COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION THROUGH RESEARCH, INNOVATIONS AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION

Abstract

The Directorate of Research and Graduate Training is pleased to share with you some of the research outputs from the Third phase of the Makerere-Sida bilateral research programme, 2010–2015. The Swedish research cooperation with Uganda was initiated in 2000 and consisted of institutional research capacity strengthening. There has been three consecutive agreement periods, which have amounted to SEK 315 million and the current agreement period 2010-2015 amounts to SEK 215 million (total support 520M SEK). The programme was built around international research collaboration, principally with Swedish universities. The programme aimed to support MaK towards its goal of becoming a vibrant, internationally competitive research university. During the current research agreement 2010-2015, four other public universities entered the cooperation: Kyambogo, Busitema, Gulu and Mbarara University of Science and Technology, but the support to those universities has been channelled through MaK. The current agreement 2010-2014 entails support to 105 PhD students, 42 MA students and 20 Post-Doc researchers in 12 different units. Institutional support has gone to libraries, laboratories, the Iganga/Mayuge Demographic Surveillance Site, academic quality assurance, gender mainstreaming and to MaK´s research, administrative and financial reform. It is gratifying to note that Swedish support has significantly enhanced academic sustainability at MaK. More staff have completed their Ph.D.´s, Post Doc researchers are trained and provided research opportunities, relevant and promising research has been conducted and infrastructure for research has been strengthened. Ostensibly, the Swedish investment in researcher training and research has contributed to building research capacity, research structures and not least a culture of research at MaK. The consistent, long-term and predictable funding and support provide a model for capacity strengthening focusing on training individuals and building necessary support structures (ICT, libraries, management, etc.). However, even such a wellintended programme has its non-intended consequences for which the DRGT has designed a management plan. Owing from the satisfactory achievements from the third phase of research cooperation 2010-2015, preliminary arrangements have been made for the fourth phase of Sida support, and this will run for a period of 5 years, starting from September 2015 (2015 – 2020). We remain committed to reducing poverty and disease, to improving agricultural production, and cause community transformation through research, Innovation and local community engagements. We are grateful to the Royal Government of Sweden for the financial support extended to the researchers and students. We thank the staff at the Embassy of Sweden in Kampala for the guidance and resourceful contribution to the bilateral programme. We hope you will find this book of Abstracts a resourceful mirror of the wide research spectrum at Makerere University. Give us a feedback whenever possible as we together, Build for the Future! Professor Mukadasi Buyinza Director & Overall Coordinator Mak-Sida research programme DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH AND GRADUATE TRAINING