Research with purpose: Contributing to the Optentia Usiba Writing Retreat

I recently contributed to the 2026 Optentia Usiba Writing Retreat, a multidisciplinary gathering designed to support postgraduate students and researchers across the research journey.

My contribution focused on strengthening the real-world relevance of postgraduate research in an AI-assisted era. I encouraged researchers to examine their work at an operational level by asking a few direct questions: What are you writing? Who are you writing for? Why are you writing it? Where will the knowledge be shared, and how might it be used?

These questions help move research beyond outputs and towards practice that communities can genuinely feel. Research impact also extends beyond what can be counted. It includes the qualitative and textured effects of scholarship on people, institutions and society.

I also emphasised the researcher’s continuing responsibility as the human in the loop. Technology can support and extend our capabilities, but researchers must remain thoughtful, purposeful and accountable for how they use it and whom their work ultimately serves.

Watch my contribution from 08:28 in the Optentia Usiba Writing Retreat video.