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A Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Ivan Addae-Mensah, has outlined a number of steps which must be taken to stimulate research in tertiary institutions in the country. These steps, according to him, would sharpen the competitiveness of these institutions and they would play their roles as creators of knowledge to foster growth and development. He said those steps included the establishment of comprehensive national research policies to guide research in addition to the collaboration of all stakeholders who should play their respective roles while the government took a leadership position. Conference Professor Addae-Mensah was speaking at the seventh annual international applied research conference of the Koforidua Polytechnic in the Eastern Region. The three-day conference was on the theme: "Research, technology and innovation for sustainable development in Ghana". He said countries that had benefited from research had invested heavily in research infrastructure such as state-of-the-art laboratories, libraries and appropriate equipment and tools for research and added that "research should attract the required attention and investment in the country.� Research endowment funds "Research endowment funds and innovative or competitive funds should be established to promote institutional and individual research on competitive basis, based on agreed criteria and transparent system of selection, monitoring and evaluation. Such funds should be competitive and not cosmetic and must be available to faculty in both public and private institutions to promote multi-disciplinary synergies," he added. Professor Addae-Mensah suggested that faculties should be provided to step up postgraduate training, particularly in science and technology as a basis for developing the future generation of academics. It could cost between $30000 and $100,000 per annum to train one student for four years up to PHD level in a reputable American or European University. �The cost of training four of such students could easily equip one chemistry or physics or engineering laboratory to train up to 100 PHD students over several years before such equipment is due for renewal," he said. He urged the government to put science, research and innovation at the heart of economic policy by using results from research to implement policy in every sector of the economy. The Chief Executive of the Ghana Minerals Commission, Dr Anthony Aubynn, was happy that technology had brought about a lot of developments to the world. The Rector of Koforidua Polytechnic, Professor Reynolds Okai, thanked all stakeholders who helped in making the conference a success.