General

69th Graduation’s Gatale Emerges as Only African Winner at World CUR 2019

Published

2 years ago

June 7, 2019

Mark Wamai

Mr. Gatale Elijah (Right) poses with Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg's Susanne Haberstroh (Left) shortly after receiving his award on 25th May 2019, Oldenburg, Germany

Mr. Gatale Elijah who graduated with the Bachelor of Science of Computer Science during the second session of the 69th Graduation Ceremony of Makerere University has emerged as the only African winner at the recently concluded World Congress on Undergraduate Research 2019. The Second Edition of the World CUR was held from 23rd to 25th May 2019 at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany.

The aim of the Congress is to bring together the world's best undergraduate research and to work on some of the most significant challenges the global community is facing today. The World CUR 2019 featured six theme-based awards in the categories of; Environment, Global Health, Economy, Communication, Politics and The World We Create.

Mr. Gatale’s research project “Shuttle Alert” which addressed challenges that Makerere University students who reside in hostels face in their daily commute to the Main Campus won top honours in the Communication category. He received a manually crafted trophy and an official certificate. His undergraduate project "Shuttle Alert" was supervised by Dr. Marriette Katarahweire of the Department of Computer Science, College of Computing and Information Sciences (CoCIS). The Department is headed by Dr. Engineer Bainomugisha whose AirQo Project won a US$1.3million Google AI Impact Grant in May 2019.

Mr. Gatale Elijah poses with his certificate and trophy

Other winners were:

For the research theme “Environment”: Kamilia Zubir and Asma Ahmed (Qatar University, Qatar) with the oral presentation “Antibacterial Activity of New Sponge Species Isolated from the Qatari Marine Zone”.
For the research theme “Health”: Feres José Marón, et. Al (Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Argentina) with the oral presentation “Nanoformulated Anadamide Decreases Blood Pressure, Neuroinflammatory and Oxidative Markers in a Rat Model of Hypertensive Disease”.
For the research theme “Economy”: Anna-Lena Mauz, Joshua Senne, Maximilian Schambeck (University of Hohenheim, Germany) with the oral presentation “Earth‘s Treasures”.
For the research theme “Politics”: Jamie Wise, Hollie Nyseth Brehm (Ohio State University, USA) with the poster presentation “Forgiveness after the Genocide in Rwanda: What Religious Narratives Reveal About Agency”.
For the research theme “Create”: Saakshi Thukral, Katherine E. Savell (University of Alabama at Birmingham, US) with the poster presentation “Blunting Drug Related Gene Expression Changes Using a CRISPR/dCas9 Strategy”.

According to the Congress website, the prizes “have a fair value that encourages the individual development for subsequent research projects.”

We congratulate Mr. Gatale upon his excellent performance at the World CUR 2019 and for bringing great pride to his alma mater.

Please click the links below for more information

About Shuttle Alert: http://dissertations.mak.ac.ug/handle/20.500.12281/4367

About World CUR 2019: https://uol.de/en/worldcur2019

General

Veteran Professor changed Makerere and Higher Education

Published

2 days ago

June 21, 2021

Mark Wamai

Professor Pancras John Mukasa Ssebuwufu (L) receives a plaque and citation from RUFORUM Board Member and Vice Chancellor Ndejje University-Professor Eriabu Lugujjo (Right) on 6th May 2021 at the RUFORUM Secretariat, Plot 155 Garden Hill, Makerere University Main Campus,

When Professor John Ssebuwufu ambled up to receive a certificate of recognition for his ‘exceptional’ contribution to higher education from the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) at Makerere University (MU), he was thinking of many things, such as rewarding staff, that he could have done differently to impact university education more.

But he did what he could have done, under the circumstances.

He presided over MU (in 1993) when student enrolment was 5,000 and left in 2004 when the population was surging to more than 15,000.

He emphasised the use of information communication technologies in almost all the institutions he had been involved in and sent many academic staff on exchanges to boost research and innovation. Now, more African universities engage in ground-breaking research.

So, he proceeded to accept his recognition and make his acceptance speech, which was mostly about gratitude.

Ssebuwufu, 74, who is currently the chancellor at Kyambogo University and the vice-chancellor of the University of Kisubi, is credited for his exemplary leadership and pragmatic methods that have shaped higher education in Uganda and Africa as a whole.

General

Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS) Program 2021/2022

Published

2 days ago

June 21, 2021

Mark Wamai

Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS) Program 2021/2022. Photo credit: AfDB

The Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS) Program is a capacity building project by the AfDB and Japan which was initiated in 2017 with the aim of providing two-year scholarship awards to highly achieving African graduate students to enable them to undergo post-graduate studies (i.e. a two-year Master’s degree program) in selected priority development areas on the continent and Japan. The overarching goal the AfDB and the Government of Japan seek to attain is to enhance skills and human resources development in Africa in under the Bank’s High 5s agenda (i.e. “Feed Africa”, “Light up Africa”, “Industrialize Africa”, “Integrate Africa” and “Improve the quality of life of the people of Africa”) and key Japanese development assistance initiatives. JADS core areas of study focus include energy, agriculture, health, environmental sustainability, and engineering. The program also seeks to promote inter-university collaboration and university-industry partnerships between Japan and Africa. Upon completion of their studies, the JADS scholars are expected to return to their home countries to apply and disseminate their newly acquired knowledge and skills in the public and private sectors, and contribute to national and continental socio-economic development.

About the JADS program

The JADS Program is open to applicants from AfDB member countries with relevant professional experience and a history of supporting their countries’ development efforts who are applying to a graduate degree program in energy development and related discipline. The program does not provide scholarships to any other graduate degree program.

The scholarship program provides tuition, a monthly living stipend, round-trip airfare, health insurance, and travel allowance.

Upon completion of their studies, the beneficiary scholars are expected to return to their home countries to apply and disseminate their newly acquired knowledge and skills, and contribute to the promotion of sustainable development of their countries.

Who is Eligible to Apply?

The program is open to those who have gained admission to an approved Masters degree course at a Japanese partner university. Candidates should be 35 years old or younger; in good health; with a Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in the energy area or related area; and have a superior academic record. Upon completion of their study programs, scholars are expected to return to their home country to contribute to its economic and social development.

Application Procedures

Applicant requests for information and application forms and procedures from the chosen JADS partner university. For any inquiries, please contact JADS@AFDB.ORG
Applicant completes required documents and sends them to the university.
University evaluates and selects applicants.
University sends selected candidates to the AfDB.
AfDB reviews submissions from universities, prepares and approves the final list.
AfDB contacts selected awardees, and informs the universities.