The institutional collaboration between Makerere University and the University of Bergen in Norway; has once again registered a historic achievement.

The institutional collaboration between Makerere University and the University of Bergen in Norway; has once again registered a historic achievement.

Over the years, the institutional collaboration has strongly contributed to development of research and human resources through capacity building programmes.

To further maximize the benefit of this institutional collaboration, Makerere University and the University of Bergen have started an academic journey leading to the award of joint PhD and degree programmes.

The two Universities shall identify the beneficiaries under this joint programme; and participate in training, mentoring and supervision in order to produce a quality and relevant graduate. Dr. Grace Ndeezi , Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Makerere University College of Health Sciences has been identified as one of the beneficiaries effective 2010.

Professor Venansius Baryamureeba, the Acting Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, and Professor Astri Andresen, the Vice Rector of the University of Bergen, signed the Joint PhD and Degree Cooperation Agreement November 19, 2009 as an Addendum to the 15-year- Makerere-University of Bergen Frame Agreement (1999-2014).

Since its approval, the 15 year collaboration agreement (1999-2014) has greatly enriched the academia in form of staff and student exchange programmes; joint research programmes; and joint scholarly publications.

Speaking at the occasion, the Vice Rector, Professor Astri Andresen stressed that institutional agreements are not entered into easily. She was impressed that this Frame Agreement had productive works and had continued to be a success. She was optimistic that it would continue to unfold new projects and venture into new areas of research.

Prof. Baryamureeba, who also completed his Masters at the University of Bergen, was overjoyed that this institutional collaboration was still ongoing. Prof. Baryamureeba advised that in addition to encouraging women to embark on PhD studies, the programme should also focus on empowering women in research.

“We need to dig deeper to understand the relationship between gender and other issues in the environment for instance we need to win the support of men/ husbands in advancement of women in research,” he said.

The signing of the Joint PhD and Degree Cooperation Agreement was the climax of the two-day Makerere University-UiB collaboration evaluation meeting held on November 18-19, 2009 at Nile Resort in Jinja .

Prof. Edward Kirumira, the Coordinator of the Makerere University-University of Bergen project, said the evaluation is conducted every five years in order to maximize the benefits of the institutional collaboration.

The evaluation meeting, which involved participants from internationally recognized higher education institutions and bodies, staff and students who have had past and on-going activities under this collaboration unanimously, agreed that in order to develop further collaboration for the betterment of all partners, Makerere University should be the centre of network collaborations. The participants noted that Makerere University was well-positioned in terms of the experience in administration and management gained over the years. Also, it had the infrastructure and human resources to support the collaboration.

Prof. Kirumira , who was visibly excited over the success of the Mak-UiB collaboration, said: “This marks the time to prepare the documentation for continued collaboration. We shall focus on bringing in more partners. We shall reposition the collaboration to provide more services to the region.”

He challenged the participants to strategise on how to integrate the experience gained during the 10 years of the collaboration (1999-2009) into the University operations.

Article by Ritah Namisango