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Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt Visits Mak, Promotes Relations
A delegation of six led by the President of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (KU), Prof. Dr. Gabriele Gien, on Wednesday, 10th October 2018 visited Makerere University and paid a courtesy call on the Vice Chancellor. They were received by on behalf of Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe by the Acting Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Dr. Ernest Okello Ogwang, The Principal College of Computing and Information Sciences (CoCIS), Prof. Tonny Oyana and the International Office’s Ms. Martha Muwanguzi.
In her remarks, Prof. Dr. Gabriele Gien thanked Dr. Okello Ogwang for according the delegation a warm welcome to Makerere University. She shared that her University’s interests are to deepen its cooperation in the educational landscape of developing countries such as Uganda in order to strengthen the long term development of effective educational infrastructure.
“The the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt started the KUganda project in the 2011/2012 period under the name – The Challenge of Education in Uganda and we were able to gather valuable practical experience in the area of urgently required teacher training in a developing country” said Prof. Dr. Gien.
She added that every year, students from KU travel to Uganda where they learn firsthand the challenges affecting pupils and teachers in midst of political upheavals and economic barriers.
“This is why the objective of the project is and has always been to organise workshops and discussion sessions for the teachers in Uganda in which they get the chance for further professional development offered by KU lecturers and teaching degree students” added the President.
KU has eight faculties of; Theology, Philosophy and Education, Languages and Literatures, History and Social Sciences, Mathematics and Geography, Religious Education, Social Work, as well as Economics and Business Administration. The University also has a network of over 250 partner universities in 57 countries in Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania where students spend time studying abroad.
Dr. Okello Ogwang thanked the President and her delegation for their visit and the various activities being undertaken as part of the KUganda project. He observed that KU with the largely Humanities and Social Sciences-based faculties had fertile grounds on which to collaborate with Makerere University.
“Our International Office will follow up with the various academic units to nominate contact persons who will then come up with an overall coordinator to explore immediate and future opportunities of collaboration. I am personally covered under Languages and Literature” remarked the DVCAA.
In the interactions that followed, Thomas Sporer, Director of The Centre of Educational Innovation and Knowledge Transfer at KU shared about the Service Learning in Higher Education project. He explained that Service Learning aims to promote social engagement and academic learning so as to conduct research with society and for society and hoped that the two institutions would collaborate in this area.
In the responses that followed, Prof. Tonny Oyana thanked the President and her delegation for tabling various areas under which Makerere and KU can undertake research and particularly hoped that areas such as Service Learning would be given priority within a year.
In the concluding remarks, Prof. Dr. Gabriele Gien thanked Makerere University for the warm reception and hoped to use KU’s influence to extend an invitation to the German Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Gerd Müller to visit Makerere.
The KU delegation which was additionally made up of the Chair of Elementary/Primary Education-Prof. Dr. Klaudia Schultheis, Director of the Department of Development and Communication-Dr. Christian Klenk, Chair of Didactics of Religion, Catechetics and Religious Education- Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kropač and Research Advisor-Simone Rieger later on exchanged souvenirs with the DVCAA.
Article by Public Relations Office
Makerere University has officially launched its Strategic Plan 2025-2030, marking a major milestone in its commitment to strengthening research, innovation, and human capital development in line with Uganda’s national development priorities.
The launch brought together senior government officials, university leadership, and development planners, including the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Hon. Henry Musasizi, and a representative from the National Planning Authority (NPA), alongside the University Vice Chancellor.
A Vision Anchored in National Transformation
Speaking at the launch, the Vice Chancellor underscored the University’s ambition to significantly expand graduate training and strengthen its contribution to national development. He noted that the institution is targeting a return to pre-COVID enrolment levels and a substantial increase in postgraduate numbers by 2030, with a focus on producing highly skilled graduates, innovators, and researchers.
He emphasized that the Strategic Plan positions the University as a key driver of Uganda’s transformation through knowledge generation, innovation, and entrepreneurship, aligned with national priorities.
“The staffing distribution is shown here. Under the approved establishment, we intended to have 419 Professors, but we currently have only 75. We planned for 473 Associate Professors, but currently have only 144. This clearly demonstrates that we still have considerable room for growth in strengthening our academic staff profile,” the VC said.
The VC appreciated researchers and research centres, that continue to attract substantial research funding. He highlighted the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) and the Makerere University Walter Reed Project which attracted approximately US$70 million in international research funding into Uganda.
“When you combine the grants won by all our researchers through competitive international funding, the total exceeds US$200 million,” he said.
In her remarks, the Chairperson of the University Council, Dr. Lorna Magara, described the Strategic Plan as more than an institutional roadmap, calling it “a public covenant with the people of Uganda.”
She noted that the Plan marks “the launch of Makerere University’s next chapter,” adding that decisions taken over the next five years will shape not only the future of the institution, but also Uganda’s development trajectory through graduates, research, innovations, and leadership.
Dr. Magara emphasized Makerere’s unique national role as Uganda’s premier public university, entrusted with public resources and public confidence.
“Every investment made in Makerere must produce measurable value for the people of Uganda,” she said, underscoring the need for accountability, integrity, and impact.
Ambitious Targets for Transformation
The Council Chairperson and the Vice chancellor outlined bold performance targets under the Strategic Plan, including doubling postgraduate enrolment, increasing STEM enrolment from 30% to 55%, improving PhD completion rates from 10% to 35%, and more than doubling peer-reviewed research output, alongside a significant rise in patents and innovations.
Dr. Magara stressed that these targets are not aspirations alone but binding commitments against which institutional performance will be measured.
“Ambition is precisely what this moment demands. A strategic plan is not measured by the elegance of its language, but by the lives it transforms,” she said.
Call for Stronger Governance and Legal Reform
Dr. Magara also highlighted the need for reform of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act, Cap. 262, noting that the current legal framework has not kept pace with the evolving realities of university governance and innovation.
She called on Government and Parliament to support a timely review of the Act to enable universities to better optimise knowledge systems, productive assets, and innovation capacity in support of national development.
Government Endorsement and Strategic Alignment
Hon. Henry Musasizi commended the University for developing a forward-looking Strategic Plan aligned with Uganda’s Vision 2040 and the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), which serves as the foundation for the country’s Tenfold Growth Strategy.
He explained that Uganda’s ambition to grow its economy from about USD 50 billion to USD 500 billion requires accelerated growth driven by productivity gains, innovation, and strong human capital development.
“Universities are central actors in national transformation. They are engines of knowledge creation, innovation, and human capital development,” he said.
The Minister stressed that government priorities include strengthening research, promoting industrialization, and ensuring that knowledge generated in universities is translated into practical solutions that support economic growth. He further highlighted the importance of accountability, efficiency, and value for money in public investments in higher education.
Universities as Drivers of the Tenfold Growth Strategy
In his presentation, the Senior Planner at the National Planning Authority, Samuel Kasule, emphasized that the Strategic Plan is firmly anchored in Uganda’s comprehensive development framework under Vision 2040 and NDP IV.
He noted that the Tenfold Growth Strategy seeks to accelerate Uganda’s economic growth into double-digit territory, enabling the country to achieve structural transformation and reach upper middle-income status.
Kasule underscored that universities play a critical role in this transformation through labour productivity, research, and innovation. He pointed out that priority sectors such as agriculture, tourism, minerals, oil and gas, and ICT depend heavily on skilled graduates and strong research ecosystems.
He also highlighted the importance of competency-based education, alignment of academic programmes with national human resource needs, and strengthening postgraduate training and research outputs.
A Shared Commitment to Transformation
Across all speeches, a strong message emerged: universities are central to Uganda’s development agenda and must evolve into research-intensive institutions that directly contribute to economic transformation.
The Strategic Plan 2025-2030 was widely commended for its focus on innovation, industry collaboration, digital transformation, and the commercialization of research outputs.
Government leaders reaffirmed continued support for higher education institutions through research funding, innovation ecosystems, and strengthened university–industry partnerships.
Conclusion
The launch of the Strategic Plan 2030 signals a renewed commitment to positioning the University as a key partner in Uganda’s development journey. With strong alignment to national priorities, the Plan is expected to accelerate research, innovation, and skills development necessary for achieving Uganda’s long-term economic ambitions. The Strategic Plan may be accessed at: https://mak.ac.ug/about/strategic-plan
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