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MAK- UiB launches P.H Greenwood Research consortium to boost fisheries and aquaculture

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Makerere University together  with the University of Bergen (UiB), have today launched a Greenwood Research Consortium and Collaboration codenamed; “P.H Greenwood Research Consortium”, to boost fishery production and aquaculture in Uganda and East Africa.Vice Chancellor Prof. John Ddumba-Ssentamu

According to the Head of Consortium Dr. Gladys Bwanika, the consortium intends to bring together researchers in fish ecology and systematic, biomathematics, aquaculture and fish health from both institutions, to train and teach people and students about fisheries and aquaculture.

“In our five years work plan, we are aiming at running a tropical fisheries school, where we can bring together people interested in learning about fisheries and aquaculture. This will also help us to train and share ideas with local students at Makerere University ,” she added.

The Principal College of Natural Sciences Prof. Joseph Y.T. Mugisha said that, the desired training and developing the fisheries industry in the region will be reached at, through organizing different lectures and seminars.

“We are planning to have an annual lecture that is the P.H Greenwood Annual Lecture. We shall also be running two seminars in a semester to interact with different resourceful people, share knowledge and information on fisheries and aquaculture,” Prof. Mugisha remarked.

In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor Makerere University Prof. John Ddumba-Ssentamu, recognized the opportunity presented to Makerere University by the consortium to be the centre of excellence for research and training in fisheries and aquaculture in Uganda and East Africa.

L-R: The Vice Rector for International Affairs-Prof. Anne Christine Johannesen, The Coordinator Mak-UiB collaboration Professor Edward Kirumira and The Rector, University of Bergen (UiB), Professor Dag Rune Olsen.We all are aware that fish is a lead export and foreign exchange earner for Uganda. This therefore presents an opportunity for Makerere University to become a centre of excellence for research and training not only for the country but for the East African region and Africa as whole. It is my hope that the results of the work of the consortium will contribute to policy-making and improvement of the sector.

The Rector of the University of Bergen, Prof. Dag Rune Olsen, emphasized the importance of fisheries when he said that fishery is the most important sector to the feeding world.

“When we look at fisheries and food, fish is well gifted in proteins as compared to other animals; the food print of fish is very different. Fish has a priority in feeding the world with proteins from lakes and oceans which is much eco-friendly.”  And he advised that, “we therefore need to explore and develop this   idea in order to reduce on the competing challenge of food security globally,” advised the Rector.Ms. Jennifer Greenwood and husband represented the Greenwood family.

Greenwood Research Consortium and Collaboration, is part of the long term and fruitful collaboration Makerere University has with the University of Bergen, Norway.  Named in the memory of Peter Humphry Greenwood, who greatly contributed to the fisheries research in the in Uganda, this research collaboration arose from the realization that one of the major hurdles to improved production to fisheries and aquaculture is the lack of science based; sustained campaign of pro-active, collaborative research to support the decision making processes and the development of the industry in Uganda and in the entire East African region.

Speaking on behalf of the Greenwood family, Ms. Jennifer Greenwood appreciated Makerere University for welcoming the idea of developing a consortium in collaboration with University of Bergen in memory of her father, Peter Humphry Greenwood. She therefore promised to work hand in hand with the University Management and College of Natural Sciences to meet the long term goal of the consortium.Dr. Lucas Busuulwa

“The long term goal of this consortium is to bring together various areas of research and to develop collaborations to the center of excellence in the whole of East Africa,” she said.

Representing Dr. John S. Balirwa, the Director National Fisheries Resources Research Institute (NAFIRRI), Dr. Lucas Busuulwa delivered a keynote paper titled, ‘The Evolution of the Fisheries Water/Landscape in Uganda: Challenges and Opportunities for further interventions’. In this presentation, the NAFIRRI acknowledged the role of Fisheries Research as being active in the rapid expansion and realization of the fisheries production potential in the country.
 
"We are taking the lead in Bio-manipulation of natural fisheries, water bodies and development of aquaculture in addition to the primary role of monitoring fisheries resources base and impact of the fishing activities," he stressed.

By Nabatte Prossy

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Mak-Bergen sign Decade-long Agreement

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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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