The Rector, University of Bergen (UiB), Professor Dag Rune Olsen and his delegation are now at Makerere University ahead of the Mak-UiB frame agreement extension signing ceremony due tomorrow Tuesday 30^th September 2014. The Rector is accompanied by The Vice Rector for International Affairs-Prof. Anne Christine Johannesen, Prof. Thorkild Tylleskär–Coordinator UiB-Mak Collaboration in Bergen, Ms. Anne Beate Maurseth-Advisor, Graduate Program/Joint Degrees, Dr. Tore Sæterdal-Director UiB Global and Prof. Tor Halvorsen, UiB Global.

Welcoming to delegation to Makerere University, the Coordinator Mak-UiB collaboration and Principal College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS)-Professor Edward Kirumira appreciated the Rector and his delegation for travelling to Uganda to sign the frame agreement extension. He thanked UiB for all the milestones attained during the long-term collaboration with Makerere University. He stressed that the support to the administrative component in a bid to strengthen finance, accounting and human resource has been very instrumental.

“We need to carry this forward especially as we extend the collaboration since we plan to undertake a multidisciplinary approach to research and collaboration,” added Prof. Kirumira.

In his remarks, the Rector, University of Bergen (UiB), Professor Dag Rune Olsen expressed happiness at visiting Uganda and Makerere University in particular for the first time. He was particularly glad that through this collaboration, Makerere and UiB would be able to continue strengthening the foundation of Social Sciences disciplines. He also expressed interest in the global trends of; food security, issues affecting health, energy and oil, as well as the sustainability aspect in various sectors.

“These trends call for a new approach focused on interdisciplinary research,” added the Rector.

 The Vice Rector for International Affairs-Prof. Anne Christine Johannesen noted that through the Mak-UiB collaboration, the University of Bergen has been able to grow, “I am glad that through this collaboration, we have trained many PhDs and in the process generated a lot of new knowledge” said Prof. Johannesen.

Following this brief interaction, the Rector and his delegation proceeded to meet with Norhed Institutional Development and Implementation Committee (NIDIC) members. The Rector’s visit is aimed at extending the current 15-year Mak-UiB frame agreement which ends in November 2014. This extension follows a meeting on 18^th November 2013 in Bergen between the Rector UiB Prof. Dag Rune Olsen and Prof. Edward Kirumira where an endorsement was secured. Following this endorsement, the Vice Chancellor Prof. John Ddumba-Ssentamu invited the Rector to visit Makerere University and formally sign a re-commitment to the collaboration between the two institutions, hence tomorrow’s ceremony.

Article by Public Relations Office