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RIF Holds Consultative Workshop to Inform Research Agenda

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On Friday 10th January 2020, the Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (RIF) held a consultative workshop for representatives from Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) aimed at understanding priority research and innovation needs in the different sectors so as to develop a robust research agenda. The resulting agenda will help researchers to include new perspectives in research, restructure their processes and produce research that resolves community challenges.

Addressing the consultative workshop, the Chairperson RIF Grants Management Committee (GMC), Prof. William Bazeyo said that the priority areas identified by participants would form the basis for the next RIF Grant Call for Applications due mid-January 2020.

The DVCFA & Chairperson GMC-Prof. WIlliam Bazeyo (Right) addresses participants that took part in the RIF Stakeholders Consultative Workshop on 10th January 2020.

“Our objective as RIF is to support research and innovation initiatives that contribute to better delivery of National Development initiatives, guided by the key national and sector-specific development plans and global priorities. We therefore thank you all for coming today and we look forward to receiving your input so as to enhance the delivery of our goal” remarked Prof. Bazeyo.

The Chairperson GMC who is the Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance & Administration) thanked the Government for utilizing the extensive skills and experience amassed by Makerere University’s academia over the decades to find solutions to national development challenges. “Through RIF, we shall increase the local generation of translatable research and scalable innovations that address key gaps required to drive Uganda’s development agenda.”

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe in his remarks thanked the Government of Uganda for committing to support research and innovations at Makerere University. “RIF demonstrates the increasing importance that the Government attaches to our research and innovations as a catalyst to Uganda’s transformation into middle-income status.”

A cross-section of participants from Makerere University and Government MDAs that took part in the RIF Stakeholders Consultative Workshop on 10th January 2020.

He added that whereas there was no shortage of research and innovations from staff, commercialisation and patenting of the products remained an unfunded priority. “We are therefore recommending that the next release of funding for RIF should allocate money for commerialisation and patenting of already existing products such as our solar irrigation pump and others.”

Prof. Nawangwe shared that whereas the first stakeholders consultative meeting had targeted Government MDAs, the subsequent one would target the private sector and civil society organisations.

“Our past experience with the Innovation Systems and Clusters Programme-Uganda (ISCP-U) shows that a triple helix approach that brings on board the Government, Academia and Private Sector is an effective way of transforming our Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). For example, the Katwe Metal Fabricators cluster was able to work with our Professors and improve their production to the extent that they now export inverters and generators to South Sudan and Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo” explained the Vice Chancellor.

R-L: The Vice Chancellor-Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, Executive Director UBOS-Dr. Chris Ndatira Mukiza, DVCFA & Chairperson GMC-Prof. WIlliam Bazeyo and Deputy Director for Innovations DRGT-Dr. Robert Wamala share a light moment during the RIF Stakeholders Consultative Workshop, 10th January 2020, CTF 1, Makerere University, Kampala Uganda.

Contributing to the day’s discussion, the Executive Director, Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), Dr. Chris Ndatira Mukiza shared that his institution has a lot data that researchers can come together and mine. “We are open to collaborations with universities so as to turn this data into useful information that can move our country forward.”

The Stakeholders workshop was also attended by staff from the; College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS), College of Computing and Information Sciences (CoCIS), College of Education and External Studies (CEES), College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), College of Natural Sciences (CoNAS) and the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity (CoVAB).

Article by Public Relations Office

 

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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.

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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.

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Call for Application: 2025 SNRM session 4 Summer School

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Participants in focused group discussions. Leiden-Delft-Erasmus East Africa Research Network (LEARN) in collaboration with the Urban Action Lab at Makerere University a workshop to deliberate strategies for mitigating the impacts of climate change in urban centres in the East African Region, Theme: “Resilient Urban Futures: Adapting Livelihoods to Climate Change”, 4th-5th September 2024, School of Public Health Auditorium, Kampala Uganda.

Context:
Natural resources in Africa are being depleted at an alarming rate due to several factors, including unsustainable human activities, climate change, and population growth. A primary condition of sustainable development is to ensure that the pressures do not exceed the environmental limits, and that demand for the resources does not exceed levels that can be sustainably provided by nature. Therefore, there is a pressing need for transformative, systems-thinking approaches and tools that can tackle the diverse challenges facing these systems. In Africa, this need is compounded by a lack of data and monitoring, which significantly hinders sustainable decision-making.

Investing in young scientists who are committed to take lead in sustainable management of Africa’s natural resources is very important. Capacity building of young scientists will enhance their knowledge and skill on sustainable natural resources and their involvement for implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDG’s) in Africa. To this effect, SNRM summer schools have been implemented in three sessions in 2019, 2020, and 2022 with support from Volkswagen Foundation; to build a critical mass of skilled and competent young natural resource scientists in Africa through training, capacity building and mentorship. Session 4 (2025) will target competent young scientists (MSc and PhD students) in Africa and Germany to further develop their knowledge and skills in systems thinking, advanced data collection and analysis, and application of emerging digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), internet of things (IoT), and embracing transdisciplinary approaches. In addition, we include an ideation workshop where students can work on real problems to come up with solutions for sustainable transformations in natural resource use.

Organizers: Leibniz Universität – Hannover (Germany), University of Antananarivo, University of Abomey Calavi (Benin), Makerere University (Uganda), University of Ghana (Ghana), University of Parakou (Benin), The Technical University of Kenya, with financial support from the Volkswagen Foundation (Germany).

Venue and dates: Nairobi, Kenya, 16-28 November 2025

Target: MSc and PhD students, early in the program of less than 35 years of age from any university/research institution in either sub-Saharan Africa or Germany with an interest in natural resources management.

Participants and Scholarships: The course is fully funded and open to 20 MSc and PhD students from Africa, and 5 from Germany. Funding will cover the costs of air ticket, accommodation, meals, visa, and transportation. However, participants will cover the cost of their travel health insurance.

Topics

SNRM Summer School Session 4: Transformative pathways in biodiversity management and conservation.
This summer school is designed to deliver four modules over a two-week period. The modules are designed to enable the students to acquire new ways of designing data collection protocols and analysis for transformative sustainable natural resources management.

Module 4.1: Data collection I
Skills in data collection for a transformative and sustainable management of natural resources (water, wildlife, forest, land, livestock, crops) monitoring and data collection techniques; remote monitoring tools, earth observation system data, e.g. satellite data sources, LIDAR, and UAV aerial images. Collect and analyse In-situ data on biotic and abiotic parameters, map and analyse data using R or Google Earth Engine, field data collection and retrieving data from online databases.

Module 4.2 Data management and processing
Introduction to tools and methods of managing large and diverse data sets of natural resources such as time series, spatial, directional, and multivariate data. Practicals will include data storage, organization and conversion into various formats using databases such as PostgreSQL and statistical programming software such as R and Python; scripts.

Module 4.3 Ecological monitoring, modelling and management
This module aims to teach participants how to anticipate and validate trends that can be observed in various ecosystems. Lectures include ecological monitoring and its design; population monitoring studies; metrics in population monitoring; methods for monitoring and assessing marine ecosystems; human ecology to socio-ecological systems; climate change impact of ecosystems; suitability assessments; overview of the principles underlying wildlife monitoring and prediction systems for climate change adaptation. Practicals will include field data collection (individual and group); ecological data analysis using R or PAST; modelling and experiencing the behaviour of complex systems using Vensim.

Module 4.4 Natural habitat restoration ideation lab
This module is designed to spur students’ innovation and creativity, and to help students comprehensively identify interdependencies across the 17 SDG goals. Participants will be trained on ideation processes for solutions and intervention for transformative natural resource management. They will work collaboratively in small groups on case studies and develop pathways of transformative sustainable natural resource management. Examples of projects include forest (mangrove) ecosystem and habitat restoration, improved technologies for agricultural production, nature-based solutions for improving water quality, and reversing land degradation.

Language: The course will be delivered in English. Participants are expected to be fluent in writing and speaking the English language.

How to apply

Applicants are kindly requested to fill in the application form available from https://snrmafrica.com/ and submit the following documents in English through the system.

  • a curriculum vitae (maximum 2 pages)
  • a letter of motivation (maximum 1 page)
  • a confirmation of university enrolment
  • a reference letter from the academic supervisor
  • project summary of MSc/ PhD project (1 page including objectives, methodology
    and key findings or expected outcomes).

Important dates
Application deadline: 30th June 2025.
Announcement of accepted applicants: 15th August 2025.
Confirmation of attendance by selected participants: 12th Sept 2025.
Summer school held: 16 – 28 Nov 2025.

Further information is available from

The secretariat info@snrmafrica.com
Dr Lydia Olaka lydiaolaka@tukenya.ac.ke
Prof. Dr. Hartmut Stuetzel stuetzel@gem.uni-hannover.de

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