On 11^th August 2022, the University Administration held an orientation ceremony for PhD Fellows at Makerere (PF@Mak) based on the theme, “Linking Research to Industry for Socio-economic Development of Uganda.” Held in the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT) Conference Hall, the orientation was graced by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Hon. Dr. Monica Musenero, who also delivered a keynote address on the theme. In attendance were; the Minister of State for Gender and Culture, Hon. Peace Regis Mutuuzo who is also a PhD candidate, the Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Prof. Umar Kakumba, and the Director Directorate of Research and Graduate Training (DGRT) and Patron PF@Mak, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi.

Also present were the Director Directorate for ICT Support (DICTS), Mr. Samuel Mugabi, Deputy University Librarian Dr. Ruth Nalumaga, Deputy Dean of Students, Mr. Peter Rivan Muhereza, Principal College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), Assoc. Prof. Josephine Ahikire, Deputy Principal CEDAT, Assoc. Prof. Venny Nakazibwe and the Head Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (Mak-RIF), Prof. Fred Masagazi Masaazi among others.

Keynote address by the Minister

Hon. Dr. Musenero in her keynote address challenged the PhD Fellows to go beyond the culture of “publish or perish”, noting that it was time for them as creators of knowledge to align their research with the Government’s eight priority industrial value chain areas. These include; Pathogen Economy, Mobility, Aeronautics and Space, Industry 4.0+, Infrastructure Innovation, Productivity Acceleration, Import Substitution, and Value-added Exports.

“Every time you buy something imported, you cost us jobs,” she remarked. “I don’t know a better place to begin than here. I hope that after today some of you will go back and change your research topics” added the Minister.

Challenges affecting innovation

She nevertheless acknowledged that the current state of affairs is attributable to four main challenges namely; an unfavourable ecosystem, an incomplete education system, a limited ability to develop systems and an absence of priortisation systems.

Hon. Dr. Musenero expounded that the unfavourable ecosystem has been consistently inculcated by a culture that does not support innovation, but instead prefers what is imported over locally produced goods. This is exacerbated by the incomplete education system, designed to create technicians who are consumers of imported goods or users of existing knowledge.

“Our curriculum doesn’t teach how to develop but rather how to consume… It’s up to you PhDs to create a curriculum and content that will drive us to attainment of Vision 2040… We import textbooks and yet every PhD should be a textbook” she pointed out.

Furthermore, the Minister noted that our limited ability to develop homegrown systems is one of the reasons why we struggle to change things. This, she said, could be attributed to and education that does not teach us how to create systems but rather use existing ones. A case in point, she noted, was our local enterprises that don’t thrive because the owners take over the role of systems. The absence of prioritisation systems is closely tied to the above scenario, causing us to struggle with setting priorities both corporately and as individuals.

The way forward

Having cited the aforementioned challenges, Hon. Dr. Musenero was nevertheless willing to participate in any initiatives to reorient PhD training through the teaching tracks on innovation and development of systems as well as producing graduates that are principled and less reactive.

She noted that by aligning their PhD work to the Government’s eight priority industrial value chain areas, Fellows will have something to look forward to further pursing after graduation, unlike the all-too-common scenario where theses are treated as burdens to be borne and offloaded at the next best opportunity.

Giving examples of the dynamic work currently underway, the Minister shared that the Government is in advanced stages of producing vaccines for both humans and animals, putting up a facility to develop PCR test kits, and fine-tuning the diesel engine fabricated by Makerere researchers and local artisans.  

Furthermore, on the Aeronautics and Space front, seventeen (17) personnel have been trained, eight (8) being PhDs, and work is currently underway to launch Uganda’s first satellite in September 2022 and set up the National Space Agency at the Mpoma earth station in Mukono District.

Hon. Dr. Musenero reassured the audience that Uganda is naturally endowed with minerals, and has some of the best sand in the world at Lwera in Mpigi District. The sand, she said, will be a useful raw material for the manufacture of semiconductors, with efforts currently underway to begin manufacturing chips by November 2022.

On the productivity acceleration front, the Minister introduced Dr. Joshua Isiko, Team Leader for Makerere University, as the go-to person. “We are going to have a hub at the University, which is our STI Office; run on our principles and on our value system. We are going to put this at every University.”

Using the example of the mobile phone that took over 30 years to move from prototype to an affordable gadget costing approximately UGX 30,000, she encouraged innovators to be resilient and never give up on their ideas, no matter how tough the going gets. “Keep working on it (your innovation), don’t go for the easy way. Everybody goes for the easy way but the things which generate successful industries are those which choose to flatten the path because they are solving a problem.”

Remarks by University Administration

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe thanked Hon. Dr. Musenero for accepting the invitation to preside over the orientation ceremony and deliver the keynote address. He said that Makerere is mindful of the contribution that highly trained human capital makes to national development and shared the University’s efforts to train PhDs. Makerere produced 100 PhDs at the 72^nd Graduation Ceremony held in May 2022 and 108 PhDs at the 71^st Graduation Ceremony in May 2021.

Prof. Nawangwe nevertheless appealed to the Minister to follow up with the Head of State on the request for Government to fund Masters and PhD studies or set aside study loans for the same. He also requested for a follow-up on the request to declare Makerere a Research University.

In his remarks, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi informed PhD Fellows that Patent work can be used to meet the publication requirement, with each patent work equivalent to three (03) publications.

The University Administration appreciated the work done by PF@Mak particularly the President Mr. Ahabwe Gerald, who constantly engages them on matters related to PhD students. Fellows were reminded that PhD completion is dependent on the Quality of Student, Supervision, and Administration. They were therefore urged to do their part and then engage the administration to support supervision and enabling policies. 

PhD Fellows were further informed that the University is not waiving time lost due to COVID-19 disruptions. Candidates with justifiable reasons were nevertheless encouraged seek hearing on a case-by-case basis.

Publication is an integral part of the PhD journey. Fellows were therefore encouraged to make use of Internal University and Regional Journals to have their work published. They were equally reminded that cross-cutting courses are intended for all PhD students, irrespective of whether one is admitted on a PhD by Research or Course work and Dissertation.

Conclusion

The PF@Mak President, Mr. Ahabwe Gerald emphasized the need for the Administration to take advantage of the knowledge and skills possessed by PhD students, to help achieve the set strategic goal of transforming Makerere into a research-led University. 

Additional reporting by Namaasa Aeron