Interview

I Earned My PhD Through Hard Work, Tenacity & Sacrifice

 -Dr. Nsaibirni Robert Fondze, Dr. of Computer Science

Wednesday 24 April 2019 was not an ordinary day for Nsaibirni Robert Fondze Jr, and perhaps, his siblings and loved ones. This was the day the lad from Nso, defended his PhD in Computer Science at the University of Yaounde 1. It was the first PhD defense by an English speaking student since the inception of the University in 1961. For decades running, the department of Computer Science had been a veritable slaughter house for English speaking students. It is perhaps why we of The Median Newspaper consider Dr. Robert Fondze’s PhD as a feat. And we could not be indifferent to the incredible achievement. Reason why our editor, Ayukogem Steven Ojong took time off and caught-up with the latest PhD in town to scoop his impressions. His remarks make for interesting read. Here are excerpts.

**Congratulation Doctor on your brilliant PhD Defense.

Dr. Nsaibirni Robert Fondze Jr. (now Doctor), shares his joy as title of PhD is confered on him by very emminent Varsity Dons in the jury, including Prof. Maurice Tchuente, Prof. Fouda Ndjodo Marcel and Prof. Agustini Alexandra among others.

Thank you very much. It was a very tough road but I am happy that it all came to an end and a brilliant end for that matter. I am very happy and I hope that my defending a PhD in Computer Science will serve as motivation to the younger ones coming behind.

**It is not every day that you hear of a PhD defense in Computer Science at Ngoa-Ekelle. It certainly was an uphill climb you had.

It was in fact an uphill climb. PhD defenses at the Faculty of Science and especially the Computer Science department are rare. But there have been a few in the past decade. We have had at least 4 PhD defenses at the faculty of Science in the past few years. PhD research is a very difficult process not necessarily because the courses are difficult, but because of the difficult working environment. Most often the PhD candidate does not have the needed resources to do the research. PhD research is supposed to be a full time job. It is supposed to be at least a three-year engagement that you take to improve knowledge in a particular domain. Unfortunately in Cameroon we don’t have the kind of resources that can permit for this. So as a PhD student you have to think out of the box to be able to make things happen. You have to provide for yourself in carrying out your research and make sure you finish the work within the stipulated deadline. In my case I was lucky to get into contact with Centre Pasteur du Cameroon. I worked under a partnership that was created between the Department of Computer Sciences, University of Yaounde I, and Centre Pasteur. It is always paramount to get the resources needed to carry out a PhD research. Usually a PhD research is not done by a single person in a single laboratory. You need to forge partnerships. You need to travel around and know how things are done elsewhere. You need to work with other people who are in the same domain; you need to see how science has evolved in the field you are trying to get into; you need to attend conferences; you need to discuss with people who have grown in the field. All these activities need lots and lots of resources.

**So how did your own research proceed?

-I should say there was an invisible hand that was pulling me along. I did my research for the Masters Degree at the Centre Pasteur du Cameroun. At the time there were some researchers who had come on a visit and I was called to do a presentation on the work that I did in my Masters. After the presentation they asked if I would like to continue with the research. They said they would be ready to provide me with some resources if I was ready to continue with the research. I jumped for the opportunity and the result is what we are celebrating today.

**You certainly are the first Anglophone to earn a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Yaounde I. You must have faced some challenges?

-Certainly! I faced a lot of challenges especially during my initial years at the University. You may want to know that I did all my University education at Ngoa-Ekelle (Uni-Yao I) and in the beginning it was very tough. I was studying a very technical subject in a language that I did not master. But as time went on it became natural and easy. I quickly understood the environment and the people around me. I must emphasize that it is very important to first understand the system because in University studies you don’t only pass because you have the knowledge but also because you understand the system and the environment. At the University of Yaounde I, success does not depend on research on the internet but on your participation in class work. If you skip classes hoping to read your lecture notes and pass, then you are mistaken. You will fail. Here teachers test you on your understanding of their lectures and not on their notes. In Ngoa-Ekelle they evaluate you on your mastery of the system and not on your mastery of the course work.

**So what did you research on and what findings did you arrive at?

I researched on medical informatics (Health Information Systems). I researched on disease outbreak surveillance and monitoring. I had worked for some time in health services and I discovered that sometimes we are faced with problems that the existing computer softwares are unable to deal with. At times when you go to the field to monitor an outbreak of a disease or to monitor a population for some disease, you discover that people want to do things in a certain way. Meanwhile, the available software does not recognize the method. So at times you just put the software aside and continue working. But without the appropriate software it can be very difficult to have visibility over the actions that are taken place. So, we asked ourselves, what if we provide people with software that is adapted to their method of doing things; that will force them to work better and to express themselves better. So that’s how my topic came about. I think we are happy with the research we did and the result obtained. We came up with a new model for monitoring disease outbreaks. You may want to know that the acceptance rate of our model in the scientific community is overwhelming. And this has led us to forge new partnerships.

**So, what next after this PhD. Do you immerse yourself into academia or you’ll sell your expertise in the wider world of business and technology?

-I think that the one does not exclude the other. I would not want to be purely an academician. I would want to have one leg in professional work and another leg in research work. I realize that it has not always worked when one just sits in a laboratory and proffer solutions to problems out there. You need to go to the field, work with the people, know their needs and provide workable solutions for them. So I would keep a leg in the industry (health industry) and also continue with research.

**Any advice for students especially Anglophone student who may want to do a PhD in Computer Science at Ngoa-Ekelle?

-They should know that the University of Yaounde I has a success method which is group work. They should bear in mind that the English sub-system of education is quite different from what obtains at Ngoa-Ekelle. So it is normal that you’ll face difficulties at the beginning. But once you succeed to identify a good study group and interact with them, things will start going naturally. So, I advice them that once they get enrolled they should identify very brilliant Francophone friends and work together with them. The language is difficult only in the beginning. But if you are serious and you go through the first semester or the first year, it becomes so easy and natural. I should say survival in Ngoa-Ekelle is a matter of hard work, tenacity and sacrifice. It may interest you to know that for all throughout my first degree course I missed only one lecture. So you can understand the sacrifice.

**Thanks Doctor for accepting to talk to us.

Thank you very much. It was my pleasure. I hope that what I said would help to motivate some young people.