General
Mak-Binghamton Explore Collaboration to Strengthen Internationalisation
As the current 10 year strategic plan nears its end of life in 2019, the Makerere University Management held a three-day Strategic Planning Retreat from 20th to 22nd February, 2018 that embarked on the yearlong process of formulating the next ten year Strategic Plan (2020/21-2029/30). One of the key areas of focus for the new strategic plan is the Internationalisation of academic programmes, collaborations, student admissions as well as faculty recruitment.
On 7th March 2018, Makerere University hosted Prof. Aondover Tarhule, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School at Binghamton University; one of the top public research universities in the U.S. Prof. Tarhule’s mission was to explore ways of diversifying Binghamton’s international graduate student population (40%), currently comprised largely (65%) of students from India and China.
Welcoming Prof. Tarhule to Makerere University, the Principal College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS)-Assoc. Prof. Eria Hisali, who represented the Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance and Administration)-Prof. William Bazeyo noted the timeliness of this visit, in the wake of commencement of the aforementioned strategic planning process.
“We appreciate you reaching out to us and I must say that your visit fits well within our aspirations for the next ten years, where our key focus is going to be Internationalisation,” remarked Assoc. Prof. Hisali.
He informed Prof. Tarhule that Makerere runs a collegiate system, whose introduction was aimed at combining discipline synergies with intention of boosting the implementation of University core functions, with a particular focus on research. “I therefore encourage you to kindly consider visiting some of our colleges in case your schedule permits” added Assoc. Prof. Hisali.
Starting off his presentation, Prof. Tarhule highlighted that Binghamton is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system comprised of 64 institutions with a combined student population of 400,000. Located in Binghamton where IBM was founded, the city is also home to other high-tech companies such aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, Johnson & Johnson among others. Binghamton is also ranked one of the top six most affordable universities in the world for international students; thanks to subsidies by the New York State.
“Unlike Makerere’s 45,000 students, Binghamton’s student population is only 17,000 with 13,000 of these undergraduate; a population we plan to maintain, but we have room for growth of the graduate student population up to 6,000. The low cost of living in the greater Binghamton area allows our graduate students to enjoy reasonably priced housing in a safe community with free bus transportation to campus. These buses are driven by our students to help them finance their education” said Prof. Tarhule.
Prof. Tarhule further shared that Binghamton has come up with a number of innovation to make education more efficient in the face of changing market demands. One such innovation is the Accelerated Degree Programs, where undergraduate students are admitted well knowing that they will proceed directly to a Masters program in the same discipline. “This means that undergraduate students begin taking graduate courses during their senior years, which has made it easier and cheaper for students to come in” he added.
The second innovation shared by Prof. Tarhule was a refined pedagogy which seeks to produce graduates with T-Shaped skills, who can meet both academia and industry demands. Under the T-Shaped pedagogy, students are take both general education courses (horizontal part of the T), which equip students with a broad range of knowledge, and deep learning courses (vertical part of the T) which seek to ground the student in concepts specific to their discipline.
Prof. Tarhule nevertheless noted that education in the U.S. was also embracing the AGILE pedagogy, characterised by increased oral presentations that necessitate students to think on their feet whenever prompted. “The goal of this kind of training is to build transferable skills within one disciplinary area” he added.
In the reactions that followed, the Deputy Principal, College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS)-Assoc. Prof. Josephine Ahikire sought to understand how the Humanities and Social Sciences can be helped to nurture the new generation of scholars to become experts in their field. “Can our collaboration consider including the aspect of resident scholars to help mentor the young generation of academics?”
Mr. John Bosco Oryema an Assistant Lecturer, CoBAMS noted that the field of Business Analytics is not well developed in the region. He therefore hoped that collaboration with Binghamton would expose students at Makerere to this vibrant sector. He further sought the possibility of introducing joint supervision of graduate students; with US-based and Makerere-based supervisors, a practice, he noted, quickens the process of finalising theses.
Mr. Charles Ssemugabi from School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences (CHS), sought to find out Prof. Tarhule’s Internationalisation diversification strategy moving forward. “Most partnerships start in the form of research at departmental level, then progress to staff and student exchanges and eventually summer schools” he commented.
Wrapping up the responses, Assoc. Prof. Hisali thanked Prof. Tarhule for his presentation, noting that Makerere indeed had a lot to learn from Binghamton’s innovations. “We need to come up with a broad Memorandum of Understanding at institutional level then work out the specifics at unit level, which can then help us identify issues of support and financing” he concluded.
Prof. Tarhule thanked the staff present for their responses, noting that they had been both “profound and insightful.” He reiterated that his visit was exploratory and it was important for both institutions to identify mutual strengths and complementarities, so as to forge a mutually beneficial collaboration. “Whatever you decide to do, think mutuality; what are you offering? What do you want to get? Think as an equal partner who is seeking to bring something to the table.”
He shared that Binghamton was very strong in the fields of Engineering, Business and Smart Energy. “We are also in the final stages of developing a degree in Data Analytics and so the comment in that direction was timely.” Prof. Tarhule however, urged his audience to look beyond the competences within their individual disciplines to those within the entire University or region, “think of what you can do broadly as a region. Foundations out there will always seek to sponsor programmes that have a broader regional or even continental impact” he advised.
He concurred that mentorship for graduate programmes had been observed to be a major challenge for African Universities. He however hoped that many more students would stand to benefit from programmes such as the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), funded in part by the Carnegie Corporation of New York through which he is personally mentoring three African students as a Diaspora-based professor.
Prof. Tarhule further admitted that whereas training students abroad was expensive, it is essential. He noted that we live in a globalised world where intellectual power is no longer limited by political power and hoped that African institutions would increasingly emulate nations like China and India, who despite having large economic resources, still aggressively take advantage of cost effective models such as joint degree programmes.
“Setting up high-tech labs is a very expensive venture. Therefore summer programmes that expose African students to these high-tech facilities in the U.S. are a win-win, especially as internationalisation increasingly becomes a major contributor to institutional rankings. Therefore, my key message is that we are as much interested in internationalisation as you are. Thank you” concluded Prof. Tarhule.
Please see Downloads for Binghamton presentation
Article by Public Relations Office
By Moses Lutaaya
Kampala, September 4, 2026 — Makerere University and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have explored new opportunities for strengthening academic, research and innovation collaboration between Uganda, Japan and other African countries, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence (AI), aerospace engineering, materials and remote sensing, food value chains, energy, water and climate change.
The discussions took place on Friday, September 4, 2026, at the Makerere University Main Building in the Vice Chancellor’s Board Room, during a visit by a JICA delegation led by Dr. Okano Takasei, Senior Advisor, Human Development Department of JICA.
Makerere keen to deepen collaboration with JICA
Welcoming the delegation, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Prof. Sarah Ssali, highlighted Makerere University’s long-standing tradition of research, international collaboration and contribution to knowledge generation in Uganda and beyond.
Prof. Ssali noted that Makerere has built a strong global research footprint through partnerships with institutions around the world, observing that the University is well positioned to deepen international collaboration as emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, continue to transform research and higher education.
“Uganda has a very long history of doing research, and particularly it has informed research findings in the areas global health research,” Prof. Ssali said, pointing to Uganda’s historical contribution to global scientific knowledge.
She cited the country’s contribution to medical and biological research, including early research on sleeping sickness, noting that Uganda’s unique research environment continues to offer opportunities for scientific discovery.
Prof. Ssali said Makerere’s history of collaboration with Japan is particularly significant, noting that Japanese cooperation has contributed not only to academic and research activities but also to infrastructure development and other sectors in Uganda.
She cited the establishment of the JICA building at Makerere, describing it as one of the visible symbols of Japan’s long-standing partnership with Makerere University.
According to Prof. Ssali, the building, which houses College of Natural Sciences (CoNAS) disciplines of geology, petroleum studies and administrative offices, was constructed during her undergraduate years and completed within a remarkably short period.
Prof. Ssali said the long-standing relationship between Uganda, Makerere University and Japan provides a strong foundation upon which new areas of collaboration can be built. She encouraged the visiting JICA delegation to explore the University and identify areas where existing partnerships could be strengthened or new areas of cooperation developed.
“Please take time and explore and see where either you already have a footprint, where you’ve ever had a footprint, or where you could explore new areas,” she said.
Prof. Ssali added that Makerere was privileged to host the JICA delegation and expressed optimism that the visit would lead to meaningful and sustainable partnerships.
Strengthening Joint Collaboration through AJ-ASPIRE
Dr. Okano, in his remarks as leader of the delegation said the visit formed part of a broader JICA initiative aimed at promoting academic and research collaboration between Japanese and African universities.
He explained that the initiative was launched on the occasion of the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9), held in Yokohama in September 2025, with the objective of strengthening academic and research partnerships between Japan and Africa.
According to Dr. Okano, the initiative is intended to benefit both African and Japanese universities by providing platforms for internationalisation, collaborative research and the exchange of knowledge, researchers and students. “We would like to play a role of facilitator between universities in Japan and Africa and Uganda as well,” he said.
He explained that JICA is currently promoting the initiative through three African hub universities where JICA already has ongoing projects and experts on the ground.
The three institutions are Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST) in Egypt, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Kenya, and Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Dr. Okano said the selection of the three institutions was informed by the presence of ongoing JICA-supported projects and experts who can facilitate collaboration between the hub universities and institutions across Africa and Japan.
The hub universities are currently coordinating research with Japanese universities in strategic areas, with E-JUST focusing on energy, JKUAT leading work on food value chains, and Stellenbosch University focusing on water and climate change.
Dr. Okano said JICA was particularly pleased to explore collaboration with Makerere University under the African-Japan Initiative for Research and Education Partnerships, known as AJ-ASPIRE.
He outlined three major avenues through which Makerere could participate in the initiative.
The first is participation in existing research programmes hosted by the three hub universities. He added that Makerere researchers could join ongoing research on energy, food value chains, water and climate change, thereby creating opportunities to work with Japanese and other African researchers.
“We would like to explore opportunity for researchers from Makerere University to participate in these ongoing research activities and expand collaboration with Japanese and African partner institutions,” Dr. Okano said.
The second area is the development of new research networks in artificial intelligence and aerospace engineering. Dr. Okano said JICA was planning to establish new research groups focusing on the two areas and would be interested in having Makerere researchers participate in the emerging networks. “We would like to also invite researchers from Makerere University to join these networks and implementation of future collaboration in these two research topics, aerospace engineering and AI,” he said.
The third proposed avenue is increased collaboration between Makerere University and E-JUST, which Dr. Okano said offers fully funded scholarship opportunities for African students through a programme jointly supported by the governments of Egypt and Japan.
He noted that a number of Makerere graduates have already benefited from the programme, including researchers who have pursued doctoral studies and research opportunities in Egypt and Japan.
Dr. Okano cited the example of Mr. Abdonoor Kalibala, a Makerere alumnus whom he recently met in Hiroshima, Japan, following completion of PhD in Mechatronics and Robotics engineering at E-JUST. Mr. Kalibala conducted research in Japan for up to six months under the supervision of a Japanese professor as part of his doctoral programme.
Dr. Okano said such programmes could help strengthen the movement of researchers between Uganda, Egypt and Japan and create lasting institutional partnerships.
He added that JICA is also providing small research grants to alumni of the programmes to help them maintain and expand research collaboration involving Japan, E-JUST and African institutions.
He said Makerere could leverage such opportunities to increase the participation of its students and researchers in international research networks.
AI, Materials and Remote Sensing and International Relations Set the Pace
Prof. Robert Wamala, Director of Research, Innovations and Partnerships at Makerere University, said the visit followed an online engagement held a few weeks earlier between Makerere University and JICA, during which several areas and units within the University were identified as potential points of collaboration.
Prof. Wamala said these included the Makerere University AI Lab, the University’s International Office and researchers working in space engineering, particularly in materials and remote sensing.
He welcomed the transition from online discussions to physical engagement, saying the visit would allow JICA representatives to interact directly with researchers, academic units and University authorities. “This interest is being followed up through an in-person visit, which provides us an opportunity for JICA to engage directly with the relevant units and researchers at Makerere University,” Prof. Wamala said.
For Makerere, he added, the initiative provides an opportunity to connect the University’s research strengths with Japanese universities, research institutions and development partners to address shared development challenges.
Prof. Wamala said the University was particularly interested in identifying practical areas of collaboration that could move beyond general discussions to concrete research partnerships, joint projects and opportunities for students and researchers.
He noted that the JICA delegation’s on-campus interactions scheduled to take place throughout the day would enable the two sides to identify specific areas of mutual interest. “We hope these engagements will help us identify specific areas of future interest and provide a basis for developing concrete areas of collaboration under the AJ-ASPIRE,” Prof. Wamala said.
He reiterated Makerere’s commitment to strengthening international research partnerships and thanked JICA for its continued interest in the University.
Dr. Okano, was accompanied by Mr. Ito Idomu, Research and Advisor at the Embassy of Japan, Mr. Osaki Mistuhiro from JICA headquarters, Ms. Eric Maeda from JICA Headquarters, and Ms. Ruth Mbabazi from JICA Uganda.
JICA follow-up meetings with Makerere research units
Following the high-level meeting in the Vice Chancellor’s Board Room, the JICA team, together with the Directorate of Research, Innovations and Partnerships, proceeded to engage with key research and administrative units at Makerere University identified as strategic to the proposed areas of collaboration.
The delegation held meetings with the Makerere University AI Lab, led by Dr. Joyce Nabende of the College of Computing and Information Sciences (COCIS), to explore opportunities for cooperation in artificial intelligence and related emerging technologies.
The team also met officials from the Makerere University International Office, led by Mr. Mathias Ssemanda, where discussions focused on opportunities for strengthening international academic linkages, mobility and institutional partnerships.
A further engagement was held with the Department of Geomatics and Land Management, focusing on materials and remote sensing, led by Prof. Lydia Kayondo from the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT).
The engagements provided an opportunity for the JICA team and Makerere researchers to move from broad discussions on collaboration to more specific conversations around research interests, expertise, existing projects and potential areas for joint work.
The visit marks an important step towards strengthening Makerere University’s engagement with Japanese and African research institutions under AJ-ASPIRE, while opening opportunities for researchers and students to participate in emerging international networks in artificial intelligence, aerospace engineering, remote sensing and other strategic areas of science, technology and innovation.
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