Course Introduction
Research projects are essential for generating scientific evidence, advancing innovation, informing public policy, improving institutional performance, and addressing complex societal challenges. However, research initiatives frequently encounter difficulties involving unclear research objectives, unrealistic implementation schedules, inadequate budgeting, fragmented team coordination, weak grant administration, and insufficient financial oversight. These challenges can compromise research quality, delay deliverables, increase costs, and undermine funder confidence. This course provides an advanced framework for planning, managing, implementing, and controlling research projects while ensuring scientific integrity, financial accountability, regulatory compliance, and measurable research outcomes.
The programme examines the complete research project lifecycle, from identifying research opportunities and developing compelling proposals through project appraisal, funding acquisition, implementation planning, resource allocation, performance monitoring, and final closeout. Participants will learn how to translate research questions into structured work packages, establish realistic milestones, identify critical dependencies, allocate personnel and equipment, and develop implementation schedules that reflect methodological requirements. The course also addresses research readiness assessments, feasibility analysis, multidisciplinary collaboration, institutional capacity, and the alignment of research objectives with funding priorities, strategic research agendas, and expected scientific or societal impact.
A major focus is placed on research grant acquisition, proposal development, budgeting, and funder engagement. Participants will explore funding opportunity analysis, eligibility assessment, proposal logic, theory of change where applicable, research methodology alignment, budget justification, institutional approvals, and submission management. The programme examines how to construct defensible budgets covering personnel, equipment, consumables, fieldwork, travel, data management, indirect costs, dissemination, and other eligible expenses. Participants will also learn to manage co-funding requirements, cost-sharing arrangements, currency exposure, inflation, expenditure restrictions, and budget revisions while ensuring that financial plans remain consistent with research objectives, funder rules, and institutional policies.
Effective research grant management requires strong governance, transparent financial controls, robust documentation, and disciplined compliance. The course explores grant agreement interpretation, award activation, expenditure authorization, procurement, payroll allocation, subcontracting, partner transfers, financial reporting, audit readiness, and funder communication. Participants will learn to establish responsibility matrices, delegated approval arrangements, risk registers, internal control procedures, and grant tracking systems that support accountability across principal investigators, research administrators, finance teams, procurement officers, ethics committees, and collaborating institutions. Particular attention is given to research ethics, human participant protection, animal research requirements where applicable, data protection, intellectual property, authorship, conflicts of interest, and the prevention of research misconduct and financial irregularities.
The programme integrates advanced monitoring, evaluation, risk management, and performance assurance approaches to strengthen research delivery. Participants will learn to track scientific milestones, deliverables, expenditure, recruitment, data collection, research outputs, publication plans, and knowledge translation activities. The course examines variance analysis, schedule recovery, budget forecasting, resource utilization, change control, and corrective action when research activities deviate from approved plans. It also addresses the complexities of managing collaborative and multi-institutional grants, including partner due diligence, subaward oversight, cross-border transfers, differing regulatory requirements, shared data environments, and coordinated reporting. Participants will develop practical methods for maintaining funder confidence while protecting scientific independence and the quality of research.
Emerging digital capabilities and evolving funding expectations are increasingly transforming research project management. Participants will explore research management information systems, electronic grant administration, automated budget monitoring, data analytics, AI-assisted proposal development, predictive forecasting, collaborative research platforms, and digital research data management. The course considers responsible AI use, reproducibility, research integrity, cybersecurity, privacy, data ownership, open science, research security, and appropriate human oversight. Through practical case studies, proposal planning exercises, grant budgeting simulations, compliance scenarios, and project performance reviews, participants will develop the skills to manage complex research portfolios, strengthen grant stewardship, improve delivery reliability, and maximize the scientific, institutional, and societal value of funded research.
Duration
10 days
Who Should Attend
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Principal investigators responsible for research project design, scientific leadership, implementation, and grant accountability.
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Research project managers coordinating research activities, work packages, schedules, teams, deliverables, and institutional reporting.
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Research administrators managing grant applications, award activation, funder requirements, reporting, and project closeout.
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Research development officers identifying funding opportunities, coordinating proposal submissions, and strengthening institutional funding success.
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Grants and contracts managers overseeing award agreements, financial conditions, compliance obligations, and contractual administration.
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University and research institution finance officers responsible for research budgets, expenditure controls, financial forecasting, and grant reconciliation.
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Sponsored programmes administrators managing externally funded research portfolios and relationships with funding agencies.
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Laboratory managers and scientific programme coordinators overseeing equipment, personnel, consumables, facilities, and research operations.
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Monitoring, evaluation, and research impact specialists tracking outputs, outcomes, performance indicators, and knowledge translation.
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Procurement and supply chain professionals supporting research equipment acquisition, specialist services, fieldwork, and laboratory operations.
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Ethics and research integrity officers overseeing ethical approvals, participant protection, research governance, and responsible research conduct.
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Data managers and digital research professionals responsible for data governance, storage, sharing, security, and research information systems.
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Consortium coordinators managing collaborative, multidisciplinary, multi-country, and multi-institutional research grants.
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Non-governmental organization and development research professionals implementing donor-funded studies and evidence-generation programmes.
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Public research agency officials administering research funding schemes, innovation grants, and institutional research programmes.
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Clinical and health research coordinators managing regulated studies, clinical research grants, and associated compliance requirements.
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Innovation and technology transfer professionals overseeing research commercialization, intellectual property, and industry collaboration.
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Internal auditors, compliance specialists, and assurance professionals reviewing grant expenditure, documentation, controls, and audit readiness.
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Research policy and institutional leadership professionals responsible for research strategy, portfolio oversight, and organizational grant management systems.
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Consultants and capacity-building professionals supporting research proposal development, grant administration, and research project delivery.
Course Objectives
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Develop advanced capabilities in research project planning, grant administration, financial management, compliance, risk control, and research delivery across the full project lifecycle.
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Identify and assess funding opportunities, eligibility requirements, institutional capabilities, research priorities, and strategic alignment before committing resources to proposal development.
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Translate research questions and methodologies into structured work breakdowns, implementation schedules, resource plans, milestones, deliverables, and measurable performance indicators.
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Prepare competitive research proposals with clear objectives, coherent methodologies, defensible implementation plans, realistic budgets, and compelling statements of scientific and societal value.
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Develop accurate research budgets, cost justifications, cash-flow forecasts, and financial assumptions consistent with funder requirements and institutional financial policies.
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Interpret grant agreements and establish appropriate procedures for award activation, expenditure authorization, procurement, subaward management, and financial reporting.
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Apply robust grant governance, internal controls, audit preparation, documentation, and compliance monitoring to protect research funding and maintain funder confidence.
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Integrate research ethics, integrity, data protection, intellectual property, responsible AI, and reproducibility considerations into research planning and grant implementation.
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Manage multidisciplinary research teams, collaborative institutions, subrecipients, consultants, and specialist service providers through clear responsibilities and performance expectations.
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Apply project monitoring, budget variance analysis, schedule control, risk management, forecasting, and corrective action techniques to maintain research delivery performance.
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Use digital grant management systems, data analytics, automation, and AI-assisted tools responsibly to strengthen proposal development, financial oversight, reporting, and decision-making.
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Establish effective dissemination, knowledge translation, sustainability, closeout, and lessons-learned processes that maximize research impact and improve future funding performance.
Comprehensive Course Outline
Module 1: Foundations of Research Project Planning and Grant Management
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Principles of research project management, grant stewardship, scientific accountability, institutional governance, and effective delivery of funded research.
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Research project lifecycle stages covering concept development, proposal preparation, award negotiation, implementation, reporting, dissemination, and closeout.
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Roles and responsibilities of principal investigators, research administrators, finance teams, ethics committees, funders, collaborators, and institutional leadership.
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Common causes of research project underperformance, including unrealistic planning, weak coordination, budget errors, compliance failures, and inadequate oversight.
Module 2: Research Strategy, Funding Landscapes and Opportunity Assessment
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Identification and evaluation of competitive research funding opportunities across government agencies, foundations, international organizations, industry, and philanthropic institutions.
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Assessment of funder priorities, eligibility conditions, award sizes, allowable costs, submission deadlines, evaluation criteria, and reporting expectations.
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Alignment of research concepts with institutional strategies, national research priorities, interdisciplinary opportunities, and scientific or societal needs.
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Development of funding pipelines, opportunity registers, submission calendars, bid/no-bid criteria, and institutional approaches to improving funding success.
Module 3: Research Concept Development and Proposal Planning
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Translation of research problems, knowledge gaps, hypotheses, and questions into clear objectives, methodological approaches, and expected research contributions.
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Development of research work breakdown structures, activity sequences, deliverables, milestones, resource dependencies, and implementation responsibilities.
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Preparation of research concept notes, proposal narratives, implementation plans, and supporting documentation for different funding mechanisms.
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Integration of feasibility assessment, methodological rigor, stakeholder engagement, multidisciplinary collaboration, and impact pathways into proposal development.
Module 4: Research Project Scheduling, Resource Planning and Delivery
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Development of realistic research schedules covering approvals, recruitment, procurement, laboratory preparation, fieldwork, data collection, analysis, and dissemination.
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Application of work breakdown structures, critical path analysis, dependency mapping, milestone planning, and resource loading to research activities.
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Assessment of staff availability, specialist expertise, equipment capacity, laboratory access, seasonal fieldwork requirements, and external dependencies.
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Establishment of progress review routines, schedule baselines, implementation forecasts, contingency arrangements, and schedule recovery strategies.
Module 5: Research Budget Development and Financial Planning
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Preparation of detailed research budgets covering personnel, equipment, consumables, travel, fieldwork, data collection, specialist services, and dissemination.
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Application of direct and indirect cost principles, overhead allocation, cost-sharing arrangements, institutional costing policies, and funder-specific budget rules.
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Development of budget narratives, unit-cost calculations, financial assumptions, cash-flow forecasts, and expenditure phasing aligned with research milestones.
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Assessment of inflation, foreign exchange movements, equipment maintenance, procurement lead times, financial exposure, and budget contingency requirements.
Module 6: Grant Applications, Submission and Award Negotiation
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Management of grant application workflows, internal approvals, eligibility checks, supporting documents, submission deadlines, and quality assurance.
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Preparation of proposal budgets, justifications, institutional commitments, partner documentation, compliance declarations, and supplementary schedules.
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Interpretation of award notifications, grant conditions, intellectual property provisions, publication requirements, and restrictions on eligible expenditure.
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Negotiation and documentation of award amendments, budget revisions, reporting arrangements, intellectual property rights, and implementation conditions.
Module 7: Grant Activation, Governance and Institutional Controls
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Establishment of grant accounts, project codes, reporting structures, delegated authorities, expenditure controls, and award management responsibilities.
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Development of grant governance frameworks covering principal investigator accountability, institutional oversight, decision rights, escalation, and approvals.
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Application of financial control procedures, segregation of duties, commitment tracking, supporting documentation, reconciliations, and expenditure verification.
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Development of grant management calendars, compliance registers, reporting schedules, approval matrices, and centralized award documentation systems.
Module 8: Procurement, Contracts and Research Resource Management
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Planning and procurement of scientific equipment, laboratory materials, fieldwork supplies, research software, specialist services, and technical infrastructure.
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Application of procurement rules, competitive sourcing, value-for-money assessments, conflict-of-interest controls, and funder-specific purchasing requirements.
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Management of supplier contracts, consultancy agreements, service-level expectations, equipment delivery, asset registration, and maintenance obligations.
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Oversight of personnel costs, consultant payments, travel claims, subcontracting, shared resources, and allocation of expenditure to appropriate grant budgets.
Module 9: Research Compliance, Ethics and Integrity
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Integration of research ethics approvals, informed consent, participant protection, confidentiality, safeguarding, and relevant regulatory obligations into project planning.
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Application of research integrity principles covering data fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, authorship disputes, conflicts of interest, and responsible reporting.
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Management of human participant research, clinical studies, animal research where applicable, biosafety, laboratory standards, and other specialized requirements.
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Establishment of compliance registers, training records, incident reporting, approval renewal processes, corrective actions, and research assurance procedures.
Module 10: Multi-Institutional Grants and Collaborative Research Management
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Design of governance structures, work-sharing arrangements, coordination mechanisms, and accountability frameworks for research consortia.
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Development and management of collaboration agreements, subawards, partner budgets, transfer arrangements, and shared deliverable responsibilities.
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Oversight of partner due diligence, expenditure verification, milestone performance, compliance obligations, and consolidated financial reporting.
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Management of cross-border research, differing regulatory frameworks, intellectual property, data-sharing agreements, cultural considerations, and collaboration risks.
Module 11: Research Monitoring, Evaluation and Performance Control
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Development of research performance frameworks covering scientific milestones, deliverables, publications, datasets, expenditure, staffing, and knowledge translation.
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Establishment of baseline information, progress indicators, target values, reporting templates, dashboards, and evidence requirements for funded research.
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Application of budget variance analysis, schedule performance reviews, expenditure forecasts, milestone tracking, and corrective action management.
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Assessment of research outcomes, scientific quality, stakeholder benefits, institutional capacity, and societal impact using appropriate evaluation approaches.
Module 12: Grant Financial Reporting, Audit Readiness and Accountability
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Preparation of interim and final financial reports, expenditure reconciliations, supporting schedules, and funder-required financial statements.
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Interpretation of allowable and unallowable costs, expenditure cut-off dates, documentation standards, asset requirements, and financial reporting conditions.
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Establishment of audit-ready grant files, transaction traceability, procurement records, timesheets, payroll evidence, approvals, and partner documentation.
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Management of audit queries, expenditure exceptions, questioned costs, recovery actions, compliance findings, and institutional responses to funder reviews.
Module 13: Research Risk Management, Change Control and Recovery Planning
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Identification of methodological, operational, financial, regulatory, ethical, personnel, procurement, technology, and reputational risks affecting research delivery.
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Development of risk registers, likelihood and impact assessments, mitigation plans, risk owners, escalation thresholds, and monitoring procedures.
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Management of scope changes, delayed approvals, recruitment challenges, equipment failures, budget pressure, unexpected results, and partner underperformance.
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Preparation of contingency plans, schedule recovery options, budget reforecasting, amendment requests, and evidence-based decisions about project continuation.
Module 14: Research Data Management, Digital Tools and Responsible AI
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Development of research data management plans covering collection, classification, storage, documentation, retention, sharing, archiving, and responsible disposal.
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Use of grant management platforms, collaborative research systems, digital document repositories, financial dashboards, and automated reporting workflows.
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Application of AI-assisted proposal drafting, budget checking, literature organization, progress reporting, and risk identification with appropriate human verification.
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Management of data protection, cybersecurity, access controls, research confidentiality, reproducibility, responsible AI, and compliance with applicable data policies.
Module 15: Research Dissemination, Knowledge Translation and Impact Management
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Development of dissemination strategies covering scientific publications, policy briefs, technical reports, conferences, stakeholder engagement, and public communication.
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Planning for open science, publication costs, research data sharing, intellectual property protection, licensing, and funder-specific dissemination requirements.
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Application of knowledge translation approaches to convert research findings into policy decisions, operational improvements, innovation, and practical solutions.
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Assessment of research impact through scientific contribution, policy influence, technology transfer, capacity strengthening, societal benefits, and documented uptake.
Module 16: Grant Closeout, Sustainability and Research Portfolio Excellence
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Management of administrative and financial closeout, final reporting, outstanding commitments, asset disposition, contract closure, and grant balance reconciliation.
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Completion of research deliverables, data archiving, publication plans, intellectual property records, compliance documentation, and institutional handover requirements.
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Development of sustainability plans for research capacity, equipment utilization, continuing collaborations, follow-on funding, and preservation of research outputs.
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Establishment of lessons-learned systems, grant performance reviews, proposal success analysis, institutional benchmarks, and continuous improvement strategies for research portfolios.
Training Approach
This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.
Tailor-Made Course
This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com Tel: +254 721 331 808
Training Venue
The training will be held at our Upskill Training Centre. We also offer training for a group (at a discount of 10% to 50%) at requested location all over the world. The Onsite course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, buffet lunch, airport transfers, Upskill gift package, and guided tour.
Visa application, travel expenses, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant
Certification
Participants will be issued with Upskill certificate upon completion of this course.
Airport Pickup and Accommodation
Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com, +254 721 331 808
Terms of Payment:
Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 3 working days before commencement of the training so as to enable us to prepare better.
