Government gives Makerere sh30b for research

 

KAMPALA - Makerere University has received special funding worth sh30b from the Government under the Research and Innovations Fund (RIF) to support high impact research and innovations. 

 

This was revealed during the sensitisation meeting that was held at the university's Main Hall attended by heads of academic and administration, researchers and PhD students.

 

The Chairperson of the Grants Management Committee (GMC) who is also the acting deputy Vice-Chancellor for finance and administration, Prof. William Bazeyo, said out of the sh30b, sh15b had already been disbursed by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and is already on the Makerere University's Account.

 

According to Bazeyo, the money will be directed towards increasing local generation of translatable research and scalable innovations that address key gaps required to drive Uganda's development agenda. 

 

"The research and innovations fund is aimed at complementing available research funding to address unfunded priorities critical to accelerating development across different sectors of the economy in Uganda," Bazeyo said.

 

He revealed that the Government had committed to providing this funding for at least three financial years. 

 

"Available funds are obligated to be spent within the current financial year, with actionable results that speak to national priorities," he said.

 

He congratulated Makerere University Council, management, staff and students upon this big achievement. He urged researchers and innovators to fully utilise the grant to develop research and innovation initiatives with the aim of transforming societies.

 

Bazeyo revealed that a multi-sectoral grants management committee (GMC) to guide the implementation of all the research and innovations fund activities had been appointed by Makerere University's Vice-Chancellor in consultation with all the colleges.

 

The secretary to the committee and grants co-ordinator, Dr Roy William Mayega, said the grant targets appointed academic staff (assistant lecturers, lecturers, senior lecturers, associate professors and professors) and research staff who hold a valid and current appointment (research fellows and senior research fellows).

 

"Academic staff from all academic colleges of Makerere University are eligible to apply as well as senior staffs from the administrative units such as Library, Gender Mainstreaming, Quality Assurance, and the Directorate of Research and Graduate Training," he said.

 

Mayega emphasised that grants target staff and not students. Students' research proposals will, therefore, not be funded under these grants. However, students may be part of a research team.

 

In his remarks, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, the Vice-Chancellor of Makerere University, thanked the Government for committing to support research and innovations. 

 

Nawangwe said the RIF demonstrates the increasing importance that the Government attaches to Makerere's research and innovations as a catalyst to Uganda's transformation into a middle-income status.

 

"Whereas there was no shortage of research and innovations from staff, commercialisation and patenting of the products remained an unfunded priority. We are, therefore, recommending that the next release of funding for RIF be allocated to commercialisation and patenting of already existing products such as our solar irrigation pump and others," Nawangwe said.

 

Dr Chris Ndatira Mukiza, the executive director of Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), said UNBS has a lot of data from which researchers can come together and mine. 

 

"We are open to collaborations with universities so as to turn this data into useful information that can move our country forward," Mukiza said.