125 doctorates expected from new Swedish funding

The Swedish government has agreed to support the training of 125 PhD and 147 masters students and 65 post-doctoral fellows over the next five years, following a new cooperation agreement reached with five public universities in Uganda which will see support go to 17 research teams, writes Prisca Baike for The Observer.

According to the Swedish Ambassador to Uganda Per Lindgärde, the support, worth US$32 million (UGX116 billion), is intended to build the universities' human resources and the environment for research and training. The envoy noted that the Swedish strategy is based on funding institution-building, postgraduate education and research in one single effort as no part can function without the others.

The Swedish agreement was motivated by concerns about inadequate infrastructure, research funding and staff welfare. Since 2000, Sweden has invested over US$66 million into Uganda's graduate training and scientific environments in five public universities. The main recipient has been Makerere University, while less support went to Kyambogo, Busitema, Gulu and Mbarara University of Science and Technology. The same institutions are expected to benefit under the new cooperation.
Full report on the All Africa site