Three decades of collaboration
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The collaboration between Makerere University and the University of Bergen dates back to 1988 when Professor Endre Lillethun visited Kampala to assess teaching and research facilities in the Departments of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.
Touched by the sorry state of the facilities after many years of civil unrest and mismanagement, Professor Lillethun set out to look for funding to rehabilitate the departments.
Building academic capacity
Norad's Programme for Development, Research and Education (NUFU) approved an ambitious proposal in 1991 that set out to rehabilitate laboratories and upgrade the general infrastructure, revise the curriculum, and assemble new learning and teaching material. The Department of Science and Technical Education was included in the project the following year, and the project was now expanded to include training of technical staff, through workshops in Kampala and apprenticeships with companies in Norway.
The project acted as a springboard for other NUFU projects across the entire University, especially the Faculties of Medicine and Technology, Library services, Human Resource and Financial Information Systems.
A 1998 presentation celebrating ten years of collaboration.
Worried about the lack of actual research taking place, Professor Lillethun started to seek out opportunities for international research collaboration. He launched a programme for capacity building through training of academic staff under joint supervision by staff at Makerere and the University of Bergen.
By the end of the project in 2006, this effort had resulted in 31 master degrees and 19 PhDs across the Departments of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.
For his 'contribution to human development and advancement of Basic Science' at Makerere University, Professor Endre Lillethun was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science (citation) of Makerere University in 2010.
The formalisation of the Makerere University–University of Bergen cooperation is another acheivement that bulds on Professor Lillethun's legacy.
Research programmes and exchanges
Makerere University
Established as a technical college in 1922.
Affiliated with the University of London until 1963.
Then one of the three constituent colleges of the University of East Africa (UEA).
In 1970, UEA split into three independent universities: University of Nairobi, University of Dar es Salaam, and Makerere University.
Uganda's largest and one of East Africa's leading universities.
Today, it has nine colleges and a School of Law.
About 36,000 undergraduate and 4,000 postgraduate students.
