Makerere University School of Public Health (College of Health Sciences) has renewed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Karolinska Institutet– Sweden, regarding joint doctoral training. This was at a ceremony on 11th February 2015 in the Makerere University Council room. The MoU stipulates a comprehensive international collaboration with education and research activities
The double degree program will see students admitted to a joint doctoral programme at the two universities, but with one final examination and one thesis; leading to the PhD award.
The Vice Chancellor Makerere University, Prof. John Ddumba-Ssentamu was grateful to Karolinska Institutet for renewing this partnership which was initiated in 2003, renewed in 2011 and again in 2015; adding that it will go a long way in advancing Makerere University’s internationalisation agenda.
According to the Principle of the College of Health Sciences, Prof. Nelson Sewankambo, over 200 students have so far benefitted from the collaboration with Karolinska Institutet and have returned home to engage in impactful research aimed at transforming society. Some of the bilateral exchange programmes have been in the field of Dentistry, Medicine, Midwifery, Nursing, Occupational therapy, Physiotherapy, Public Health Sciences and Speech and Language Pathology.
The Pro- Vice Chancellor of Karolinska Institutet, Prof. Kerstin Tham who led a delegation of nine, observed that thirteen years of financial support from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) has resulted in 44 PhD students from Uganda and more than 500 peer reviewed articles, the majority with a Ugandan as first author. All Ugandan PhD graduates have remained in Uganda and some of them have already embarked on their post doctoral training.
By Marion Alina