Four centres at three Ugandan universities last week became the latest recipients of a World Bank grant, after two centres at Makerere University and one at Uganda Martyrs University in Nkozi.
The World Bank board approved what is known as the Eastern and Southern Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence project to set up 24 Africa Centres of Excellence (ACEs).
The selected ACEs in Uganda are Makerere University’s Centre for Crop Improvement, as well as its Centre of Materials, Product Development & Nanotechnology, Uganda Martyrs University’s African Center for Agro-ecology and Livelihood Systems, as well as Mbarara University of Science and Technology’s Pharm-Biotechnology & Traditional Medicine Centre.
Each of the ACEs in Africa will receive $6 million (about Shs 21bn) over the five-year project period. The objective of the ACE II project is to strengthen selected Eastern and Southern Africa higher education institutions to deliver quality postgraduate education and build collaborative research capacity in the regional priority areas.
According to Mbarara University of Science and Technology spokesperson, Dennis Lukaaya, the selected ACEs are expected to address specific development challenges facing the region through graduate training in Master’s, PhD, and short-term courses and applied research in the form of partnerships and collaborations with other institutions and the private sector.
Some 24 institutions in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia received the support.