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GAMSU Holds Sensitization Workshop on Grants Administration & Management at Mak Jinja Campus

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By Elvis Lubanga

The Director for the Makerere University Jinja Campus, Assoc. Prof. Ronald Kakungulu Mayambala has emphasized the importance of research funding, as a pathway for academic success. This was during the Grants Administration and Management Support Unit (GAMSU) sensitisation workshop held at the Jinja Campus on Thursday 4th May 2023 aimed at empowering researchers with the skills and knowledge they need to secure and manage grants.

Kakungulu highlighted the role of Grants Administration and Management in this process and therefore encouraged everyone to take advantage of the resources and expertise available through GAMSU.

The workshop featured participants from Jinja Campus led by Kakungulu, Prof Ronald Balunya and facilitators led by the Head GAMSU, Professor Sylivia Antonia Nakimera Nannyonga – Tamusuza.

Assoc. Prof. Ronald Kakungulu Mayambala, the Director of Makerere University Jinja Campus addressing participants at the Sensitization Workshop on Grants Administration and Management.
Assoc. Prof. Ronald Kakungulu Mayambala, the Director of Makerere University Jinja Campus addressing participants at the Sensitization Workshop on Grants Administration and Management.

In her remarks, Prof. Sylvia A. N. Nannyonga-Tamusuza, the head of GAMSU, delivered an informative presentation on Grants Administration and Management support in Makerere University, where she covered a range of topics, from the basics of grant application to best practices for project management.

Prof. Sylvia A. N. Nannyonga-Tamusuza, the Head, GAMSU addressing participants at the Sensitization Workshop on Grants Administration and Management at Makerere University, Jinja Campus.
Prof. Sylvia A. N. Nannyonga-Tamusuza, the Head, GAMSU addressing participants at the Sensitization Workshop on Grants Administration and Management at Makerere University, Jinja Campus.

Mr. Yunus Musisi, the IT officer at GAMSU shared on how to navigate the GAMSU Database where he supported participants in creating accounts and demonstrated how to add, edit project data in the Database.

Mr. Yunus Musisi, the IT officer at GAMSU, facilitating a session on navigating the GAMSU Database during the Sensitization Workshop.
Mr. Yunus Musisi, the IT officer at GAMSU, facilitating a session on navigating the GAMSU Database during the Sensitization Workshop.

He further noted that “the GAMSU database is going to help organize project information in one place which will ease tracking of grants at Makerere University with Module one capturing project information and module two dealing with the financials.”

Ms Christine Ninsima (CPA) an accountant at GAMSU, discussed the Budgeting and Financial Management procedures and guidelines when handling grant resources. She spelt out the critical considerations in budgeting for grants and highlighted the steps in budgeting, and why we need budgeting.

Ms. Christine Ninsiima facilitating a session on Budgeting and Financial Management procedures and guidelines for staff at the Sensitization Workshop.
Ms. Christine Ninsiima facilitating a session on Budgeting and Financial Management procedures and guidelines for staff at the Sensitization Workshop.

She said “since we cannot meet every need, budgets help in guiding principal investigators on the way forward.”

Christine further explained one of GAMSU’s mandates, which includes receiving and consolidating quarterly reports from all ongoing projects at Makerere, which includes comprehensive income and expenditure reports, as well as physical reports. This is done to not only ensure successful handling of grants but also check for compliance.

Mr. Laban Lwasa, the Senior Administrative Assistant at GAMSU shared skills on navigating funder platforms accessible through GAMSU support which include Grant Forward, proposal central, Grants.gov, European Union Tender Platform among others. He illustrated how to search for relevant funding opportunities, create strong proposals, and increase the chances of securing funds.

He also advised members of faculty at Jinja campus not to shy away from applying for grants just because they are not professors but rather give it a try when they have impactful ideas and proposals.

“I know a colleague who is not a professor but is currently a principal investigator.” Lwasa noted.

Mr. Laban Lwasa, the Senior Administrative Assistant at GAMSU guiding participants on how to navigate funder platforms.
Mr. Laban Lwasa, the Senior Administrative Assistant at GAMSU guiding participants on how to navigate funder platforms.

The workshop ended with closing remarks from Prof. Nannyonga-Tamusuza, who thanked everyone for their participation and encouraged them to continue building their skills and knowledge in searching, application and management of grants.

Mak Editor

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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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