General
MAK-CARTA workshop Day One examines Research Governance in Africa
Over 100 participants from Universities/institutions in Africa are being trained and equipped with knowledge and skills in research management and governance, supervision and mentoring of graduate students, librarianship and use of information technology tools.
According to Professor Mukadasi Buyinza, the Director Research and Graduate Training (RGT), Makerere University, the three-day Capacity Development Training Workshop for University Faculty and Administrators, which kicked off on 21st July 2014, is aimed at supporting research and postgraduate programmes in African universities.
The Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) is a South-South partnership with South-North collaboration. CARTA is jointly-led by the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), Kenya and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), South Africa. It consists of nine African universities, four African research institutes and seven northern academic institutions.
The participating universities include: Makerere University– Uganda, Moi University and University of Nairobi-Kenya, National University of Rwanda-Rwanda, Obafemi Awolowo University-Nigeria, University of Dar-es-Salaam-Tanzania, University of Ibadan-Nigeria, and University of Witwatersrand-South Africa.
In a speech read by the Deputy Director-Research, RGT, Dr. George William Nasinyama, the Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, Professor John Ddumba-Ssentamu welcomed the delegates and thanked the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) for choosing Makerere University to host the 5th Faculty and Administrators Workshop.
The Vice Chancellor applauded CARTA for undertaking several strategies to promote research in Africa. “I am happy to note that through the CARTA initiative of strengthening doctoral training and supervision and support to the institutional research infrastructure, universities will build high-quality research capacity that will ably address the myriad issues facing Africa,” he remarked.
The Vice Chancellor urged the participants to live true to the ideals of the CARTA Programme by transferring the same principles to their respective universities and research institutions so as to build a critical mass of researchers.
The CARTA Board Chairperson, Professor Akinyinka Omigbodun added that CARTA was committed to building the capacity of existing staff in research management and governance, strengthening the research infrastructure at African universities, and to supporting doctoral training through a model collaborative PhD program in population and public health.
“CARTA’s ultimate goal is to build local research capacity to understand the determinants of health in Africa and develop effective interventions to improve health systems and outcomes. We have supported over 100 post graduate students in research training. We have also trained over 400 academic and administrative staff in member institutions. This year we are going to award 25 full scholarships in research, covering full tuition and a free computer well updated with the necessary software,” said Professor Akinyinka Omigbodun.
Dr. Nasinyama , the Deputy Director Research, RGT reiterated the need to build an enabling environment for research. “If we are to realize the strategic focus of being research driven universities, I encourage every participant to always emphasize the dire need for universities and development partners to invest in research support infrastructures in universities,” he emphasized.
During the Monday 21st July 2014 group discussion, participants were tasked to come up with strategies that would position their respective universities among the top 100 public health institutions in the world. This brainstorming session delivered the ten (10) most critical interventions for raising university research rating/ranking as listed here below:
- Conducting research relevant to the country and world
- Providing incentives within a research structure;
- Training for researchers;
- Undertaking Inter-disciplinary collaboration;
- Global networking with more successful institutions;
- Collaboration with industry;
- Encourage Government to promote research;
- Transitional research;
- Increasing intake of postgraduate students; and
- Dissemination of research findings and outputs
Facilitating the plenary session, Dr. Joseph Gichuru, Director of Operations, APHRC commended the participants for generating ideas that would enable their respective institutions to be recognised among the top 100 in the world. During his presentation on research management and governance, which focused on the quality of research, funding and power relations, emerging research management structures, Dr. Gichuru emphasized the need to consider the challenges faced by researchers in trying to execute their work globally.
“It is after we have known the challenges we face as researchers that we can be able to figure out the best ways on how we can take our countries to the global standard in research,” he said.
Dr. Gichuru pointed out that the issue of plagiarism was the key challenge affecting researchers, in addition to, inadequate resources, failure to accredit our fellow researchers, and inaccurate policies to regulate research structures.
Article by: Ritah Namisango, Public Relations Office
Photos by: Elias Tuhereze, Public Relations Office
The Senior Program Director, Higher Education and Research in Africa, International Program, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Prof. Omotade Akin Aina on 23rd May 2025 visited Makerere University during his short trip to Kampala. Prof. Aina was received on behalf of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe by Prof. Tony Oyana, Principal of the College of Computing and Information Sciences (CoCIS).
During his visit, Prof. Aina met with the Project Implementation Committee, representatives from the Consolidating Early Career Academics Programme (CECAP) phase I Fellowship Cohort, and current Fellows of phase II. The meeting discussed the progress of CECAP II, which focuses on fostering academic development and research among early-career academics.
CECAP II is being implemented by Makerere University in collaboration with four other Ugandan public universities, including; Busitema University, Gulu University, Kyambogo University and Mbarara University of Science and Technology. Prof. Mukadasi Buyinza, the Project Principal Investigator was represented at the meeting by the Director of Graduate Training, Prof. Julius Kikooma.
By Moses Lutaaya
The Directorate of Graduate Training at Makerere University has equipped several Senior ranking lecturers with expert knowledge in a Training of Trainers’ workshop on “Philosophy of Methods”.
In his remarks at the opening of a 3-day training workshop at Level4 Conference Hall – Senate Building, the Director of Graduate Training Prof. Julius Kikooma said, “The teaching of Philosophy of Methods gives all participants the fundamentals to extend knowledge to other learners, hence its importance in upholding the Makerere University values.”
Kikooma urged and challenged the participants to also attend and actively participate in the follow up of learners’ training of students, stating that the PhD students need support as the directorate continues to coordinate the curriculum of PhD by-research that was approved by the senate recently.
“To holistically implement the senate approved PhD curriculum, we are coordinating capacity building trainings of all stake holders in a structured approach with the different units of the University. Many more trainings including Training of Trainers in advanced research methods course are on the way.”
He further urged the participants to be intentional in their teaching profession and in whatever they were doing, adding “Apart from focusing on practices as teachers and researchers, we can engage in wider philosophical debates in our research areas so that we are relevant in the society and in the empowerment of PhD research students.”
The participants for the Philosophy of Methods training were from College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Education and External Studies, Makerere University Business School among others.
During the same training, Dr. Dickson Kanakulya stressed the need to train senior lecturers in the Philosophy of Methods, saying, “The biggest connection is that societal problems require concrete research to find solutions. Our challenge in Africa is that we employ a short barrow approach to find solutions to problems. This cannot work. We need consistent researchers to solve problems. Lasting solutions to societal issues can only be got through training such as Philosophy of Methods, where researchers come up with new models for societal solutions.”
Dr. Kanakulya said that Makerere University remains the biggest research University in Africa and philosophy of Methods helps to come up with good research tools that produce good research outputs. “Research has shown that the higher the number of PhD researchers in any given country, the higher the levels of development of that country e.g. the USA, China etc., adding that research is not limited to only medicinal or agricultural related issues.”
He said philosophy of methods, encourages philosophical creativity in research, “It is meant to bring out philosophical generation of concepts, theories and ideas. It is meant to encourage students to question the existing philosophical assumptions and status quo in a given field of knowledge such that new philosophical concepts are created.”
For successful rollout of government programs like the National Development Plan 4, Dr. Kanakulya said that Philosophy of Methods training needs to be integrated into such systems. “Philosophy of Methods focuses on ethical thinking aspects. For example, for a better rollout of the Parish Development Model, we need implementers to be ethical.” He added.
Prof. Sulait Tumwiine, the associate Dean of Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at MUBS said, “This is a discussion where new ideas are shared to guide and gauge applicability in the current knowledge diversity coupled with lots of technological development including Artificial Intelligence and Chat GPT.”
He added, “As professors of Universities, we need to understand how we leverage on what comes up so that it does not take our space, but also appreciate how we can support growth of knowledge. The Philosophy of Methods training is the answer.”
Dr. Jim Spire Ssentongo highlighted that Philosophy uses more of the critical mind than Science. He added that philosophy is more of speculation of the mind.
“Sustainability of philosophy Education encourages us to continue training. Philosophy being the oldest discipline retained special status in the academia as a pinnacle of pursuit of knowledge. All disciplines have major elements of philosophy citing examples in the philosophy of Mathematics and Physics.
Dr. Spire added, “If you do not understand philosophy, you cannot deeply investigate anything because philosophy is the reality of understanding everything. Philosophy is the basis of understanding what knowledge is and how it is arrived at.”
Also participating in the workshop was Prof. Joseph Ntaayi from MUBS, in his remarks he said PhD students need the philosophy of methods training to understand how to best to create knowledge. He added that ontological and epistemological questions that lead to good research design methods can only be answered by this training.
Dr. Robert Kakuru, a Lecturer in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences said that the Philosophy of Methods training is needed by every graduate student as well as supervisors to critically determine the choice of methods to use in academic research. For example, “If one wants to use a questionnaire as an interview approach, one should understand, why that approach and yet without this training, the why cannot be answered.” He added.
The Philosophy of Methods training was organized by Directorate of Graduate Training with funding support from the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA).
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