Makerere University signed a five year Memorandum of Understanding with North Carolina State University on Wednesday 16th Septemeber 2015 in the Council Room at Makerere University . The MoU spells collaboration in the areas of research and student exchange in seven colleges including the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the College of Computing and Information Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal resources and Bio-Security, the College of Health Sciences, the College of Natural Sciences, the College of Engineering Design Art and Technology and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The MoU was signed by the Makerere University Vice Chancellor, Prof. John Ddumba-Ssentamu and Dr. Jeffery Braden, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at North Carolina State University- who led the delegation.

The Vice Chancellor was grateful for the multi-disciplinary nature of the MoU. “These colleges have embarked on a number of efforts towards ground breaking research and innovations. I am pleased that the partnership you seek to establish will cut across a variety of important subjects for humanity today.  Makerere University has increasingly opened up to new partnerships to support our core function on Knowledge transfer partnerships and networking. We certainly welcome the partnership with your University,” he said.

“We feel we are stepping into the 21st century with an esteemed partner like Makerere University. We want our students to have rich international experience and look forward to working with Makerere. We would like your students to come to our University too. If we want to solve problems we have to bring together different solutions and programmes. We see Makerere as a key strategic partner in East Africa. I believe an MoU is like building a bridge. We want this bridge to be wide and have heavy traffic,” said Dr. Braden.

According to Martha Muwanguzi, the Head of the International Relations Office, “This delegation first came in November last year on a fact finding mission and interacted with CoVAB, CAES, CEDAT and CHUSS then. The MoU that the two universities have signed is renewable and Makerere University looks forward to its successful implementation.”

Some of the areas of focus for this MoU include Climate change and Meteorological aspects, Computer Science Statistics, Sanitation and Solid Water Management, Oral History and Public History, Religious Studies and Philosophy, Communication and Sociology especially the field of criminology.

By Marion Alina