General
The woman in the moon: Full moon viewing
As a child, you could have been told of a legendary woman in the moon; carrying a baby on her back and a hoe in one hand. She is also said to be carrying firewood on her head, a story meant to inspire many to work hard. 
This legend will tell you that the woman is partners with the sun. Other legends have talked about a man in the moon carrying bundles of stick on his back and accompanied by a dog. He is said to have chosen to work on Sunday as opposed to going to church and was forever condemned to work. Other legends depict the moon as a powerful symbol of affection.
Your interpretation of what you see in the moon could be different, but here is an opportunity to look at that moon at close range. With the help of a reflective telescope, one can be able to see hardened rock-like structures and mountains as features of the moon. Benon Fred Twinamasiko of the Physics Department, Makerere University, has religiously made it possible for members of Staff of the University and other interested persons to get a closer look at the moon on a monthly basis since 
15th January 2014.
One such viewing happened on 9th September 2014, when the moon was out, all full and bright. One by one, the interested participants took turn to look at different ranges of the moon with both the refractive galileoscope and the reflective telescope. The most exciting was a close look at the moon through the reflective telescope. Here, one can ably see the surface of the moon, bearing structures similar to shattered glass. Physics will tell you that the features of the moon include oceanous procellarum, craters, rays, rocks and rills, and have remained so for billions of years.
Twinamasiko will first take you through an explanation of the movements of the moon in relation to the earth, sun and other bodies in the skies. As a child Twinamasiko was also told about the woman in the moon and chose a career in physics to among other things be
tter understand that woman. He has since wanted to share his discovery with all who care. “I am inspired by the many people who turn up here monthly. The excitement they have after seeing the moon at close range is so rewarding and it gives me the strength to carry on. Recently our senior citizen, Prof. James Ntozi, was here too and was equally impressed,” said a visibly amused Benon Twinamasiko.
The viewing is free of charge. The next viewing will take place on 8th October 2014.
By Marion Alina, Public Relations Office
By Moses Lutaaya
The Directorate of Graduate Training (DGT) has in collaboration with Centre for Teaching and Learning completed the training of the first cohort of Graduate Supervisors.
Participants were academic staff from two colleges namely, College of Engineering, Art and Design (CEDAT) and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES).
The three-day training that took place at the Telepresence Centre, Senate Building ended on Friday 20thJune 2025.
In his closing remarks to the participants, the Director of Graduate Training Prof. Julius Kikooma said, “This is the first cohort we are working together with the Center for Teaching and Learning to put together continuous professional development Program so that we are able to enforce the new teaching and learning policy.”
He said that before lecturers are allocated students for supervision, they must first go through this form of formal teaching and learning training to equip them thoroughly with certification required of supervision of graduate students.
“We are coming up with process to ensure that the certificates earned by participants allow you to supervise graduate students. This is the direction of the university and we must ensure that such trainings are concluded and completed successfully by all participants”, Prof. Kikooma.
“We can only have you certified upon completing all the exercises in the training process. This is when you will be eligible to receive the work load for supervision”, He added.
“This training of Supervisors is going to be continuous so that all academic staff in colleges and schools are equipped. This first cohort is going to be our building block to the future trainings in the colleges.”
With such capacity building trainings, Prof. Kikooma said that the university is on the right path to achieving its targets in the new strategic plan of increasing the number of graduate students while progressively reducing the under graduate students.
He further hinted that, “We are in the process of writing a curriculum on this, which will be presented for approval before it is rolled out.”
He echoed all participants to share the knowledge they have acquired adding, “Share all you have learnt, do not keep it. Be open minded, have proper communication channels and the sky will be the limit for you.”
Dr. Robinah N. Kulabako, The Head of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at CEDAT welcomed the training adding, “This training is very pertinent. I have had the opportunity to supervise Masters and PhD students for over 15 years and I must say that the need to be subjected to this training cannot be over emphasized because there is need to learn, unlearn and relearn many aspects involved in the supervision process.”
She added, “We are moving towards knowledge-based supervision rather than experience-based supervision. This means we must be informed and equipped to be able to advise, guide and mentor to be able to lead a successful supervision journey for both supervisor and supervisee.”
Dr. Andrew Gilbert Were – a lecturer at CEDAT and a participant said, “It is important that all supervisors of graduate students receive this certification from Makerere University through a systematic training process that enables them to attain diverse skills to facilitate learning of graduate students from diverse cultures and with unique set of circumstances.”
“This training is long overdue. In fact, it was an oversight that we could be allowed to supervise students without undergoing supervisors’ training.”
Dr. Dorothy Ssebowa, The Director Centre for Teaching and Learning support- CEES said, “The training this time round has had a mix of early career professionals including Lecturers, Supervisors and Professors share experiences. We have learnt a lot more from experienced supervisors who have shared practices on how they have done supervision over the years.”
“The knowledge and experience-based approaches have made this collaboration very active, interactive and learner centered which has resulted into a collaborative learning from the interdisciplinarity of staff from CEDAT and CAES. The issue now is to continue with professional development across all levels.” She added.
The Makerere University Directorate of Graduate Training (DGT) in collaboration with the Centre for Teaching and Learning completed the training of the first cohort of Graduate Supervisors. This activity was supported by the iCARTA – Institutionalization of Advanced Research Training in Africa, a NORHED II Project at Makerere University.
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