Thomas Adewumi University held the October Edition of its monthly KnowledgeX Series on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, continuing its tradition of fostering intellectual growth and academic excellence. The event, which marked the 9th edition of the 2025 series, brought together faculty members both physically and virtually, to explore the theme: “Transformative Mentorship: Guiding Emerging Scholars Toward Innovative and Impactful Research.”
In his welcome address, Dr. Samuel Farohunbi, Director of the TAU Career Centre and host of the programme, welcomed all participants and reiterated the purpose of the KnowledgeX Series; to create a platform where members of the academic community can learn, relearn, and unlearn together. He gave a brief recap of previous sessions held since January, highlighting the diverse range of topics and speakers who have contributed to knowledge building throughout the year.
The facilitator, Assoc. Prof. Olayinka Adewumi, Acting Director of the Innovation and Technology Management Office at the University of Lagos, delivered the lecture. She began with an interactive poll and exercise on research engagement, encouraging participants to reflect on their understanding of research goals and practices.
In her presentation, Assoc. Prof. Adewumi defined the research compass as the guiding purpose of scholarly work; to generate new knowledge, solve problems, and contribute to socio-economic development. She emphasized that for research to be both innovative and impactful, it must intentionally integrate these three goals. According to her, “skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, technical competence, and innovation culture form the foundation mentors should cultivate in mentees to achieve the goals of research.”
She further explained that critical thinking ensures rigor in knowledge generation, problem-solving aligns research with real-world needs, technical competence translates ideas into credible evidence and prototypes, while innovation culture accelerates adoption and socio-economic growth. She encouraged lecturers and researchers to use these standards as checklists in proposal reviews, supervision meetings, and project assessments.
Speaking on mentorship, Assoc. Prof. Adewumi described it as a developmental relationship that helps individuals become their best professional selves. She outlined three dimensions of mentorship: perception, structure, and support, noting that effective mentorship requires clear expectations, access to resources, and mutual accountability. She stressed that “mentorship is a partnership,” urging both mentors and mentees to define roles, set collaboration norms early, and document progress.
To demonstrate practical applications, she shared three case studies of mentorship in action: one in engineering education where structured mentorship improved training outcomes; another on innovation and prototyping that converted students’ ideas into commercially viable products; and a final case on an Innovation-in-Health Challenge, where our students secured second place and a ₦1.5 million research grant.
The session concluded with an engaging question-and-answer segment, where participants shared reflections and sought clarifications on applying mentorship strategies within their departments. Delivering the closing remarks, Dr. Farohunbi appreciated Assoc. Prof. Adewumi for her impactful presentation and for sharing valuable insights that would strengthen mentorship and research practices within the University community.
Through the KnowledgeX Series, Thomas Adewumi University continues to affirm its commitment to nurturing transformative educators, researchers, and innovators capable of shaping a knowledge-driven society.
