MAREN Launches National Repository to Elevate Malawian Research to Global Platforms

For many Malawian researchers, the challenge has never been the absence of valuable work—but rather ensuring that their findings reach global audiences. Important studies across agriculture, public health, climate resilience, education, and technology often remain confined within individual institutions, limiting their visibility and wider impact.

To address this long-standing gap, the Malawi Research and Education Network (MAREN) has launched a national initiative to make Malawian scholarship more discoverable, connected, and preserved. With support from DataCite’s Global Access Fund, MAREN has established a national research repository system – under the domain https://edurepo.maren.ac.mw/ – that enables institutions to share, manage, and safeguard their research outputs on an internationally recognized platform.

Commenting on the initiative, MAREN’s Projects and Partnerships Coordinator, Ulemu Maseko, highlighted the importance of the initiative for the country’s academic landscape. “This project is about putting Malawian research on the global map and ensuring that knowledge generated locally contributes to solving global challenges,” she said.

The new federated repository allows institutions to maintain their own research collections while benefiting from a shared national infrastructure. Additionally, the system ensures that local research outputs meet internationally accepted metadata and preservation standards.

The repository supports a wide range of content, including:

1. Theses and dissertations
2. Journal articles and conference papers
3. Research data and datasets
4. Technical reports and policy briefs
5. Creative works and other institutional outputs

By being integrated to DataCite, the system will allow institutions to assign Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) to research outputs, improving global discoverability and long-term access. The move is expected to strengthen Malawi’s visibility within international research networks and create new opportunities for collaboration.

MAREN plans to expand the repository to include additional research institutions by end of 2026, broadening national participation and deepening the country’s research footprint. As the network grows, MAREN anticipates measurable improvements in research visibility, digital reach, and public understanding of its role in advancing Malawi’s knowledge economy.