The recruitment process is a joint exercise by the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reforms.

Government has launched a call for applications for the recruitment of 173 researchers to man positions in the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation and research institutions on the tutelage of the Ministry.

The 173 will make up the third batch of recruits in a progressive process of employment of 1000 researchers for the Ministry. The recruitment is done through a national competitive procedure jointly launched by the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reforms.

The ongoing recruitment was launched on December 22, 2017. Applicants for the various fields announced are expected to submit complete applications no later than January 26.

The employment announcement indicates candidates are needed from the fields of agriculture, biotechnology, energy, mining, nutrition, environmental sciences, fisheries and livestock, among others.

During a New Year wishes ceremony organised by the Ministry of Scientific Research in Yaounde last weekend, Minister Madeleine Tchuinte said a cumulative total of 430 researchers and senior researchers were recruited during the first and second recruitment exercises in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

The Minister said she will also plead with top government officials for research technicians to be recruited as well. She said her advocacy for the recruitment of research technicians is driven by the fact that their jobs complement those of researchers in the research process.

Scientific research in Cameroon is reaching higher heights with nationals winning international awards. In 2017 alone, Cameroonians won seven medals at the international level of which three were gold.

These were in the fields of agricultural research, medical research, geology and mining research as well as promotion of local materials.

Minister Tchuinte acknowledges it is necessary to set up an institution (which she says maybe named Cameroon Silicon River) that will facilitate the use of research findings for socio-economic development of the country.