FEATURED: UR-Sweden programme commended for impacting communities through research

The Minister of Education has hailed a programme run by the University of Rwanda and the Swedish government saying that it has greatly contributed to Rwanda’s socio-economic transformation. The programme that supports doctoral students and researchers, has existed for 20 years and has since been extended by another five years. It is the largest and most comprehensive externally funded institutional programme at the University of Rwanda, according to officials. While officially opening the annual review meeting of the UR-Sweden Programme on Tuesday May 17, education minister, Valentine Uwamariya underlined the research impact being developed towards Rwanda socio-economic transformation by strengthening local PhD programme. The opening session of the annual review meeting of the UR-Sweden Programme in Kigali on Tuesday May 17. All Photos by Craish Bahizi The five-day meeting – which brought together team leaders of research and support sub-programmes from the University of Rwanda and partner universities in Sweden – aims to define and discuss implementation of the activities that will mark the year 2022-2023. “UR and Sweden partners couldn’t meet in the last three years because of the pandemic. Now they are meeting to assess the progress on the programme implementation but also setting how to overcome challenges that have been met. The project aims to build capacity among academic researchers at the University of Rwanda. To date, we have around 85 PhD holders of whom 29 are female that graduated through this programme,” she said. Despite the achievements, she said that there is still a huge gap that needs to be filled. Strengthen local programme “We want to strengthen the local PhD programme so that we achieve the targets we have in the agreement. We are discussing how we can strengthen the research capacity to have a good number of PhD graduates but also how their research findings can be more impactful in the socio-economic transformation of the country,” she said. Johanna Teague, the Ambassador of Sweden in Rwanda delivers remarks during the opening session. Uwamariya said that the PhD graduates should be able to do research that seek solutions to contemporary issues that the country is facing. Papias Malimba Musafiri, the Deputy-Vice Chancellor for Strategic Planning and Institutional Advancement at University of Rwanda said that the first phase of the programme focused on sending Rwandan students for master’s degree studies in Sweden. In the second phase, the masters candidates were locally trained by lecturers from Swedish universities. During the third phase, most of the lecturers went for PhD in Sweden while in the fourth phase, which is the current one, the PhD candidates will be trained locally at University of Rwanda by Sweden professors. “Strengthening the local PhD programme will save costs. The resources spent on one PhD candidate in Sweden can now be spent to train five people locally. This will help us to increase the number of PhDs holders,” he explained. He said that the activities planned in the year 2022-2023, under the five-year programme, include admitting new candidates for PhD level and post-doctorate studies. The five-year phase, which is 4th phase, is expected to train 80 PhD candidates compared to 52 PhD that were enrolled during the previous phase 2013-2018. They will be trained both at UR and in Swedish varsities on Sandwich mode. Papias Malimba Musafiri, the Deputy-Vice Chancellor for Strategic Planning and Institutional Advancement at University of Rwanda gives details to the media Apart from PhD training, master’s programmes will also be supported in collaboration with 14 Swedish partner universities. At least 26 postdocs, and more than 240 Masters Students will also be trained. “This is done through competition and open for all university of Rwanda lecturers. The activities also include establishing ICT-based infrastructure to boost education among other priorities. We are also looking for research and innovation activities for students by providing grants,” he added. Johanna Teague, the Ambassador of Sweden in Rwanda noted that the partnership looks to ensure that built research capacity can be used in the development of Rwanda by allowing policy makers and entrepreneurs to have access to knowledge and be able to make informed decisions. “We are strengthening higher education for impact through strengthening local PhD Programme. We will continue to strengthen research for impact for the development of the country,” she said. Strengthening local PhD programme is part of a 5-year cooperation deal to boost research and professional skills development. The University of Rwanda was, in 2019, granted Rwf31,5 billion by the Government of Sweden to boost research and use of scientific knowledge in Rwanda under the existing UR-Sweden Programme. This is expected to build capacity for UR to deliver on the Rwanda National Development Agenda. The five-year phase, which is 4th phase, is expected to train 80 PhD candidates compared to 52 PhD that were enrolled during the previous phase 2013-2018. Photo by Craish Bahizi The 4th phase will equally support ICT infrastructure, which will integrate research, students, administration and finance in order to alleviate university services and make sure that research can be conducted in a relatively conducive environment. The current phase includes 14 research training programmes and five research support programmes. Expected impact Although the higher education sector in Rwanda has grown significantly in terms of number of students, programs, and institutions during recent years, there is still a lack of qualified staff that can conduct research, engage with policy makers, and offer students in Rwanda high quality postgraduate education. Swedens research collaboration with Rwanda addresses exactly this and we see the Program, which is the largest in the higher education sector, as a pillar in Rwandas efforts to make the transition to a knowledge-based economy. The five-year activities aim to increase production and use of scientific knowledge of international quality that contributes to Rwanda’s development. The programme that supports doctoral students and researchers, has existed for 20 years and has since been extended by another five years. It is aimed to contribute to the establishment of an environment more conducive to research and postgraduate training at the University of Rwanda, increase the number of PhD and Masters holders in Rwanda, increase the quantity and quality of research conducted at the University of Rwanda. It also looks at increasing the use of research and competences produced within the Programme, in political decision and policymaking in Rwanda as well as using the same by the Rwandan society at large. Minister for Education Valentine Uwamariya speaks to the media after the official opening of the annual review meeting of the UR-Sweden Programme in Kigali on Tuesday May 17. All Photos by Craish Bahizi

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FEATURED: UR-Sweden programme commended for impacting communities through research