The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
The First Lady, @JanetMuseveni also appreciated the creativity and level skilling exhibited by students from the Department of Performing Arts and Film. These were led by the Head of Department, Prof. Sylvia A. Nannyonga – Tamusuza. pic.twitter.com/Qk9p5jNzgV
— Makerere University (@MakerereU) April 23, 2018
125 PHD students benefit
Speaking at the same convention, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi, the Director, Directorate of Research and Graduate Training at Makerere University, said the university has benefited through the collaboration through human resource development, ICT support, Library Resources.
“In the current cooperation agreement alone, with a total grant of about 275 million SEK, we have been able to support 17 research teams from the Uganda Public Universities to improve the environment for research and training,” said Prof. Buyinza. Adding that “the current agreement supports 125 PhD students, 147 Master Students, and 65 post-doc-fellows divided between the five public universities.”
Research endeavors funded by Sweden have contributed to policy formulation at various levels including; The Energy Policy for Uganda; the policy on use of energy saving bulbs, land amendment bill, and various health policies in health such as on HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB treatment and control among others.
Despite the successes, Prof. Buyinza said universities continue to face several challenges, particularly lack of adequate financing; “it is evident that there is a comparatively low level of support for basic research and as a result the research-industrial-economic growth nexus is being impeded if not compromised.”
Nawangwe hails SIDA progamme
The University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, said the Sida Bilateral research programme is credited for the transformation of Makerere University colleges in terms of supporting staff development, which he says has transformed the academic landscape.
“Practically every college at Makerere University has benefited from Sida bilateral research programme. Out of the 716 PhD holders at Makerere University, 226 have been trained under this programme and almost all of them including the director graduate training have been promoted to higher academic ranks,” Prof. Nawangwe said.
This research convention offers a platform for multi-disciplinary knowledge exchange between researchers in Uganda and Sweden. The Makerere-Sweden Bilateral Research Cooperation was initiated in 2000 and has expanded to Kyambogo, Busitema, Gulu Universities and Mbarara University of Science and Technology.
The Swedish government has invested $100million into Uganda’s graduate training and scientific research over the last 17 years championed by Makerere University. The event was attended by the Ambassador of Sweden to Uganda Per Landgarde, Dr. Gity Behvaran, the First Secretary and Senior Research Advisor at the Embassy of Sweden in Uganda, ministry of education and sports officials plus other public universities.
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