Makerere University on Monday, 15th November 2021 hosted a delegation from the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Odisha – India as a precursor to collaboration especially in the areas of health sciences and engineering. The two-man delegation consisting of Mr. Rahul Varma the Assistant Director International Relations and Mr. Harshit Aggarwal were received by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Dr. Umar Kakumba at his office in the Senate Building.

Dr. Kakumba welcomed the delegation to Makerere and thanked them for choosing to collaborate with the University.

Mr. Varma in his brief shared that KIIT has a student population of 30,000, including over 1,400 international students from 54 different countries around the globe. The institution offers more than 120 academic Undergraduate and Postgraduate programs in Engineering, Law, Biotechnology, Medical Sciences, Applied Sciences, Business Administration, Architecture, Film and Media Science, Fashion Technology, Humanities and Yoga.

KIIT also has several Centres of Excellence (CoEs) that perform research and development activities, as well as future innovation in various fields of engineering and industrial  technology. He added that KIIT is highest ranked private university in India located in the capital city of Odisha, Bhubaneswar which is in the mineral-rich part of eastern India.

Mr. Varma shared that KIIT has emerged as a leading private institution of quality education and skill development in India within a period of 29 years. In 2019 KIIT was recognised as an INSTITUTION OF  EMINENCE (IOE) by India’s Ministry of Education (erstwhile Ministry of Human Resource Development-HRD), and it is one of seven private universities to receive this recognition. The University has been conferred “Category A” status by India’s Ministry of Education.

“KIIT wishes to collaborate with Makerere University in the areas of student and staff exchange, joint research, with a priority areas of collaboration in healthcare and engineering” concluded Mr. Varma.

In his remarks, Dr. Kakumba informed the delegation that Makerere University is the oldest in the region and has embarked on year-long celebrations to mark 100 years of existence this year.

“Makerere teaches every area of knowledge. We are currently running eighty five (85) undergraduate programmes and awarding close to 100 doctorates per year. We are the best in tropical medicine and infectious diseases research on the continent. Our strategic plan focuses on enabling us to become a research-intensive university and we are moving towards 70% of faculty being PhD holders”, Dr. Kakumba added.

He informed the delegation that Makerere is keen on strategic institutional collaborations and has signed memoranda of understanding with leading universities globally, as well as esteemed institutions like the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Sida – Sweden’s government agency for development cooperation, The Rockefeller Foundation, NORAD – Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation among others.

“Some of these institutions have partnered with the university for periods spanning over 20 years” he added.