as well as non-employees who participate or intend to
participate in teaching and/or research and/or community service or
scholarship projects at ASU are bound by this policy. They are also required
to sign the University Patent and Copyright Agreement Form.
14. Non-faculty research appointments
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An Academic unit’s chair for the courtesy designation of visiting scholar may
recommend a visit by an outstanding scholar in a field from other institutions or
organizations. The visit may be based on funds obtained from external sources or may be
covered personally.
14.1 Criteria for appointment
The following are the minimum eligibility criteria for a visiting scholar designation at
ASU. Individual schools may establish more restrictive eligibility criteria, where
necessary. Three criteria are given below:
 The visiting individual must be from institutions or organizations external to
ASU.
 The visiting scholar must have a doctoral degree or be a distinguished scholar in
his or her field.
 The source of funding for the visit must not be ASU.
14.2 Appointment procedures
The host academic units should make sure that a prospective visiting scholar meets the
criteria listed above. Visiting scholar cards are provided to each academic unit by the
Registrar's Office. Upon approval of an appointment, a visiting scholar card should be
signed by the academic units’ chair or head and issued to the individual. No charge is
made for the issuance of a visiting scholar card, which at normal circumstances will not
be issued for more than one year at a time.
14.3 Intellectual property agreements
If a visitor is going to work on research and/or community service projects (whether

sponsored externally or not) on the ASU campus for one quarter or more, the sponsoring
academic units should secure the signature of the visitor on a Patent and Copyright
Agreement. This agreement recognizes ASU's right to ownership of patentable inventions
which are conceived or reduced to practice in conjunction with work done at ASU, or
which involve more than incidental use of ASU resources and facilities. If the visitor has
51
already entered into an intellectual property agreement with another institution, the visitor
should be asked to sign an alternative version of the Patent and Copyright Agreement.
15. Approval of visiting scholar/researcher applications

15.1 Contact between scholars and ASU faculties/academic units
Contact between a prospective visiting scholar and/or researcher (see definition at 15.3)
may be made by:
 The Office of VPRCS website and the visiting scholar/researcher or
 The relevant institute/academic units and the visiting scholar/researcher.
15.2 Formal application
Application form for a visiting scholar/researcher may be acquired by the applicant from
the Office of VPRCS or the relevant faculities and/or academic units. But the
completed form should be sent to the faculty and/or academic unit. The application form
should also include the following relevant information:
 Passport number
 Date and place of issuance
 Validity of passport
 An advice to the applicant that the complete application form should reach ASU
or the relevant institute and/or academic unit six months prior to the intended date
of arrival. This equally applies to a new member joining, an on-going long term
project.
 A Memorandum of Agreement should be signed by the VPRCS, the relevant
faculty and/or academic unit and the visiting scholar/researcher and kept in
his/her files.
15.3 Definitions
Visiting scholar: an established Academic/researcher in a university or a research

institute.
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Visiting researcher: Anyone not covered by the above definition but working towards
an academic qualification such as a Ph.D, MA/MSc or their equivalent.
Anyone outside the above two categories, such as journalists (radio, television,
newspaper, magazine) or anyone intent on writing popular serials or a book on the
culture, history, etc. of the country is neither a visiting scholar nor a visiting researcher.
Individuals in this category should apply to the Public and International Relations Office
rather than to the Office of the VPRCS or a faculty and/or academic unit.
Faculties and Academic units sponsoring visiting scholars shall ensure that research
activities pursued by visiting scholars/ researchers do not unnecessarily duplicate and/or
interfere with research activities being conducted by Ethiopian academics here and/or
abroad. However, collaborative and complementary research works shall always be
encouraged and facilitated given availability of resources and administrative support.
15.4 Types and amount of fee
 Administration and registration fee: The administration fee would include both
the registration fee and other administrative costs that may be required to facilitate
the scholars'/researchers' work and would be US dollars 250.00 (two hundred fifty
US dollars) or its equivalent in Birr, payable on joining the University and at the
beginning of each academic year.
 Bench fee: Visiting scholars engaged in laboratory work in areas of science and
technology will be required to pay an additional bench few to cover costs of the
provision of basic laboratory equipment and supplies made available to the
researcher. The amount of the bench fee will be decided by the sponsoring units
after reviewing the research proposal.
 Exemptions:
 Projects with institution building input: Visiting scholars engaged in
projects with manpower development and institution building inputs
53
such as scholarships, fellowships, equipment and vehicles would receive

a waiver of the required administrative and bench fees.
 Visiting scholars engaged in teaching/advising: Visiting scholars sharing
academic responsibilities such as teaching and advising students and
PhD degree holder (or its equivalent) visiting scholars capable of
offering courses at the graduate level would also receive a waiver.
15.5 Duration of stay
 Lower Limit: The lower limit of stay for a visiting scholar/ researcher in Ethiopia
will be one month.
 Upper Limit
 Individual visiting scholars

 Scholars/researchers who come with their own individual projects may be
allowed to sign an agreement for an initial period of two years, renewable
for another two year term, with the approval of the SRPC and upon
submission of a satisfactory progress report on the project.
 Visiting scholars participating in major long term scholar research projects:
 Visiting scholars participating in a major long-term project, approved by
the SRPC, are to be allowed to stay up to the duration of the project as
specified and approved by the Office of the VPRCS in the initial project
Agreement. The renewal of the project, and hence the grant of permit to the
visiting scholar/researcher to stay in the University can then be negotiated
after reviewing and assessing the progress and achievements of the project.
15.6 Reporting time table
 Visiting scholars/researchers staying in the University for less than one

semester would file only one final report on their project prior to their departure
from the University and should get official clearance from the host institute and
the university.
 Visiting scholars/researchers staying for more than one semester should file
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 Two progress reports per year every six months,

 A final cumulative report at the end of the project prior to their departure from
the University and
 Get official clearance from the host institute and the university.
 The time for the submission and evaluation of progress and/or final reports on
major long-term research projects should be as specified in the initial project
agreement.
15.7 Depositing publications
 Results of research projects compiled in the form of the following should be

submitted to the relevant institute/academic units.
 Tape recordings, films, microfilms, Computer disks, etc.
 Theses/dissertations (1 copy)
 Reprints of published articles (5 copies)
 Books (2 copies)
 Popular readings (5 copies)
15.8 Co-researcher
The sponsoring units of ASU are obligated to provide, in as much as possible, qualified
Ethiopian counterparts (co-researchers) to the visiting scholars/researchers.
15.9 Visa and travel permits
Faculties/academic units shall first secure clearance from the Office of the VPRCS before
placing a request for an exit visa for a visiting scholar. The Office of the VPRCS is
mandated to make sure that the scholar has fully met his obligations before leaving the
country.
15.10 Support from government organizations
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ASU should do everything possible to solicit and secure from government and public
organizations, the necessary support and cooperation for the visiting scholars/ researchers
to guarantee a smooth conduct of their projects.
16. Rules, Regulations and Procedures on teaching materials

and the commissioning of textbooks
Teaching materials and textbooks to be used in the University shall be relevant to the
country's needs. Thus, the University Senate has, in accordance with the powers vested in
it by the Assosa University Senate Legislation, issues the following:
16.1 General
16.1.1 Short title
These Regulations may be referred to as "Rules, Regulations and Procedures on Teaching

Materials and the Commissioning of Textbooks and books for Assosa University”.
16.1.2 Definitions
Unless the context requires otherwise, in these regulations:

i. "University" shall mean Assosa University.
ii. "Teaching materials" shall mean written materials (either in hard copy or soft copy
for posting on Websites as “Lecture Notes”) prepared for a particular course or
courses, and emanating from the teaching and/or research experiences of one or more
academic staff of the University.
iii. "Textbook or book" shall mean written materials prepared by and emanating from
the teaching and/or research experience of one or more academic staff of the
University, and possessing a degree of originality1.
iii. "Responsibility centre” shall mean any college, faculty or any other unit in the
University that is engaged in teaching with the aim of producing the necessary
1
Comprehensiveness of content and presentation expected of any written material to qualify as a textbook in the field
in which it is written.
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manpower to meet the country's needs, including professional upgrading be it

teaching regularly or as a continuing education.
iv. "Faculty" shall mean any employee of the University engaged in full-time or part-
time in teaching and/or research or any other activity deemed to be academic by any
responsibility centre and approved by the Academic Vice-President.
v. “Original work” shall mean a work whose

 Content is an independent and improved reconstruction of the subject matter
 Content is relevant to the special needs of ASU
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16.2 Rules, regulations and procedures applicable to teaching materials
16.2.1 Determination of priority areas
Each responsibility centre, shall decide the areas of priority to be followed in the
preparation and updating of its teaching materials.
16.2.2 Determination of priority areas and procedures for processing teaching material
proposals
In deciding the areas of priority that must be followed in the preparation and updating of
teaching materials necessitated by objective realities, a responsibility centre must take
into consideration:
a. The need for a teaching material made relevant and oriented to the particular
prevailing objective realities of Assosa University that necessitate their preparation;
and
b. The likelihood that a teaching material with the quality expected of a university,
taking into consideration both the availability of necessary data and the academic
caliber of the possible author or authors, be produced.
16.2.3 Manuscript already produced
Any manuscript already prepared and found to meet the criteria established for a teaching
material in accordance with these regulations shall, to all intents and purposes, be
equivalent to a teaching material can be approved under these Regulations.
16.2.4 Working conditions of an author preparing teaching materials
A faculty preparing an approved teaching material shall be entitled to receive funds and
any other facilities necessary for the preparation of teaching materials from the
appropriate responsibility centre(s).
16.2.5 Criteria that qualify a manuscript as a teaching material
To qualify as a teaching material, a manuscript must:

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 Have a sufficient coverage of at least the core contents of the course for which it
is prepared;
 Include the current views held by authorities in the field;
 Have in as much as possible a practical approach to the subject dealt with;
 Be prepared as simple and comprehensive manner as possible, taking into
consideration the level of understanding of its primary audience (students);
 Comply with the standard rules, procedures and ethics of scientific publication;
 Include all tabulations, graphs, illustrations and exercises where necessary for a
comprehensive understanding of the subject matter it deals with; and
 Meet all other standards as to accuracy of facts.
16.2.6 Evaluation of manuscripts by a responsibility centre found to be sufficient enough

to qualify as a teaching material
Each responsibility centre shall determine the quality of any manuscript it finds qualified
as a teaching material in accordance with the criteria set in 16.2, above, as follows:
 A manuscript that meets the standard expected of the best work in the
profession... excellent;
 A manuscript that meets the standard expected of a work in the profession....

acceptable.
In determining the quality of a manuscript found sufficient enough to qualify as a

teaching material consideration shall be given to:
 The extent of originality of information contained;
 The extent of originality of examples and figures contained and
 The extent of exercises, questions and the like included in the manuscript.
16.2.7 Organ vested with final authority on the approval on an author and on the
sufficiency of manuscripts to qualify as teaching materials
a. The SRPC shall have final authority to decide on the competence of an academic
staff so as to be approved as an author to produce a teaching material in
accordance with Sections 16.2.2 and 16.2.3, above.
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b. The SRPC shall study the conditions that faculty should satisfy to be author(s) of a
teaching material and have it approved by the Senate.
c. In deciding on the above two, the SRPC shall follow the provisions of Section
16.2.8, below.
d. The SRPC has final authority to accept or reject the teaching material produced.
16.2.8 Manner of giving decision
i. The SRPC shall, in accordance with the agenda, time and place of meeting decided
and communicated in advance by the University's RCSVP, meet to render the
decision expected of it in accordance with Section 16.2.7, above.
ii. The SRPC may establish permanent or ad-hoc committees needed to obtain expert
advice in the specific field on which the manuscript is developed.
iii. The committee's decisions shall be rendered by majority where there is no
unanimity.
iv. Where the SRPC is of the opinion that a faculty recommended as an author by a
responsibility centre is not competent enough to do the work or a manuscript
qualified by a responsibility centre as excellent or acceptable, or irrespective of the
responsibility center's evaluation as excellent, or acceptable; it must, before given
its decision, have the qualifications of the author or the manuscript assessed by
specialists in the field outside the concerned responsibility centre, the SRPC may,
under such circumstances reverse the findings of the responsibility centre only
where its opinion is seconded by such specialists and only to that extent.
16.2.9 Effect of non-compliance
 Any decision of the SRPC rendered without strict compliance with the provisions
of Section 16.2.8, above, shall be appealed to the President of the University by
the concerned responsibility centre.
 The President shall, where s/he is of the opinion that the decision was not given in
strict compliance with the provisions of Section 16.2.8, above, the committee's
decision and return the case to it with instructions that it render its decision in
compliance with the provisions of Section 16.2.8.
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16.2.10 Author's honorarium
 An author of a manuscript found acceptable as a teaching material shall be

remunerated according to a scale/s to be decided upon by the concerned Senate
Research and Publication Committee.
16.2.11 Income tax and expenses
 Income tax must not be paid by the author on the honorarium s/he is entitled to for
the manuscript that qualifies, as the University shall pay the income tax.
 Likewise any expenses an author might incur to produce a manuscript that
qualifies as a teaching material shall be borne by the University considering the
provisions of 16.2.4 as well.
16.2.12 Obligations of authors of manuscripts that qualify as teaching materials
Any author who has produced any manuscript that qualifies as a teaching material shall
have the obligation to improve the quality of his work so that it may, without any
prejudice to additional remuneration the author will be entitled to, under these
regulations, qualify as a textbook within a period of five years starting from the time of
its acceptance as a teaching material when his/her manuscript qualifies as a teaching
material.
16.2.13 Ownership of teaching materials
 Ownership of any teaching material for which the author has been remunerated in
accordance with Section 16.2.10 shall be vested with the University.
 As an owner of such teaching materials, the University shall have the right to
assign the upgrading of any teaching material to a textbook to another faculty in
case where the author of the teaching material fails to discharge his/her obligation
as provided under Section 16.2.12, above.
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16.2.14 Obligation of the University
The University shall have the manuscript that qualifies as a teaching material available in
as many copies as is needed in a media appropriate for the purpose for which the teaching
material is intended at its expense, as soon as circumstances permit.
16.3 Rules, regulations and procedures applicable to textbooks
16.3.1 Principle
Without prejudice to the provisions of the following articles, the preceding rules,
regulations, and procedures governing the production of teaching materials shall apply to
the production of textbooks.
16.3.2 Criteria for commissioning
i. Commissioning means selection and appointing of an author or a team of authors to

produce textbooks in accordance with the provisions of the following sub-article.
ii. To be commissioned as an author of a textbook, a faculty must have:
 Produced a teaching material on the subject:
 Taught the subject for a minimum of five times; and
 Demonstrated his/her competence in research such as by producing at least
three articles published in a reputable journal in any area in which the
responsibility centre offers training.
iii. In the case of a team of authors at least one of the authors should satisfy all the
conditions of Section 16.3.2.9 (ii) above.
iv. From among a team of authors commissioned to develop a textbook, one author who
happens to be the most expert/senior in the field should serve as the principal author
and handles all communications between responsible offices.
16.3.3 Working conditions of a commissioned author
 A faculty commissioned by a responsibility centre to prepare a textbook shall be

entitled to:
 A reduction of three (3) credit hours in his teaching load for a period of one year.
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 Funds provided by the University to cover the expenses for the preparation of the
textbook.
 The author shall conclude a binding contract to this effect with the relevant University
authorities.
16.3.4 Criteria that qualify manuscript as a textbook
 To qualify as a textbook, a manuscript must, in addition to the criteria that qualify

a manuscript as a teaching material provided in Section 16.2.5 above, meet the
standards of originality as specified in Section 16.1.2.
 A manuscript recommended as a textbook by any responsibility centre shall be
assessed by one internal and one external expert in the field outside the
responsibility centre. The Office of VPRCS in consultation with the relevant Unit
shall make the final selection. A manuscript to be published as a textbook must be
deemed acceptable by such experts.
16.3.5 Author’s remuneration
 An author of a manuscript found acceptable, as a textbook shall be remunerated

according to a scale/s to be decided upon by the concerned Senate Research and
Publication Committee.
16.3.6 Obligations of authors of manuscripts that qualify as textbooks
 Any author who has produced any manuscript that qualifies as a textbook shall
have the obligation to update his/her work.
 As an owner of such work, the University shall have the author's obligation of
updating the textbook by another academic staff in cases where the author of a
textbook fails to discharge his/her obligations.
16.3.7 Copyright
 Copyright shall be retained by the University as publisher of the textbook.
63
 The Publisher shall have the sole control of the paper, format, type, jacket,
production, publishing, advertising price, sale and terms of sales of the work.
17. Creating a Research and Community Service support

environment
The University encourages its staff research and community service activities in order to
make research and community service attractive by ensuring that staff members involved
in research and community service are rewarded materially and morally within the
context of the ‘scientific professionalism’. To do this, the university can adopt and
mainstream different modalities including making research and community service
parameter part and parcel with various human resource development policies, regulations
and guidelines. Therefore, the University shall:
 Set up, strengthen and equip the Research and Community Service Core Process
(RCSCP) for it is responsible for the overall research coordination of the university.
 Facilitate the establishment/strengthening of research and community service

administration infrastructure linking the RCSCP with colleges, faculties, institutes or
departments.
 Ensure that staffs are fully involved in the research and community service planning
process and maintain a good balance between teaching, research and community
service.
 Ensure that academic staff members involve in conducting research and giving
community service to the society.
The following issues are considered in the policy to make the university environment
supportive to research and community service endeavors.
17.1 Academic freedom
The university is committed to fostering an academic culture, freedom of expression of

ideas and valuing academic freedom and debate. This enables an academic staff to
promote and permit a free, rational and dispassionate atmosphere. This is an important
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requisite for research, community service, innovation and critical thinking. The
University promotes the idea of academic freedom through exemplary actions and
overhauls the environment of inquiry and critical thinking. This freedom should never be
endangered nor should freedom of expression be infringed at all either internally or
externally.
17.2 Enhancing staff research culture
It is the right and obligation of every academic staff to participate in research as 25% of
the workload goes to conducting research and giving community service. Nevertheless,
heavy teaching load, lack of experience and skill, lack of collaborative research
endeavors between the team from junior and senior staff and inadequate incentive
mechanisms for research (honorarium, and other remunerations, promotion, and
equivalent exemption from teaching load), inefficiencies related to research
administration and management may hinder development of such a research culture.
Therefore, the university is committed to promote research culture by addressing such
impediments. As a result, the research and community service core process strives to:
 Inspire a research culture in Assosa University through its staff members,

undergraduate and postgraduate students.
 Contribute towards fostering and enhancing research and community service culture
both within and outside the university.
 Promotes and encourages research teamwork.
 Trains its staff on the research and community service policy and procedures.
17.3 Women’s involvement in research and community service
To address developmental problems of women, to bring them onboard to development

arena and to maintain gender equity at all levels, the research and community service
core process shall encourage women researchers. Gender equity is one of the core values
of the university articulated in the strategic plan, which should also be mainstreamed in to
research and community service endeavors.
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18. Mechanisms to encourage research
18.1 Research capacity building
The university shall strengthen the analytical, experimental design and other
methodological capacities by investing in human resource development in these areas and
acquisition of relevant software. This will lead to development of research proposals for
high quality experimental and survey designs.
18.2 Incentives and employment modalities of academic and research

staff
Academic and research staffs are responsible to generate research ideas and have the
capability to administer, coordinate and implement research and community service
ideas. Therefore, appropriate mechanisms need to be designed to motivate staff
involvement in research and community service. The following are some of the
mechanisms:
 Time requirement: A staff employed to be a researcher is required to devote

75% of his/her time to research and community service and 25% of his/her time to
teaching while an academic staff is required to devote 75% of his/her time to
teaching and 25% to research and community service.
 Rewards: the research and community service core process shall design
mechanisms to reward staff based on research and community service
performance. Awarding researchers with the best performance is an important
incentive to raise the research and community service culture in the university.
Recognizing and giving material rewards to staff who publishes their works in
scientific journals will also enhance research culture. The reward could be in the
form of offering sponsorship for travel to attend research and/or community
service symposia, for purchase of research aids, soliciting fund for publishing
costs etc.
66
 Research award for best researcher(s): Staffs with outstanding research

performance will be awarded on annual staff research symposium day. Such an
award will foster research quality by creating a competitive environment and
motivating staff research undertaking. An objective criterion shall be used for
nomination of candidates.
 Promotion and career development: The criteria for vertical promotion shall
give adequate attention to research and community service in that research and
community service endeavors is a requirement for promotions to ranks of lecturer
and above. Promotion requirements should clearly be articulated in the
University’s Senate Legislation.
 Scholarship: selection of academic staff for further training need to also give
weights to research and community service performance of the academic staff.
The scholarship development committee needs to develop the criteria.
 Credit allocation to research load: Clear guidelines need to be developed for

exemption of academic staff actively involved in research proposal writing,
investigation, and those who are involved in research coordination. Credit
allocation to involvement in research should consider the role of the academic
staff in the respective project nature and time requirement of the research project.
To facilitate this, research projects should clearly map out the time involvement
of each staff carrying out different tasks during the implementation of the research
project. The tasks involve: research formulation and preparation, data collection,
data entry, data analysis, report writing and dissemination of results.
 Training: The University shall organize in-campus or out of campus short term
and long term trainings on research methodology, research proposal writing, skills
of writing for publication, analytic and computer skills for staff to boost research
endeavors.
67
18.3 Research infrastructure/facilities
The University shall strive to avail latest international and national journals and other
reference materials through development modernization of the library stocking and
retrieval system. To do this, the university works to improve the library service and IT
facilities by investing on relevant hard ware and soft ware and by increasing access to
internet and web-based resources. Developments of research laboratories, institutes, units
or centers are also essential for facilitating research and community services.
18.4 Promoting student research
As innovative university, Assosa University promotes students’ research project in order

to enhance the critical thinking and problem solving skills. Accordingly, an independent
research endeavor is a requirement for the partial fulfillment of undergraduate degrees
awarded by the university. In addition, there will be annual student research symposium
where the three best researches/projects of each graduating department are awarded to
enhance the sense of competition and foster student research quality.
18.5 Efficient administrative support
In order to enhance research and community service undertakings, strengthening of the

administration and management capacity of the administrative staff is extremely
important. Enhancing the capacity of administrative staff and raising their awareness on
the importance of research and community service in the university’s strategic endeavor
for national development is critically important for facilitated and dexterous performance
of research and community service undertakings. This shall include the provision of
research and community service management allowance, maintenance of equipment and
accessories and support for purchase of basic consumables. Most particularly, there is a
need for improvements in financial and material management such as pre-auditing,
purchasing and acquisition procedures. The university should also create an
organizational unit that serves as a printing press and undertakes some activities like
photocopying, printing, transport and other logistics support to facilitate research
implementation. The university works towards the creation of a stable and conducive
internal research environment.
68
18.6 Documentation and Dissemination of Research Outputs
Assosa University is committed to documentation of research database, submitted

proposals, ongoing and completed researches and journals published by academic staffs
and students. An electronic database of student research projects will be created for easy
retrieval and utilization of research outputs for training, research and community service.
Hard copies of published materials will also be documented. Journals published by the
university shall be made available on the web for creating access to university’s research
outputs by stakeholders inside and outside the university. In addition, the university shall:
 Encourage the incorporation of the dissemination of research results in the research

proposal, e.g departmental seminars, workshops, symposia, Journal clubs etc. and
documents their outputs.
 For smaller research projects, the organization of at least a local seminar/workshop to
ensure local ownership of research findings is required. For large research projects,
local conferences/symposia shall be organized.
 Ensures that an international standard research report (format and presentation of
content) shall be prepared.
 Makes sure that all research reports are subjected to peer-review before being
disseminated.
 Prepare and submit research abstracts/research reports and policy briefs translated to
working language to potential policy makers for action.
 Encourage and support dissemination of research findings/publication in to accessible
databases (electronic or otherwise).
 Reward and encourage the publication of research findings in the local media. This
shall include the establishment of international standard journals.
19. Consultancy/Extension
Research and consultancy are related words; it may be difficult to differentiate one from
the other. In the context of this document, consultancy is defined as a research, advisory,
extension, training, provision of services such as legal, health, material-testing
supervision and other related paid activities. Paid research is equivalent to consultancy.
69
Involvement of academic staff in consultancy services has many advantages. The benefits
are for the staff, the university, and the organization seeking the service. The individual
staff gains in terms of practical experience and financial incentives. The university will
benefit by raising its internal revenue and contribute to societal development needs by
providing professional services to private, governmental and non-governmental
organizations. The organization also benefits from the professional service rendered.
19.1 Initiation
Consultancy may be initiated by an individual staff member, the university (Research and
Community Service Core Process) or the client organization. An individual staff
member(s) may initiate consultancy through their personal contacts with the organization.
The university management, at different capacities, may also initiate consultancy.
19.2 Agreements
Depending on the type and scope of consultancy service, agreements may be entered with
the client in two ways:
1. With the approval of the university, the individual staff or a group of staff
members could enter into contractual agreement with the client directly.
2. In cases where the client requires institutional guarantee, the university may also
enter in to contractual agreement on behalf of the individual staff or a group of
staff members.
Regardless of the modality of contractual agreement, a copy of the contract should be

submitted to the university. The contractual agreement shall contain the details of the
consultancy service. The academic staff involved in the consultancy, the cost breakdown
for material and human resources, schedule of payments and duration of the consultancy
service should be included in the contractual agreement.
19.3 Payments
Consultancy fee to be paid by the client involves the following:

 Professional fee
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 Itemized materials and personnel cost

 Travel expense, per diem, fuel, vehicle rent and maintenance, airfare etc.
 Equipment purchase, rent or depreciation
 Electricity, telephone and other expenditures
 Other costs specific to project type and size
For a contracted consultancy, the professional fees indicated above, 70% shall be paid to
the staff member(s) involved in the consultancy. The remaining 30% will go to the
university, the distribution of which will be: 50% to the department, 25% to the faculty
and 25% to the university’s central budget pool.
20. Procedures for obtaining Research funds from the

University
a. The first step is to prepare a research proposal according to the prepared format of
the Research and Community Service Core Process (RCSCP) of the university.
b. The proposal should be submitted to the virtual teams of the departments that are
established for evaluating proposals. The team shall thoroughly evaluate the
proposal for the importance, objectives, methodology and merits of the proposal
including by peer review internally or externally.
c. The proposal should be sent to Faculty Ethical Clearance Committee (FECC) if
local ethical clearance is required.
d. Once this process is accomplished the proposal will be submitted to the
University’s Research and Publication Committee, which makes the final
approval of research project.
20.1 Procedures for obtaining Research funds outside the University
Proposals that are to be submitted to funding agencies outside the university are required
to go through the above procedures before the research is conducted. This entitles the
guarantee to:
 Obtain Local Ethical Clearance of their research project
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 Obtain financial, procurement and personnel services

 Better record and documentation of the research process in the University
Therefore, a researcher, upon obtaining a grant from outside the university or foreign
donor agencies is required to get approval by the concerned university offices.
20.2 The mandate of Research and Community Service Core Process
This core process has a mandate over all the research and community service activities of
the university. It will be given the university’s 20% budget and has the power to approve
budgets to facilitate the research and community service activities of the university. It
also has a mandate to employ its own staff and manage its finance.
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ASSOSA UNIVERSITY

10.2 Initiation, submission and review of research proposals ...................................... 26

14.2 Appointment procedures ....................................................................................... 51

16.3.1 Principle ......................................................................................................... 62

ASU Assosa University

To do so, standardization of operations, formulation of a sound, clear and thoroughly

2. Mission and Vision of RCSCP

3. Core Principles of Research and Community Service in

 Innovation: by encouraging our researchers to be innovative, imaginative, and

4. Objectives of the Research and Community Service Policy in

As a higher learning institution following innovative educational philosophy, Assosa

6. SET SOME GENERAL GUIDELINES WITH RESPECT TO ALLOCATION/SHARING OF

5. Rights and Responsibilities in Conducting Research

5.1 Rights of faculty members

5.2 Responsibilities of Faculty to Staff and Students

5.3 Health and safety

5.4 Research Misconduct: Investigating and Reporting Allegations

5.4.1 Definition of Misconduct

Research misconduct is defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing,

Research misconduct does not, however, refer to honest mistakes or differences in

The University undertakes to thoroughly investigate all allegations of research

It is important to note that the University’s definition of research misconduct and

 Assosa University research and community service personnel and/or

6. Research Ethics Committee

Human Research (Non-Health). The researcher is ultimately responsible to apply for

6.1 Research involving animals

 Replacement of so-called “sentient” animals wherever possible, with “non-

 Reduction of the number of animals in experiments by designing strategies

 Refinement of animal sourcing, animal care practices and experimental

procedures to eliminate physical and psychological distress within limitation

6.2 Research involving Environment and Bio-safety

 all research involving recombinant DNA techniques or genetically modified

 research involving organisms that are pathogenic to humans

 research involving radiation, and

 research which may potentially cause harm to the natural environment.

Bio-hazardous research involving humans or animals will be reviewed by the applicable

Openness in research refers to the principle of providing all interested individuals or

7.2 Secrecy in a research Program

A research program shall be regarded as requiring secrecy:

 For a short delay or extension of time (which should not exceed 90

 A statement of the provisions that will allow the researcher to publish

A faculty member should never engage a student, a research collaborator or trainee in a

If, in a program of research, private papers, documents, diaries or analogous materials

7.3 Retention of and access to research data

7.4. Transfer of data

8. Review of this policy

9. Establishing and managing independent laboratories,

9.2 Principles for establishing independent laboratories, institutes,

Therefore, the impact of proposed independent laboratories, institutes or centers must be

9.3 Procedures for establishing the Units

9.4 On-going evaluation of units

The established laboratory, institute, unit or center should be reviewed periodically to

10. Management of research

10.1 Research Priorities

10.2 Initiation, submission and review of research proposals

10.2.1 Format for research proposals

Project proposals that are to be submitted to Assosa University shall generally be

subjects, manipulation of genetic materials, etc., providing a basis for application

 Capacity building: Where training is required, it is important to indicate the sort