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2nd RUFORUM Regional Conf: Plant Breeding

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Second RUFORUM Biennial Regional Conference

Plant Breeding

Development of improved scald tolerant barley varieties with superior enduse (malt) and nutritional quality for dry land areas of the northern Ethiopia

Combining ability among interspecific (G. hirsutum x G. barbadense) and mutation derived lines of cotton in fiber quality and agronomic traits

Exploiting genome synteny in breeding for Protein Quality and Waxiness in maize and sorghum

Genetic variation of Zambian maize inbred lines commonly used in breeding


Grain filling patterns of CIMMYT early maize inbred lines


Importance and approaches of obtaining experimental uniformity

Inheritance of resistance to bacterial blight and implication for rice improvement in Uganda

Characterization of root development in a segregating diploid banana population as a searching basis for resistance to Radopholus similis

Introgressing resistance to Fusarium root rot in selected farmer preferred Andean bean genotypes from Meso-American line and mapping of associated resistance quantitative trait loci

Evaluating the macropropagation efficiency of banana varieties preferred by farmers in Eastern and Central Kenya

Genetic effects of inbreeding on harvest index and root dry matter content in cassava

Assessing the efficacy of pyramided genes in conferring dual and durable resistance to bean anthracnose and root rot

Enhancing genetic resistance to soybean rust disease

Introgressing resistance to Turcicum leaf blight and mapping of associated quantitative trait loci in sorghum

Genetic inheritance studies and early generation marker selection in maize breeding for drought tolerance

Inheritance of resistance to rice yellow mottle virus disease in selected rice cultivars in Uganda

Genetics of resistance to bacterial leaf blight in rice germplasm in Uganda


Adaptability of rice cultivars to different ecologies in western province of Zambia

Combining ability analysis of quality protein maize (QPM) and non-PM inbred lines for kernel quality and some agronomic characteristics

Analysis of drought tolerance in selected upland rice genotypes in Uganda

Genetic diversity for resistance to larger grain borer in maize hybrids and open pollinated varieties in Kenya

Assessing effectiveness of macropropagation technology to produce healthy seedlings of banana varieties with high market demand in Eastern and Central provinces, Kenya


Combining ability and performance of maize hybrids under low nitrogen and drought stress

Pyramiding Fusarium root rot resistance genes and validation of SSR PVBR87 in common bean

Inheritance of resistance to Fusarium root rot in three common bean genotypes

Heterosis and combining abilities for multiple resistance to Turcicum leaf blight and maize streak virus

Enhancing sweetpotato resistance to African weevils (Cylas puncticollis and Cylas brunneus) through transgenic breeding

Enhancing Callus induction and embrogenic cell suspension development in East African highland banana

Efficient regeneration and transformation systems for improving resistance to weevils in Ugandan sweetpotato cultivars

Evaluation of physiological and morphological traits conferring drought tolerance in cowpea

Characterisation of genetic diversity among Sudanese sorghum accessions using molecular markers and phenotypic characteristics

Developing a broad soybean germplasm base and durable resistance to soybean rust disease in Uganda

Identification of drought related and drought responsive genes in cassava

Back to Article:  Background papers: Climate Change: Agronomy: Diseases: Pests: Plant Breeding: Natural Resource Management:

 


Second RUFORUM Biennial Regional Conference

Plant Breeding

Development of improved scald tolerant barley varieties with superior enduse (malt) and nutritional quality for dry land areas of the northern Ethiopia

Combining ability among interspecific (G. hirsutum x G. barbadense) and mutation derived lines of cotton in fiber quality and agronomic traits

Exploiting genome synteny in breeding for Protein Quality and Waxiness in maize and sorghum

Genetic variation of Zambian maize inbred lines commonly used in breeding


Grain filling patterns of CIMMYT early maize inbred lines


Importance and approaches of obtaining experimental uniformity

Inheritance of resistance to bacterial blight and implication for rice improvement in Uganda

Characterization of root development in a segregating diploid banana population as a searching basis for resistance to Radopholus similis

Introgressing resistance to Fusarium root rot in selected farmer preferred Andean bean genotypes from Meso-American line and mapping of associated resistance quantitative trait loci

Evaluating the macropropagation efficiency of banana varieties preferred by farmers in Eastern and Central Kenya

Genetic effects of inbreeding on harvest index and root dry matter content in cassava

Assessing the efficacy of pyramided genes in conferring dual and durable resistance to bean anthracnose and root rot

Enhancing genetic resistance to soybean rust disease

Introgressing resistance to Turcicum leaf blight and mapping of associated quantitative trait loci in sorghum

Genetic inheritance studies and early generation marker selection in maize breeding for drought tolerance

Inheritance of resistance to rice yellow mottle virus disease in selected rice cultivars in Uganda

Genetics of resistance to bacterial leaf blight in rice germplasm in Uganda


Adaptability of rice cultivars to different ecologies in western province of Zambia

Combining ability analysis of quality protein maize (QPM) and non-PM inbred lines for kernel quality and some agronomic characteristics

Analysis of drought tolerance in selected upland rice genotypes in Uganda

Genetic diversity for resistance to larger grain borer in maize hybrids and open pollinated varieties in Kenya

Assessing effectiveness of macropropagation technology to produce healthy seedlings of banana varieties with high market demand in Eastern and Central provinces, Kenya


Combining ability and performance of maize hybrids under low nitrogen and drought stress

Pyramiding Fusarium root rot resistance genes and validation of SSR PVBR87 in common bean

Inheritance of resistance to Fusarium root rot in three common bean genotypes

Heterosis and combining abilities for multiple resistance to Turcicum leaf blight and maize streak virus

Enhancing sweetpotato resistance to African weevils (Cylas puncticollis and Cylas brunneus) through transgenic breeding

Enhancing Callus induction and embrogenic cell suspension development in East African highland banana

Efficient regeneration and transformation systems for improving resistance to weevils in Ugandan sweetpotato cultivars

Evaluation of physiological and morphological traits conferring drought tolerance in cowpea

Characterisation of genetic diversity among Sudanese sorghum accessions using molecular markers and phenotypic characteristics

Developing a broad soybean germplasm base and durable resistance to soybean rust disease in Uganda

Identification of drought related and drought responsive genes in cassava

Back to Article:  Background papers: Climate Change: Agronomy: Diseases: Pests: Plant Breeding: Natural Resource Management:

 

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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