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Mak Signs MoU with Tsinghua-China’s Top University
Makerere University on Monday, 8th October 2018 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Institute of Public Safety Research (IPSR), Tsinghua University, Beijing China. Tsinghua is China’s leading University recently ranked twenty second globally by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019.
The MoU was signed by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe on behalf of Makerere University and by Assoc. Prof. Huang Yu on behalf of IPSR. Prof. Peter Atekyereza who represented Prof. Edward Kirumira-Principal, College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), Mr. Henry Mwebe-Director Legal Affairs, Makerere University and Zhang Pengbin, Senior Business Manager-Beijing Global Safety Technology Co., Ltd (GSAFETY) also signed the MoU as witnesses.
GSAFETY is a research spin-off of IPSR that is dedicated to technological advancement and promotion of public safety industry in China, backed by the renowned integrative research-production mechanism of Tsinghua University.
Welcoming the visiting delegation, Prof. Nawangwe noted that IPSR has over the years developed a lot of expertise both in digital security and security systems, thanks to its close collaboration with Chinese agencies and organisations. He shared that Makerere University has a lot to gain by collaborating with Tsinghua University.
“As the Ugandan population continues to grow rapidly, cities and urban centres are getting more crowded each passing day. Nevertheless, any visitor to China will notice that despite the large population, public transportation as well as law and order work promptly.
The China and Tsinghua experience therefore gives us a lot to learn from in terms of ensuring security for highly populated areas in Uganda” remarked the Vice Chancellor.
The Vice Chancellor further noted that Makerere and Tsinghua share a lot in common owing to their reputations as leading research Universities in Africa and Asia respectively, as well as a wide range of disciplines taught. This he said would enable the two partners to come up with more areas of collaboration beyond just security.
“The opportunities of collaboration are immense!” remarked the Vice Chancellor, before adding “Through Staff and Student exchanges, we can take advantage of Tsinghua University’s top most expertise to work with Ugandan Government agencies and security organs to jointly develop our own programmes on security.”
Speaking on behalf of Tsinghua University, Assoc. Prof. Huang Yu expressed his pleasure at visiting Makerere University to sign the MoU and looked forward to a fruitful collaboration between the two institutions.
IPSR’s Zhang Pengbin reaffirmed that the MoU signing ceremony was indeed only the beginning of a long journey of collaboration between the two partners. “From security we can move on to areas such as terrorism and anti-terrorism, traffic control and many other areas in which Tsinghua has developed great expertise” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the College of Computing and Information Sciences (CoCIS), the Principal, Prof. Tonny Oyana welcomed the opportunity to collaborate Tsinghua University in the field of public security with. “Uganda is a landlocked country surrounded by five countries with various security and public safety concerns. CoCIS can provide a lot of research, hardware, software and human resources to this collaboration” he offered.
In his contribution, Prof. Atekyereza added that the School of Social Sciences also stood to gain from Tsinghua’s expertise. “In particular, the Department of Political Science and Public Administration has done a lot of research in the security domain and improvements on technology in surveillance will be of paramount importance
We also have the element of criminology under the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Cybercrime is increasing and our engagement will see how we can improve our research in this regard” he added.
After the MoU signing and exchange ceremony, the Vice Chancellor expressed optimism that the collaboration would enable both Staff and Students gain critical skills through retooling, joint supervision and possibly in the not-too-distant future, lead to the establishment of the first forensic laboratory in Uganda.
Article by Public Relations Office
General
Makerere University and Xiangtan University Advance Strategic Partnership in Chemical Engineering
Makerere University and Xiangtan University are set to update their close to 20-year academic partnership, with a new focus on launching a joint Master’s degree program in Chemical Engineering and expanding student and staff exchange initiatives.
The commitment was reaffirmed during a recent visit by a delegation from Xiangtan University to Makerere University headed by Professor Dingyu Ou, in the company of Mr. Tang Fei and Professor Gilbert Gumshabe, the Chinese and Ugandan Directors of the Confucius Institute at Makerere University respectively.
While addressing the delegation, Professor Nawangwe highlighted that this initiative is part of a broader strategy to diversify academic offerings and contribute to national development through training in Chemical Engineering. Through this new initiative, the University will better prepare graduates for the petrochemical industry and support the country’s industrial growth.
The Vice Chancellor appreciated that the proposed collaboration aims to address Uganda’s growing need for industrial expertise, particularly as the country develops its petroleum sector. The two universities here are working toward a 1+2 training model, which will enable Makerere students to gain practical experience and access advanced laboratory facilities at Xiangtan University.
Professor Nawangwe further reiterated that “our relationship with the people of China, not just for Makerere but also for a big part of Uganda, has been opened wider by the establishment of the Confucius Institute, considering that many other collaborations like one being discussed now have come through this collaboration.”
The head of the Xiangtan delegation, Professor Dingyu Ou, expressed appreciation for the meeting, and acknowledged the history between the institutions. “As mentioned, we have a very long relationship and a very stable friendship between our two universities.”
Professor Ou extended appreciation for the support provided to the Confucius Institute at Makerere, the care shown to his colleagues, and looked forward to the successful start of the Chemical Engineering collaboration.
Assuring the delegation of Makerere’s readiness for the collaboration, Ms. Hawa Ndagire Kajumba the Lead, Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement, Makerere University Advancement Office, aligned with the Vice Chancellor’s emphasis of University goal to have both theory and practice imparted to the students.
She said “the curriculum of the university and Uganda as a whole is moving towards competence-based education training to ensure students are equipped to demonstrate those skills in the actual field, particularly regarding petroleum exploration.”
Ms. Ndagire Kajumba also emphasised a shift in strategy for the partnership office, saying, “we are moving away from just signing MOUs that collect dust, and moving towards those that are more collaborative to benefit our faculty and students, just like this one.”
Professor Gilbert Kumushabe aligned his remarks with those of the Vice Chancellor and Ms. Ndagire Kajumba, and described the method used at Xiangtan University as “actually competence-based teaching.”
Based on his recent visit, Prof. Gumoshabe shared that students in China are divided into groups with dedicated teachers to perform practical, hands-on work beyond the theoretical lecturers. He expressed gladness that the same was being adopted for the Ugandan context.
Both institutions are now working to finalise the specific agreements for the joint degree and exchange programs. Beyond academic training, the collaboration will advance cultural and professional exchange.
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