Connect with us

Natural Sciences

Dr. Perpetra Akite wins British Ecological Society Marsh Award for Ecologists in Africa

Published

on

Dr. Perpetra Akite has been awarded the Marsh Award for Ecologists in Africa.  This prize aims to celebrate the significant scientific achievements of African ecologists and raise their profile in the UK. It is provided by the Marsh Charitable Trust and administered by the British Ecological Society.

Dr. Akite is one of Uganda’s leading entomologists and experts in butterflies. She has made important advances in improving knowledge around insects in Uganda, contributing to assessing and mapping key ecologically sensitive species in the country. She has even had a moth named after her.  

Dr. Akite is also passionate about passing on her knowledge to younger generations and takes part in a great deal of outreach activities at both school and university level. Her goal is to encourage more young people – especially African girls – to begin a career in science.

The winners will be presented with their prizes during a ceremony held at the BES Annual Meeting which runs from 18th – 21st December in Edinburgh. The meeting will bring together over 1000 ecologists (in person and online) to discuss the latest advances in ecological research across the whole discipline.

View on CoNAS

Natural Sciences

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

Published

on

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

Continue Reading

Natural Sciences

Dr. Tugume Patience Wins OWSD Early Career Fellowship

Published

on

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

View on CoNAS

Continue Reading

Agriculture & Environment

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

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

Trending