Connect with us

General

Mak Launches Zoonotic Disease Management Capacity Building Project

Published

on

Makerere University’s Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs (DVC AA) has today officiated at the launch of a project that will see the Institution take lead in building capacity in Zoonotic Disease Management. The CAPAZOMANINTECO project will use an integrated ecosystem health approach to manage human diseases of animal origin such as Ebola in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Speaking at the launch, the DVC AA, Dr. Ernest Okello Ogwang appreciated the support given to Makerere University by the Norwegian Government.The CAPAZOMANINTECO project is one of the 9 projects funded by the Norwegian Program for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development (NORHED) at Makerere University.

NORHED aims at increasing higher education and capacity building in low and middle income countries to increase incomes and reduce poverty.

Spearheaded by the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity (CoVAB), CAPAZOMANINTECO is a collaborative effort of 4 universities: University of Zambia, University of Barl El Gazal (South Sudan), Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Makerere University, which is also the grant recipient.

L-R: DVCAA-Dr. Ernest Okello Ogwang, Project Coordinator NMBU-Prof. Eystein Skjerve and Deputy Principal CoVAB-Dr. Jessica Nakavuma at the CAPAZOMANINTECO Project Launch, CoVABDr. Okello Ogwang saluted the country management team for the concerns in terms of public health raised by this project, which he said, “bring all of us together."

According to Dr. Clovice Kankya, the Project Coordinator Makerere University, the project will improve the health and wellbeing of people in the participating countries of Uganda, Zambia and South Sudan through strengthening education and research.

Dr. Jessica Nakavuma, Deputy Principal, CoVAB expressed gratitude to NORHED for availing what is needed to build capacity and stressed that Makerere was prepared to effectively manage the project.

"I am confident that Makerere University under the coordination of Dr. Clovice Kankya shall achieve the desired goals of this project", said Dr. Nakavuma.

Deputy Principal CoVAB-Dr. Jessica Nakavuma (L) and Dr. Clovice Kankya (R) at the CAPAZOMANINTECO Project Launch, Makerere UniversityDr. Kankya explained that the project will improve research capacity in zoonoses, food system and food safety issues within universities and public health sectors. He also noted that the timing for the launch could not have been better.

"The launch of this project is timely due to re-emerging threats like Ebola that the region is grappling with" he said. He further stated that in order to effectively manage such diseases, the project will employ the One Health approach of integrating different disciplines to promote health.

Professor Eystein Skjerve, the Project Coordinator, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) explained that Norway has had a long historical collaboration with Uganda and Zambia in zoonotic diseases since 2001.

"Uganda is the biggest partner of NORHED since its launch in 2012", noted Professor Skjerve. He said that of recent, Norway has been involved in developing the young state of South Sudan and that NMBU's main role in the CAPAZOMANINTECO project will be to complement research and teaching capacity in the 3 participating countries.

Director DRGT-Prof. Mukadasi Buyinza makes his contribution during the CAPAZOMANINTECO Project Launch, According to Prof. Mukadasi Buyinza, Director Research and Graduate Training, the launch symbolized the nature and character of several other collaborations that Makerere is engaged in.

"Records show that Makerere and her partners have over the years propelled the research agenda together. We shall continue to consolidate and develop research through strengthening research capacity." Prof. Buyinza said.

Among the deliverables of this project is support to researchers at Masters and Doctoral level. 6 PhD students, 2 from each of the participating countries presented their research proposals during the launch. The beneficiaries are enrolled in the University of Zambia, Makerere University and Norwegian University of Life Sciences. “The students will each carry out research within their respective countries of origin, as is the requirement of the project” noted Dr. Kankya

Story by Jovia Musubika (CoVAB) and Prossy Nabatte

 

Mark Wamai

Continue Reading

General

Special Exam Results -Diploma in Performing Arts 2025/26

Published

on

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.

Mak Editor

Continue Reading

General

Mature Age Scheme Exam Results for 2025/2026

Published

on

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.

Mak Editor

Continue Reading

General

Call for Application: 2025 SNRM session 4 Summer School

Published

on

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

Mak Editor

Continue Reading

Trending