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A Record 9 Mak Teams Qualify for Final Round of Big Ideas 2018 Contest

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Makerere University has once again set a record performance at this year’s Big Ideas 2018 Contest by sending nine student teams to the final round. Big Ideas is an annual contest orgainsed by the University of California, Berkeley and its partners, aimed at providing funding, support, and encouragement to interdisciplinary teams of students who have “big ideas.”

Breaking the news to ResilientAfrica Network (RAN), Makerere University; the contest’s coordinator in Uganda, the Director, Big Ideas Contest Phillip Denny shared that his organisation had notified the winning student teams on 18th April 2018 “and I can now report to you that students’ teams from Makerere University did exceptionally well!”

Reacting to the exciting news, RAN’s Communication Manager-Ms. Harriet Adong said, “I thank the RAN team for continuously supporting this Contest but most importantly serving as judges and mentors” “Our efforts have come to fruition and will continue to cause impact in the communities in which we serve and live” she added.

Of these nine teams, six; another record number, were selected as winners by the judges, and three of those six won top honors in their respective categories.

Here are the highlights:

  • TRAM Project – Enhancing financial freedom and food security to smallholder farmers in Uganda through providing quality food storage systems – won 1st Place in the Food Systems category.
  • LUMENDA – An affordable and portable device for rapid and accurate diagnosis of neonatal bacterial meningitis in low resource settings – won 1st Place in the Global Health category. LUMENDA has also been selected to participate (via Zoom video conference) at our Grand Prize Pitch Day event on April 25th, for the chance to win an additional $5000 for their project.
  • Early Preeclampsia Detection (EPED) Strip – A urine-based point-of-care early diagnostic test strip for preeclampsia enabling women to self-screen for the condition – won 1st Place in the Scaling Up category.
  • Ecosmart Pads – Locally sourced, high quality and affordable sanitary pads made from sugarcane residue – won 3rd Place in the Global Health Category.
  • Coordinated Emergency Response System (CERS) – Utilizing a combination of USSD for free communication and the proliferation of e-ridesharing services in Kampala to provide rapid and safe transportation in emergency situations – received an Honorable Mention in the Global Health category.
  • Livestock Disease Diagnosis Kit (LIDDIA Kit) – An affordable point-of-care diagnostic device base that enables farmers to conduct routine checkups on livestock for early and timely treatment – received an Honorable Mention in the Food Systems category.

Makerere University congratulates these nine student teams upon advancing to the final stage of the Big Ideas 2018 Contest and wishes them the best of luck at the penultimate stage. Furthermore, appreciation goes to the RAN staff, judges and mentors who offered invaluable assistance to the student teams.

For more information, please contact

Harriet Adong,
Communications Manager

ResilientAfrica Network (RAN)
Makerere University School of Public Health
P.O Box 7072 Kampala, Uganda
Tel. Off: +256-414 343 597
Email: hadong[at]ranlab.org
Website: www.ranlab.org
Skype: harriet.adong4

Mark Wamai

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Special Exam Results -Diploma in Performing Arts 2025/26

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The results for the 2025/2026 special entry examination for the Diploma in Performing Arts held on Saturday 17th May, 2025. Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the Examination and have been recommended to the university’s Admissions Committee for consideration.

Mak Editor

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Mature Age Scheme Exam Results for 2025/2026

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The Office of Academic Registrar, Makerere University has released full results for the Mature Age Entry Scheme Examinations for the Academic Year 2025/2026 held on Saturday 14th December, 2024.

The Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the examination and have been recommended by the Pre-Entry & Mature Age Committee to the University’s Admissions Board for Consideration.

The Aptitude Exam  Results for 2025/2026 Academic Year released in February 2025 can be found here.

Mak Editor

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Directorate of Graduate Training Completes Training of First Cohort Training of Supervisors

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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.

Prof. Julius Kikooma – Director of Graduate Training

“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.

Mak Editor

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