MUK's biomathematics research gets boost from UVRI

Makerere University biomathematics research has been given a boosted by Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) which equipped College of Natural Sciences with computers and a standby generator worth over sh200m for research.

The principle of college of Natural Sciences Prof. Joseph Mugisha is optimistic that the computers will be very useful to the department of mathematics since students are required to do a lot of computation that requires powerful computers.

"This project came to facility research in infection and immunity science of which the department of mathematics is involved in research in computational biology, systems biology and bioinformatics. It will help us link our students to UVRI data together with that of the university of Cambridge," Mugisha noted.

"Bioinformatics as a new area requires this kind of facility. Four students are currently doing PHDs in Bioinformatics and those doing masters."

Prof. Alison Elliott, the director Makerere University/UVRI Centre of Excellence in infection and Immunity, Research and Training (MUll) disclosed that they considered Makerere University because it's the leading university in Uganda. The lead funder for this project is Wellcome Trust.

"We are interested in supporting the development of the best Ugandan Scientists to become leaders in health research, mathematics is fundamental to biology and health research. So we have tried to select and support the best trainees," Elliot said.

MUII is a collaborative capacity building and research programme supporting excellence in infection and immunity.

Juliet Nakakawa, a PHD student at the College of Natural Sciences said this kind of facility is important since it will help students improve their performance and how fast they can be able to graduate.