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i@MAK officially lanches 19 new publications

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The Innovations at Makerere Committee (I@Mak.com) has since 2001 implemented a capacity building programme for decentralization at Makerere University Kampala. The main focus of this committee is to promote innovations in teaching and research to make university education more relevant to the country’s changing needs, especially relating to service delivery under the decentralization policy.

The Innovations at Makerere Committee (I@Mak.com) has since 2001 implemented a capacity building programme for decentralization at Makerere University Kampala. The main focus of this committee is to promote innovations in teaching and research to make university education more relevant to the country’s changing needs, especially relating to service delivery under the decentralization policy.

One of the key strategies adopted to achieve the overall program goal was to promote publishing among the academic staff at Makerere University and other partnering institutions. A lot of knowledge and information relevant to society is generated within Higher Education Institutions, and needs to be appropriately disseminated for public consumption. Through publication, this knowledge would be made accessible to many people outside academia.

Consequently, a Publications Board was established as a Sub Committee of I@Mak.com , to promote scholarly writing and publishing initially among the staff and students of partnering institutions. The Board Mr. James Tumusiime MD Fountain Publishers & C/Man Publicatoins Boardhas since published over 40 books through a public private partnership with M/s Fountain Publishers Limited, a leading local publishing firm. A peer reviewed Journal titled Makerere University Research Journal (MURJ) has also since been introduced and five issues published thus far. On Friday, 11th December 2009, the committee launched 19 peer reviewed books at a lively ceremony held at the Makerere University Guest House gardens.

Mr. James Tumusiime MD, Fountain publishers and Chairman I@Mak.com Publications Board in his opening remarks appreciated the role played by the partnership between Makerere Univesity and the private sector in fostering the dissemination of knowledge especially through publishing. He also appreciated the role of the Revitalization Committee for the Makerere University Press (MUP) aimed at reviving the University’s publishing arm.

Dr. Nakanyike B. MusisiA few of the authors present then proceeded to make brief statements on the books to be launched. Dr. Nakanyike B. Musisi, author of three titles “What is Critical Thinking?”, “What is Academic Writing?” and “What is Plagiarism?” acknowledged the role played by members of her family and the Publications Board in encouraging her to author the aforementioned titles. Another author of the day Dr. Seggane Musisi, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the College of Health Sciences and co-author of “Psychiatric Problems of HIV/AIDS and their Management in Africa” further stressed the need for Academics to publish their findings.

Prof. Kyamanywa, Dean, Faculty of AgricultureRepresenting the Vice Chancellor Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba on the occasion, Prof. Samuel Kyamanywa Dean, Faculty of Agriculture lauded the role played by I@Mak.com and the Publications Board in particular for supporting the realization of a key goal of the University’s strategic plan, publishing research outputs adding that “This would undoubtedly give full thrust to the mission of our university, to provide innovative teaching, learning, research and services responsive to National and Global needs” He further emphasized that the University exits to generate new knowledge and innovations, which must be adequately disseminated through publication.

The Guest of Honor Prof. A.B. Kasozi, Executive Director, National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) who represented the Prime Minister Prof. Apollo Nsibambi welcomed all present to the publications’ launch and highlighted of the I@Mak.com project implementations to date including supporting the annual Vice Prof. A.B. Kasozi, Executive Director, National Council for Higher EducationChancellor’s Awards for innovation and academic excellence to promote innovativeness amongst pilot local governments and academic staff in partnering higher education institutions. The annual local government innovations award worth USD 30,000, has been awarded four (4) times and the academic excellence and innovations award worth USD 25,000, awarded five (5) times.

He then commended the excellent work done by the Publications Board in partnership with the Private Sector represented by MS Fountain Publishers Limited. The Board has produced over 40 publications in less than four years. He then thanked the development partners Rockefeller Foundation and the World Bank for their role in supporting Makerere University to play a significant role in National service delivery, before proceeding to officially launch the books and sign copies for all the titles’ authors.

Mr. Samwiri Katunguka, Task Manager, I@Mak.comMr. Samwiri Katunguka, Task Manager, I@Mak.com and emcee of the day then read an excerpt from the book ‘Uganda’s human resource challenge: Training, Business Culture and Economic Development, by Jörg Wiegratz , a political Scientist and Economist by training, who is a Research Associate with the Economic Policy Research Centre at Makerere University and has taught at Makerere University and the University of Sheffield .

 

Read the full VC's Speech here

Read the full Guest of Honour's Speech here

 Click here to read the full excerpt by Jorg Wiegratz 

Full list of Publications launched below 

1. Kiswahili Pupils' and Teachers' Books 5, 6 & 7 Total 6 books by John C. Nsookwa  

2. Beekeeping – Theory and Practice by D.R. Kugonza  

3. Pigs: A guide to Production at Farm Level by D. Mutetikka

4. Okuganyulwa Mu Bulunzi Bw'embizzi by D. Mutetikka and D.R. Kugonza 

5. Fish Farming as a Business J. Rutaisire et. al.  

6. What is Plagiarism? What is Academic Writing? What is Critical Thinking Total 3 titles by Nakanyike B. Musisi and Edgar C. Taylor 

7. Principles of Agronomy: Challenges and Prospects for Higher Crop Yield by Charles Ssekabembe  

8. Realities of Interpersonal Relations Among Politicians and Technocrats Under Decentralisation in Uganda by Peter Claver Matovu 

9. Psychiatric Problems of HIV/AIDS and their Management in Africa by Seggane Musisi, Eugene Kinyanda et al 

10. Uganda's Human Resource Challenge – Training, Business Culture and Economic Development by Joerg Wietgratz et al 

11. Choosing a Career and Finding a Job in Agriculture by B. Bashaasha and Elizabeth Basalirwa 

12. Food and Nutrition Essentials by John H. Muyonga et al. 

 

Denis Wamala

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Special Exam Results -Diploma in Performing Arts 2025/26

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The results for the 2025/2026 special entry examination for the Diploma in Performing Arts held on Saturday 17th May, 2025. Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the Examination and have been recommended to the university’s Admissions Committee for consideration.

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Mature Age Scheme Exam Results for 2025/2026

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The Office of Academic Registrar, Makerere University has released full results for the Mature Age Entry Scheme Examinations for the Academic Year 2025/2026 held on Saturday 14th December, 2024.

The Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the examination and have been recommended by the Pre-Entry & Mature Age Committee to the University’s Admissions Board for Consideration.

The Aptitude Exam  Results for 2025/2026 Academic Year released in February 2025 can be found here.

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Call for Application: 2025 SNRM session 4 Summer School

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Participants in focused group discussions. Leiden-Delft-Erasmus East Africa Research Network (LEARN) in collaboration with the Urban Action Lab at Makerere University a workshop to deliberate strategies for mitigating the impacts of climate change in urban centres in the East African Region, Theme: “Resilient Urban Futures: Adapting Livelihoods to Climate Change”, 4th-5th September 2024, School of Public Health Auditorium, Kampala Uganda.

Context:
Natural resources in Africa are being depleted at an alarming rate due to several factors, including unsustainable human activities, climate change, and population growth. A primary condition of sustainable development is to ensure that the pressures do not exceed the environmental limits, and that demand for the resources does not exceed levels that can be sustainably provided by nature. Therefore, there is a pressing need for transformative, systems-thinking approaches and tools that can tackle the diverse challenges facing these systems. In Africa, this need is compounded by a lack of data and monitoring, which significantly hinders sustainable decision-making.

Investing in young scientists who are committed to take lead in sustainable management of Africa’s natural resources is very important. Capacity building of young scientists will enhance their knowledge and skill on sustainable natural resources and their involvement for implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDG’s) in Africa. To this effect, SNRM summer schools have been implemented in three sessions in 2019, 2020, and 2022 with support from Volkswagen Foundation; to build a critical mass of skilled and competent young natural resource scientists in Africa through training, capacity building and mentorship. Session 4 (2025) will target competent young scientists (MSc and PhD students) in Africa and Germany to further develop their knowledge and skills in systems thinking, advanced data collection and analysis, and application of emerging digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), internet of things (IoT), and embracing transdisciplinary approaches. In addition, we include an ideation workshop where students can work on real problems to come up with solutions for sustainable transformations in natural resource use.

Organizers: Leibniz Universität – Hannover (Germany), University of Antananarivo, University of Abomey Calavi (Benin), Makerere University (Uganda), University of Ghana (Ghana), University of Parakou (Benin), The Technical University of Kenya, with financial support from the Volkswagen Foundation (Germany).

Venue and dates: Nairobi, Kenya, 16-28 November 2025

Target: MSc and PhD students, early in the program of less than 35 years of age from any university/research institution in either sub-Saharan Africa or Germany with an interest in natural resources management.

Participants and Scholarships: The course is fully funded and open to 20 MSc and PhD students from Africa, and 5 from Germany. Funding will cover the costs of air ticket, accommodation, meals, visa, and transportation. However, participants will cover the cost of their travel health insurance.

Topics

SNRM Summer School Session 4: Transformative pathways in biodiversity management and conservation.
This summer school is designed to deliver four modules over a two-week period. The modules are designed to enable the students to acquire new ways of designing data collection protocols and analysis for transformative sustainable natural resources management.

Module 4.1: Data collection I
Skills in data collection for a transformative and sustainable management of natural resources (water, wildlife, forest, land, livestock, crops) monitoring and data collection techniques; remote monitoring tools, earth observation system data, e.g. satellite data sources, LIDAR, and UAV aerial images. Collect and analyse In-situ data on biotic and abiotic parameters, map and analyse data using R or Google Earth Engine, field data collection and retrieving data from online databases.

Module 4.2 Data management and processing
Introduction to tools and methods of managing large and diverse data sets of natural resources such as time series, spatial, directional, and multivariate data. Practicals will include data storage, organization and conversion into various formats using databases such as PostgreSQL and statistical programming software such as R and Python; scripts.

Module 4.3 Ecological monitoring, modelling and management
This module aims to teach participants how to anticipate and validate trends that can be observed in various ecosystems. Lectures include ecological monitoring and its design; population monitoring studies; metrics in population monitoring; methods for monitoring and assessing marine ecosystems; human ecology to socio-ecological systems; climate change impact of ecosystems; suitability assessments; overview of the principles underlying wildlife monitoring and prediction systems for climate change adaptation. Practicals will include field data collection (individual and group); ecological data analysis using R or PAST; modelling and experiencing the behaviour of complex systems using Vensim.

Module 4.4 Natural habitat restoration ideation lab
This module is designed to spur students’ innovation and creativity, and to help students comprehensively identify interdependencies across the 17 SDG goals. Participants will be trained on ideation processes for solutions and intervention for transformative natural resource management. They will work collaboratively in small groups on case studies and develop pathways of transformative sustainable natural resource management. Examples of projects include forest (mangrove) ecosystem and habitat restoration, improved technologies for agricultural production, nature-based solutions for improving water quality, and reversing land degradation.

Language: The course will be delivered in English. Participants are expected to be fluent in writing and speaking the English language.

How to apply

Applicants are kindly requested to fill in the application form available from https://snrmafrica.com/ and submit the following documents in English through the system.

  • a curriculum vitae (maximum 2 pages)
  • a letter of motivation (maximum 1 page)
  • a confirmation of university enrolment
  • a reference letter from the academic supervisor
  • project summary of MSc/ PhD project (1 page including objectives, methodology
    and key findings or expected outcomes).

Important dates
Application deadline: 30th June 2025.
Announcement of accepted applicants: 15th August 2025.
Confirmation of attendance by selected participants: 12th Sept 2025.
Summer school held: 16 – 28 Nov 2025.

Further information is available from

The secretariat info@snrmafrica.com
Dr Lydia Olaka lydiaolaka@tukenya.ac.ke
Prof. Dr. Hartmut Stuetzel stuetzel@gem.uni-hannover.de

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