The main objective of the ICT-4MRPQ project:
To strengthen Uganda’s Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) capacity to use ICT in Masters’ research journey quality management processes and devise Policy reforms for relevant high-quality research outputs.
Rationale:
The ICT-4MRPQ project will strengthen quality and relevance of masters’ students research at Uganda’s HEIs through improved regulative / policy mandate of Uganda’s National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) and integration of ICT usage into managing the students’ research journey. That is, student enrolment into the research project, research idea generation, supervisor allocation, supervision records management, up to post assessment / viva-voce. Additionally, the project emphasizes a need for Green Deal (that is moving towards zero carbon and environmental responsibility). In this context, the project will contribute to this by using ICT / technology (E-Supervision, Mobile App., and Virtual meetings to reduce carbon dioxide from physical transport movements) to close master’s research quality gaps, which include: (i) student-supervisor interaction records management, (ii) redundancies in supervisor-student skills transfer, (iii) research time redundancy, & (iv) transparency in viva-voce conduct. Of specific interest, the project will stimulate & guide masters’ research engagements in neglected yet relevant to Uganda’s – Green Deal & National development priorities which are less researched. Examples of neglected areas include innovations into green transition, climate change and sustainable energy, circular economy, among others. Benchmarking and utilization of our European counterparts potentially helps in addressing this.
Key project Activities:
- Project Inception, Coordination & Management
- Stakeholder Mapping, Profiling and Engagement
- National Research & University Policy Reviews
- Developing Research Methods Manuals for Staff & Students
- Developing an E-Supervision Platform
- Development of a Connecting Mobile App
- Compiling a Compendium of Nationally Relevant Research Priorities
- Staff Learning Mobility & Capacity Building
- Dissemination
Beneficiaries:
5 Universities (3 from Uganda – MUBS, MAK & MUST; 1 Portugal – ULisboa; 1 Netherlands – VU, Amsterdam). Uganda HEIs counterparts will benefit from demonstrated increased knowledge, mobility & adoption of new technologies while the European partners will benefit from knowledge and internationalization. At least 700 staff and 1,500 students inter-connected on a NCHE approved Research E-Supervision Platform; 800 masters students conduct their timely research; 500 supervisors & 100 administrative staff improve their work efficiency and interaction with students; 300 internal and 200 external examiners conduct timely assessment of research reports and viva-voce; NCHE with moderate level of interest will enhance capacity and accreditation; 2 employers (Kyazze, Kankaka & Co. Advocates & UCCSRI Ltd) will upgrade their sustainable development data tracking skills.
Key outputs: (1) A revised national master research policy framework; (2) NCHE approved E-Supervision Platform. (3) A Mobile App. connecting the participating universities.
Short term Results:
- Timely graduation of students; Reduced supervision inconsistencies; Relevant research outputs & Reliable student research assessment processes.
- – increased Capacity & knowledge on using ICT in research processes management & Real-time tracking of masters’ student progress & research data.
- Students: Timely research conduct & behavior; acquisition of relevant analytical skills for employment
- Supervisors: keep proper student-interaction records, pass on appropriate research skills & content.
- Examiners: set dedicated research goals and objectives for research assessments.
Long term results: Enhanced research capacity; Increased stock of relevant & high-quality research; Employable graduates
The struggle to realize SDG 4[1] [to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all] remains a priority globally (Ritchie, Roser, Mispy, Ortiz-Ospina, 2018[2]; United Nations Economic and Social Council (2020)[3]. That is, the aspirations to attain it have attracted financial, technical, and infrastructural commitments from development partners and bilateral agencies. However, in Sub Saharan Africa, particularly in Uganda, the efforts to realize this SDG has since 2016 faced unprecedented challenges. Jointly, these challenges were grouped into: (i) Policy and Practice of Research, (ii) Innovations, and (iii) Management of research by the Africa-EU strategy (2021-2027), the AU-EU-UNICEF trilateral partnership, African Network for Internationalization of Education (ANIE) and OECD – program on Higher Education and Research for Development (IHERD), EU Multiannual Indicative Programme (MIP) for Sub-Saharan Africa 2021-27, and the EU Commission and Regional Economic Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, OECD IHERD report on ‘Governance of higher education, research and innovation in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda,’ observed that, the level of coherence within and among the existing policies, programmes, and institutions remains relatively weak. Policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa (Uganda inclusive) require greater awareness and capacity building to ensure that national Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) policies and programs capture the national development priorities and are internally and externally consistent to promote policy complementarity, coherence, and effectiveness.
COVID-19 has escalated the HEIs sector challenges cited above. For example, university education in Uganda has been devastated to an extent that over 400,000 university students were (and are still) left without physical contact with their facilitators and university administrators, including over 20,000 masters’ students who must undertake a supervised research project. This lack of contact has affected the relevancy of masters’ research, the quality of the supervision process, the quality of students graduating and those yet to graduate in the next over 5 years. Hence, the masters’ research processes (which includes how a masters student identifies a nationally relevant researchable area, how he/she is supervised and assessed, the way viva-voce assessments are organized, and the student’s preparation for this viva), have all greatly deteriorated. Additionally, facilitators’ (university academic & administrative staff) research methods skills and knowledge require refreshing to cope with these devastation effects.
Project Relevancy
The project will strengthen quality and relevance of masters’ students research at Uganda’s HEIs through improved regulative / policy mandate of Uganda’s National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) and integration of ICT usage into managing the students’ research journey. That is, student enrolment into the research project, research idea generation, supervisor allocation, supervision records management, up to post assessment / viva-voce. Additionally, the project emphasizes a need for Green Deal (that is moving towards zero carbon and environmental responsibility)[4]. In this context, the project will contribute to this by using ICT / technology (E-Supervision, Mobile App., and Virtual meetings to reduce carbon dioxide from physical transport movements) to close master’s research quality gaps, which include: (i) student-supervisor interaction records management, (ii) redundancies in supervisor-student skills transfer, (iii) research time redundancy, & (iv) transparency in viva-voce conduct. Of specific interest (see, Specific objectives 2), the project will stimulate and guide masters’ research engagements in neglected yet relevant to Uganda’s – EU Green Deal development priorities which are less researched. Examples of neglected areas include innovations into green transition, climate change and sustainable energy, circular economy, among others. Benchmarking and utilization of our European counterparts (see beneficiaries from this projects) potentially helps in addressing the need to leverage the said neglected areas. Successes can then be replicated in Europe and elsewhere.
[1] SDG 4 aims to provide children and young people with quality and easily accessible education plus other learning opportunities. One of its targets is to achieve universal literacy and numeracy. A major component in acquiring knowledge and valuable skills in the learning environment. Hence, the urgent need to build more educational facilities and upgrade the present ones to provide safe, inclusive, and effective learning environments for all
[2] Ritchie, Roser, Mispy, Ortiz-Ospina. “Measuring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.” SDG-Tracker.org, website (2018).
[3] United Nations Economic and Social Council (2020) Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals Report of the Secretary-General, High-level political forum on sustainable development, convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (E/2020/57), 28 April 2020
[4] ICT-4MRPQ project will be disposing of outdated equipment in accordance with the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) regulations leading to the use of better equipment, which are more energy-efficient. The project also promotes using sustainable technologies like Cloud Computing, which will reduce the impact on the environment and lower maintenance costs. This to reduce adverse environmental and social impacts associated with the implementation of activities. Additionally, increased use of ICT in managing research processes will also contribute to the reduction of paper use, and circulation of people, which will cut down on fossil fuel requirements.
 | National Council for Higher Education The National Council for Higher Education is mandated to regulate and guide the establishment and management of higher education institutions as well as regulating the quality of higher education, equating qualifications and advising Government on higher education matters. | |
 | Makerere University Business School Makerere University Business School is the school of business of Makerere University, Uganda’s oldest university. MUBS provides business and management education at the certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. | |
 | Makerere University Established in 1922 as a humble technical school, Makerere University is one of the oldest and most prestigious Universities in Africa. In January of that year, the school, which was later renamed Uganda Technical College, opened its doors to 14 day students who began studying Carpentry, Building and Mechanics. | |
 | Mbarara University of Science & Technology Mbarara University of Science & Technology (MUST), commonly known as Mbarara University, is a public university in Uganda. Mbarara University commenced student intake and instruction in 1989. It is one of the ten public universities and degree-awarding institutions in the country. MUST is accredited by the Uganda National Council for Higher Education | |
 | Uganda Chapter for Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives Ltd (UCCSRI) UCCSRI is the leading not-for-profit private company in Uganda that offers Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plus Sustainable Development information and advisory services. As a company that has expert and specialised knowledge, we provide guidance, platform and avenue to discuss and exchange CSR ideas and sustainable development issues in Uganda. | |
 | University of Lisbon (ULisboa), Portugal ULisboa is the largest and most prestigious university in Portugal and it is one of Europe’s leading universities. It leads the main international rankings and is amongst the 200 best universities worldwide. ULisboa welcomes more than 9,000 foreign students every year from over 100 countries. | |
 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU or VU Amsterdam) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880, and consistently ranks among the top 150 universities in the world by major ranking tables. The ambition of VU is to contribute to a better world through outstanding education and ground-breaking research. | |
 | Kyazze, Kankaka & Co. Advocates Kyazze, Kankaka & Co. Advocates is registered as a law firm in Uganda. The firm was started at a time when new attitudes and fresh opportunities were emerging in Uganda and has a very high potential of steadily growing into one of the largest and most successful firms in the country. | |
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Assoc. Prof. David Katamba – Overall Project Coordinator
Dr. David Katamba is an Associate Professor of Corporate Sustainability and Social Responsibility (CSR). He is an expert evaluator with Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), a part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). He initiated and led the consultative process that established the United Nations (UN) Global Compact Network in Uganda, which is currently hosted by Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE). He is a World Bank Institute trained CSR professional with over 16 years’ experience in Higher Education quality management systems, sustainable development aspects including in youths, women entrepreneurship, Education, and Business. He is also a certified CSR Consultant / Advisor and trainer for International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), and Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). He has won and led implementation of several international research grants including from Netherlands’ NWO WOTRO to implement a €300,000 AGRI-QUEST project (Project No. W 08.270.317). He was also part of team that won €801,000 from EU Erasmus+ [call, EAC/A03/2016, research project No: 574218-EPP-1-2016-1-NO-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP to implement CapSEM project (2016-2019). He has supported several HEIs in & outside Uganda to strengthen their academic quality processes through coaching services, matchmaking, financial resources mobilization & capacity building. He has been (and still is) a peer reviewer of proposals, grant applications, publications for several academic journals, and projects for several development organizations including for European Commission’s EACEA. Additionally, he acted as mentor, coach, and match makers for ‘Start Your Business (SYB)’ scheme and competitions by World Bank and Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) as well as other SME and trade and investment initiatives. David has delivered services and implemented projects in Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Turkey, Italy, and East Africa Email: dkatamba@mubs.ac.ug Tel: +256 702 972532 |
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Prof. Dr. Christopher Wickert (PhD) – Project Coordinator, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Prof. Dr. Christopher Wickert (PhD, University of Lausanne) is a professor and Chair of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Director of the VU Business & Society Knowledge Hub (www.business-society.org). He has published widely in leading scholarly journals on topics such as CSR, sustainability, business & society, and social entrepreneurship, as well as in practice-oriented outlets such as Harvard Business Review. He is currently General Editor of the Journal of Management Studies and founder of the VU science blog www.vumanagementperspectives.com. Christopher has been involved in various capacity-building projects in Africa and South America. Email: christopher.wickert@vu.nl Tel: | |
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Prof. Ferrão Paulo – Country Project coordinator at ULisboa Paulo Ferrão is the national director of the MIT-Portugal Program, Professor at IST, in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Portuguese representative on the Steering Group of the SET-Plan. He is co-founder of the Centre for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, IN +, in 1989, of which he is currently director. He is also coordinator of the area of Sustainable Technologies and Environmental Systems at the Associate Laboratory: Institute for Systems and Robotics. | |
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Dr. John Mary Kiberu – Project Coordinator MAK
Dr. John Mary Kiberu is a Lecturer at Makerere University in the Department of Geology and Petroleum Studies, College of Natural Sciences. He is responsible for the teaching of applied geophysics to Geologists and Earth Scientists especially in the following geophysical techniques (gravity, magnetics, resistivity, induced polarization, electromagnetic, radiometric) and some borehole geophysics. He also conducts practicals in the field and in the laboratory in the use of geophysical techniques and their applications. He has inputs to geological field mapping exercises and geohazards modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. |
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Prof. Charles Tushabomwe Kazooba – Project Coordinator and E-Supervision Utilization Change Champion at MUST Associate Professor, Dr Charles Tushabomwe-Kazooba (CTK) is Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), Deputy Vice Chancellor- Finance and Administration. CTK is an experienced researcher of over 35 years, having participated in and coordinated several research projects in East Africa region and beyond. | |
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Mr. Ali Kankaka (Esq.) – Project Legal advisor and compliance Officer I have extensive knowledge and experience in higher education legal and regulatory reform, higher education policy analysis as the current external Counsel for the Uganda National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) for the last 4 years. I have been at the centre of developing and reforming the regulatory legal framework at NCHE aimed at improving the quality of Higher Education in Uganda. | |
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Assoc. Prof. Cedric M. Nkiko – Coordinator Industry-Academics relations Cedric is a strategic and creative leader with an extensive international career at the crossroads of sustainability, education, and strategic leadership, and has an established record of creating ambitious academic programmes and research output with proven impact. Besides teaching and researching, Cedric consults for businesses, NGOs, and governments, in areas of leadership strategic corporate responsibility & governance, sustainability strategy & sustainable investment & operations management | |
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Dr. Betty Bukenya Nambuusi – Coordinator, National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) Betty currently works with the NCHE as a Higher Education Officer in charge of Institutional Licensing and Accreditation. She ensures that Higher Education Institutions meet the required standards of NCHE before they are established and accredited. Prior to joining NCHE, Betty worked with Makerere University as a lecturer of Biostatistics as well as a researcher. Her areas of expertise include developing and implementing curricula, supervising, and mentoring students. | |
 | Charles Olupot – Co-leader for MobileApp Development Charles Olupot is an Information and Communications Technologist with over 10 years of experience in ICT Management, Administration and ICT Skills Development. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Information Systems, Director of ICT Centre, and a mentor at the Entrepreneurship Innovation and Incubation Centre, Makerere University Business School. His current research interests include scalability of digital innovations in Agriculture and digital entrepreneurship. Other interests include ICT4D, ICT Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation and e-Customer Relationship Management. Charles holds Masters in Information Systems (Msc.IS), a Post Graduate Diploma in ICT, a Post Graduate Certificate in Evaluation, Bachelor of Business Computing | |
 | Sheila Kesiime – ICT-4MRPQ Project Task Manager Sheila is a Senior Human Resource Administrator at Makerere University Business School where she has served for over 10 years. Having gone through the challenges of the analogue Masters research supervision while pursuing the MBA (Project Management) she is enthusiastic about the implementation of the ICT-4MRPQ Project. As the Project Task Manager, Sheila is a good judge of skills, efficient task allocator and Planner. She has ensured the smooth running of the Project activities through staff motivation, planning, managing and tracking the team’s tasks. | |
 | Moses Ntaro – MUST Team Member, PhD Student Ntaro Moses is Public Health Scientist and an Assistant Lecturer. Currently, he is a PhD fellow at the School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University. He has competences in issues pertaining to Primary Health Care (PHC) with a bias in water sanitation and hygiene. More so, he has extensive experience in operational research related to Health Service Delivery in Rural Communities. He also has an experience of over 8 years in teaching community engagement and environmental health to health professional students in the faculty of medicine. He is passionate about the E-supervision innovation under ICT-4MRPQ PROJECT | |
 | Dr. John Mary Kiberu – MAK Team Member Dr. John Mary Kiberu is a Lecturer at Makerere University in the Department of Geology and Petroleum Studies, College of Natural Sciences. He is responsible for the teaching of applied geophysics to Geologists and Earth Scientists especially in the following geophysical techniques (gravity, magnetics, resistivity, induced polarization, electromagnetic, radiometric) and some borehole geophysics. He also conducts practicals in the field and in the laboratory in the use of geophysical techniques and their applications. | |
| Dr. Norah Mulira – NCHE Team Member Dr. Nora Mulira is a Systems Analyst , academic , researcher and consultant with professional expertise and extensive experience in the applied side of ICT (ICT4D) especially in the areas of telecommunication and financial regulation, policy and reform strategies, ICT enterprise resource planning, development and management. Notable projects from academia, consultancy and research in the areas of Systems Development and ICT Policy Analysis in the public and private sectors include: Leading the World Bank /(InfoDev Initiative for the Development of Uganda’s Information Infrastructure Agenda (DIIAUP), that developed the foundation of Uganda’s ICT policy framework; Africa Telecomm sector performance review and policy reforms under Research ICT Africa (RIA) and the Higher Education Management Information Systems Audits and Strategic reforms in Africa and South American universities, with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency ( Sida/SAREC). Her work on national and organisational digital strategies ,ICT policy analysis and reform in ICT for Development (ICT4D)has been published widely in international journals, and books. She also serves on several boards in that expert capacity in the areas of telecom and Finance regulation, health and education | |
| Dr. Godfrey Omoda-Onyait – NCHE Team Member Dr. Godfrey Omoda-Onyait is a professional teacher with vast experience in curriculum development and review and the use of ICT in teaching, learning and assessment. He is currently working with National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) as a Senior Higher Education Officer in the Department of Programme Accreditation. He worked as a lecturer in Busitema University (BU), Faculty of Computer Studies. He previously served as Head of Professional Groupings (Dean) ICT in Cavendish University Uganda. He has participated in the development of benchmarks for Information Technology and Computer Science with Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA), IT and Computer Science programme benchmarking workshops, programme assessment and inspection of universities. His research interests include: curriculum development and review; use of ICT to enhance teaching, learning and assessment; personalizing learning in E-learning systems, Mobile learning, and the use of real-time feedback to enhance engagement, motivation and focus in E-learning. His work has been published. | |
| Martin Iremaut Osikei – NCHE Team Member Trained Ecomist/statistician with more than 15 years experience in higher education regulation. I have successfully defended PhD in Economics UDSM awaiting graduation, and holder of Master of Science in Information Systems, Master of Management Studies in Monitoring and Evaluation, PGD in Procurement and Supply Chain Management, PGD in Computer Science and Graduate Diploma of CIPS, UK. I am engaged in monitoring higher education on key performance indicator as guided by the quality assurance framework. | |
| Cosmas Muhumuza – NCHE Team Member Mr. Cosmas Muhumuza is a Higher Education Officer, Research and Innovation at National Council for Higher Education. I am an editorial manager of The Uganda Higher Education Review: Journal of National Council for Higher Education. My research interests lie in the areas of Big data analysis, statistical, biomathematics and stochastic Analysis | |
 | Viola Nabaasa – Assistant Project Administrator She is working as the Office Assistant in the office of Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance & Administration) at Mbarara University of Science and Technology. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Microfinance. Has worked in the banking sector for 7 years. Viola is self-driven, flexible enough and committed to her work. She pledges the smooth running of this project. | |
| Prof. Dr. Christine Moser – Communications and Publications coordinator Christine Moser is an Associate Professor of Organization Theory at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. Her research is organized around three major themes: corporate social responsibility (CSR), knowledge flows in social networks, and the role of technology in social interaction. Empirically studying CSR implementation, Christine has published about how food waste is organized in Dutch supermarkets. In line with this, she is interested in the topic of micro-CSR and how the materiality of food shapes organizational processes. Such processes depend on knowledge sharing and meaning networks, which is a second major research interest. | |
 | Maureen Basuuta – Project Member, PhD Student Maureen Basuuta is a Lecturer of Economics at Makerere University Business School (MUBS) and currently | |
 | Dr. Imelda Kemeza – MUST Team Member Imelda is a member of the MUST- Team that is compliant to implement the EU ICT -4MRPQ project co-funded by the European Union. She is an experienced Educational Psychologist with over 17 years of teaching,training, research and supervising postgraduate | |
 | Dr. Deborah Natumanya – MUST Team Member Dr. Deborah has worked as a lecturer in the computer science department at Mbarara University of Science and Technology for the past eight years. Deborah's research focuses on the development and implementation of information systems, computer algorithms, and technological applications for bettering electronic learning. Dr. Deborah is glad to be a part of the ICT-4MRPQ project where she can broaden and share her existing experience with electronic examination framework with free handwriting which was the core of her PhD thesis. | |
 | Aliguma Winfred – MUST Team Member Ms. Aliguma Winfred is a Principal Personal Secretary in the office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance and Administration) at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST). She joined MUST in June 1997. Winfred holds a Master’s Degree in Local Governance and Planning, a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology and a Diploma in Secretarial Studies. She is focused, result-oriented, has multitasking skills and committed to her work. During her career development, she has attended and participated at several workshops and short courses locally and abroad. As the Project Administrator, she looks forward to the successful implementation of the ICT-4MRPQ Project. | |