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Natural Sciences

Academia Encouraged to Take Lead in the National STI Ecosystem

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The First National Policy Forum for Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) ended with calls for academia in Uganda to take lead in the STI ecosystem by identifying talent, knowledge management as well as creation of links with industry to support innovations. This is based on the effective models witnessed across the world as associated with the universities such as Harvard, MIT, and Stanford in the United States of America, and University of Cape Town in South Africa. It was reiterated that a better STI ecosystem will help catalyze national development for Uganda.

Makerere University through its College of Natural Sciences (CoNAS) organized, hosted, and virtually held the 1st National Policy Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovations (STIs) Advancement for Development on the August 26th and 27th, 2021 under the theme “Positioning STI to address emerging threats to national development”. Makerere University deemed it strategic to initiate a national multi-stakeholder dialogue with an aim of contributing to the discourse on the role of STI in socio-economic transformation of the country even in the face of global and national challenges such as Covid–19. Assoc. Prof. Arthur Tugume, Head – Department of  Plant Sciences, Microbiology and Biotechnology chaired the organizing team.

In the opening remarks delivered by the Deputy Vice Chancellor/ Academic Affairs, Makerere University Prof. Kakumba Umar on behalf of the Vice Chancellor, Makerere University; Prof. Nawangwe Barnabas, he said ‘ Makerere is well positioned with capacity to support STI for national development in Uganda’. He thanked H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for the vision in establishing the Presidential Initiative for Science and Technology that benefited various colleges of Makerere University and enabled staff as well students to initiate innovations like the KIRA E.V. at the College of Engineering, Design, Art, and Technology. ‘The Government of Uganda has further committed 30bn Uganda shillings towards the Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (Mak-RIF) that has supported over 700 projects since 2019’, as an institution, Makerere University is very grateful for this support, the Vice Chancellor noted.

The forum was officially opened by Hon. Dr. Monica Musenero – Minister for Science and Technology, who was the Chief Guest of the conference. In her speech, she thanked the Vice Chancellor, Makerere University and CoNAS for taking lead in the direction of STI especially during the Covid19 pandemic which has affected nations greatly. The Minister advised that ‘publication of research papers is good however, written material is not enough. We need action from government institutions, academia, students and general population otherwise Uganda will not change’. She further noted that ‘research, science and innovation has become too elitist ignoring the simple man/woman in the village reiterating that there has to be a mindset change otherwise nothing will happen’. We must involve the simple man, mother down in the village who is the client for a better Uganda, and I am hopeful that a detailed report of the discussions from this forum will be shared to guide us going forward, the Minister advised.

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Natural Sciences

15 PhD Positions: Human River Systems in the 21st century

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15 New Positions Open in the FWF PhD Program "Human River systems in the 21st century (HR21)". Application Deadline: 2nd April 2024. Austria. Europe

Highly qualified applicants from all over the world are invited to apply for the PhD Program “Human River systems in the 21st century (HR21)”. The 15 positions are fully funded and the Doctoral Programme is providing additional resources for conference presentations, retreats etc.

The 15 PhD research topics are:

  • Topic 1: Role of hydrological extremes (floods) for sediment transport and morphodynamics in the human-river system
  • Topic 2: Material resources demand and flows of hydraulic structures to prevent societal impact of extreme events (social ecology, environmental history)
  • Topic 3: Intermittent flow – hydrological effects and impacts on benthic communities, ecological state and functioning of riverine systems
  • Topic 4: Drought, low flow and warming – hydrological effects and impacts on the ecological state and functioning of river systems
  • Topic 5: Water transit time distributions as indicators for the vulnerability of riverine ecosystems under different pressures from social metabolism
  • Topic 6: Analyzing possible contributions of re-activated former watercourses towards a more sustainable transformation of industrialized riverine landscapes in urban areas
  • Topic 7: The role of the latest industrial revolutions on instream processes and ecological vulnerability of IRL
  • Topic 8: The effects of infrastructure development on ecological and ecosystem service network properties in river systems
  • Topic 9: The impact of urban settlements on organic matter and nutrient flows in industrialized riverine landscapes – What can we learn from the past?
  • Topic 10: Urban metabolism, a river’s ecohydrology and industrialization: Vienna and the Danube, 1800-2000
  • Topic 11: Impact of external organic matter sources on nutrient, sediment and water transport from cropland into streams
  • Topic 12: Impacts of bioenergy crops used as riparian buffer strips on stream ecosystems’ functioning
  • Topic 13: Sustainable hydropower & and the water-energy-food nexus in multi-stressed IRLs: Challenges and solutions for science & management
  • Topic 14: Integrated modelling of farmers’ climate change impact and adaptation appraisal to inform regional human river nexus management
  • Topic 15: Strategic planning approaches to territorial governance of industrialized riverine landscapes

For more information, please visit: https://short.boku.ac.at/q9ry2k

Application deadline: 2nd April 2024

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Natural Sciences

Dr. Tugume Patience Wins OWSD Early Career Fellowship

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Dr. Tugume Patience, Department of Plant Sciences, Microbiology and Biotechnology, College of Natural Sciences (CoNAS), Makerere University, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.

Dr Tugume Patience, a Lecturer in the Department of Plant Sciences, Microbiology and Biotechnology at the College of Natural Sciences (CoNAS), Makerere University is one of the 28 women who have been granted the 2023 OWSD Early Career Fellowship.  These scientists will receive up to USD50,000 to lead research projects and establish research groups at their home institutions in 16 countries in the developing world, to maintain an international standard of research and attract scholars from all over the world to collaborate. Funding for the fellowships is generously provided by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

During the 3-year fellowship, fellows will receive specific training to build on their leadership and management skills and develop connections with a variety of public and private sector partners to potentially convert their research into marketable products or guarantee its impact on a broader scale. By improving their communication and outreach skills, fellows will also learn to effectively present their research to various audiences, thus attracting new collaborators and potential funders to ensure the sustainability of the research project.

Dr Tugume’s Project – Biological Systems and Organisms

This project will use various forms of bio-wastes from households and urban centres in Uganda as raw materials for production of biogas, as well as an eco-friendly bio-fertilizer and bio-pesticide. Large amounts of unconsumed food are often thrown away in homes and urban centres that could be converted into useful products that would supply energy, enhance agricultural productivity and reduce deforestation. This project will construct anaerobic bio-digester tanks to process different kinds of bio-waste into biogas, a renewable energy source, and evaluate yields of biogas from different bio-wastes and combinations of bio-wastes. It will additionally produce a bio-fertilizer to enrich soil and a bio-pesticide to manage agricultural pests. The project will also equip households with the skills to biologically convert wastes into value-added products, training women and youth in biogas production and usage.

Details on the fellowships at: https://owsd.net/news/news-events/introducing-2023-owsd-early-career-fellows

Congratulations Dr Tugume

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Agriculture & Environment

CoSTClim – NORPART Call for Applications for Masters Student Mobility to Norway 2024

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Makerere University (MAK) in collaboration with Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Uganda Martyrs University (UMU) and Regional Universities Forum (for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) are implementing a five-year CoSTClim project (Collaborative Action for Strengthening Training Capacities in Climate Risk and Natural Resource management). The main goal of the project is to improve the quality of training, education and research at the partner institutions with a dedicated focus on climate risk, disaster risk management and natural resource management. CoSTClim builds on a range of other capacity development projects funded by the Norwegian Government at the partner institutions, and has a specific focus on education.

One of the components of CoSTClim is student mobility from Uganda to Norway and from Norway to Uganda. Therefore, we are inviting applicants from Makerere University for Masters student mobility scholarships to NTNU for the Autumn semester in 2024. There are five mobility scholarship slots available for this year. The scholarship will cover 5 months (August-December 2024) stay at NTNU in Trondheim, Norway. The successful candidates can enroll in selected course units at NTNU as well as leveraging the stay to write their master’s thesis. The width and breadth of available course units from which the candidates can select are found: https://www.ntnu.edu/geography/exchange-students

Limited research supervision will also be given by NTNU staff but the primary supervision responsibility stays with the allocated supervisors at Makerere University or Uganda Martyrs University.

Eligibility and requirements for the mobility applicants
a) The applicant should be a fully registered student in a relevant Masters programme at
Makerere University or Uganda Martyrs University, which aligns to the CostClim
thematic focus area.
b) The focus of the research of the applicant should align strongly to climate risk, disaster
risk management, natural resource management or agriculture.
c) The applicant should be progressing well on the masters programme and within the
stated duration of the programme (2-3years).

Application procedure
Interested and eligible Masters students should send the following;
a) A one page application letter
b) A motivation statement and plan for the time at NTNU (1-2 pages)
c) A letter from the Head of Department attesting to your registration, study status and
progress on your programme.
d) Copies of your undergraduate transcript and partial transcript or HOD endorsed
results for your current studies.
Application with all the required documents should be submitted by email to the contacts
below in one message.

  1. Yazidhi Bamutaze (for applicants from MAK)- yazidhibamutaze@gmail.com
  2. Runyararo Jolyn Rukarwa – r.rukarwa@ruforum.org
  3. Charlotte Nakakawa Jjunju – charlotte.jjunju@ntnu.no
  4. Joseph Sekandi sekjoseph@gmail.com
    Short listed applicants will be invited to complete educational procedures at NTNU under the
    exchange arrangement. A scholarship

The application deadline is Thursday 29th February 2024.

For further details, kindly download the document by following this link.

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