Universities to refocus on research

Uganda Christian University's Prof Elizabeth Bacwayo Kukunda has said universities will refocus on research as it is the main pillar of the higher institutions of learning.

"We want to build the capacity of researchers in our country," Prof Bacwayo who is the dean School of Research and Post Graduate Studies at UCU said after they got funds from government through Makerere University (Makerere research and innovation fund).

The fund is to benefit a joint project by UCU, Makerere, Muteesa I Royal and Mbarara universities.

Prof Bacwayo said many people have gone to school, others have got PHDs and research but transferring that into practical research and building research profiles has been a challenge, partly because they lack mentorship and that all universities focus more on teaching and there is need to refocus on research.

"When you are young academic you need mentorship, a lot of people go through school and lack people to mentor them, building capacity is what we are looking at," Prof Bacwayo said.

Dr Loice Natukunda, a lecture of HRM and Organisational behavior at Makerere University said with research, it will make it easy to share information and therefore, will save many from going to the field.

UCU Vice Chancellor Prof Aaron Mushengyezi said they received a team that is working on a joint project and they plot up a proposal with key components on Research and innovations, mentorship of early career researchers like PhDs and want to acquire skills to be more productive.

"They will work on a joint project that have value to our communities," Prof Mushengyezi said.

He said the project will grow the capacity of career scholars and link them with mentors.