Speech by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research, Production
and Extension) (RPE), University of Nairobi
Prof Lucy Irungu
During the official opening of the retreat for the Consortium
for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), University
of Nairobi Committee Members on Friday May 29, 2015 at
the Maasai Lodge, Rongai
Director PSRI, Prof. Murungaru Kimani, CARTA UoN Focal
Person,
Director School of Public Health, Dr. Dismas Ongore, the
CARTA UoN Co-Focal Person,
Professor
Ngure,
the
CARTA
Programme
Manager
represented by Mr. Thomas Yebei,
CARTA Committee Members, UoN,
UoN CARTA Fellows
Ladies and gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure to participate and to officiate at
the opening of this retreat of the Consortium for Advanced
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Research Training in Africa (CARTA), University of Nairobi,
Committee Members.
On behalf of the University of Nairobi and on my own behalf,
I wish to extend a warm welcome to you to this retreat. I
also thank the Population Studies and Research Institute
(PSRI) for organizing the retreat.
The objective of this retreat as indicated in the invitation
letter is to orient you as members of the CARTA committee of
the University of Nairobi on the CARTA activities and
particularly in our University and the roles you are expected
to play. I should mention that the CARTA committee is a
committee of the university and members are appointed by
the Vice-chancellor.
I have been informed that although
your units are members of this committee, most of you are
not aware of the CARTA committee and its activities.
I
would like therefore to provide a brief background to CARTA.
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The Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa
(CARTA) was established in 2009 to strengthen PhD training
in African universities. The Consortium is South-South
partnership with South-North collaboration. It is jointly-led
by the African Population and Health Research Center
(APHRC), Kenya and the University of the Witwatersrand
(Wits), South Africa. It consists of nine African universities
(UoN,
Moi,
Makerere,
Dar-es-Salaam,
Witwatersrand,
Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo, National University of Rwanda,
University of Malawi), four African research institutes and
seven northern academic institutions. University of Nairobi is
one of the founding members. The CARTA committees in
each of the partnering universities are the main structure for
attaining the objectives of the Consortium. Thus the
importance of this workshop cannot be over-emphasized.
CARTA activities mainly revolve around the CARTA PhD
fellows who are competitively awarded fellowships to pursue
PhD in the various universities under the sponsorship of
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CARTA. The fellows undergo innovative training through the
four
year
training
programme.
The
various
CARTA
universities committees facilitate the selection process. I am
happy to note that two of the CARTA fellows from our
university are here to share with us these experiences.
Currently there are a total of 115 fellows at different stages
of the PhD training in the 9 universities under the CARTA
sponsorship. Thirteen (13) others have so far graduated. An
important point worth noting is that these CARTA fellows
have attracted over Kshs. 800 million in research grants.
Currently there are 17 CARTA fellows at UoN from 4 of the
partnering universities (UoN, Moi, Ibadan and Dar-esSalaam) who are at different stages of their PhD programme.
Several activities under the consortium have been going on
since its establishment in 2009 as you will be informed later
in the programme. Besides the PhD fellowships, CARTA
organizes workshops for the supervisors and potential
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supervisors of the fellows. So far a total of 90 supervisors
have been trained from UoN. Another important activity is
the Faculty and Administrators (FaS) workshops which
brings together academic, administrators, library and ICT
staff of the various universities. So far a total of 350
participants have undergone training in the 5 previous
workshops including participants from the UoN. Again the
CARTA committee members play an important role in
selecting the participants. I am happy to report that during
the Partners Forum in Lilonge, Malawi in
September 2014
UoN was selected to host the 6th Faculty and Staff (FaS)
workshop in July 2015. This retreat is therefore timely since
the members of the Committee are expected to play a key
role in this process. Arrangement for this workshop have
been going on and I also note that this will be discussed in
the retreat.
The University of Nairobi has benefitted in several ways
since 2009 when it started participating in the CARTA
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programme.
I wish to express our appreciation for the
financial support from CARTA including the funding of this
retreat and the support to the CARTA fellows at the various
stages of the PhD programme at the University of Nairobi.
We also appreciate CARTA’s initiative in financing TURNITIN
the anti-plagiarism software for partner institutions. The
software is being implemented in the UoN in line with the
institution’s plagiarism policy to ensure quality research
output.
It is my desire that the retreat will come up with strategies
to enhance the participation of the Committee members in
order to enhance its effectiveness in our university. I hope
the Committee will also explore strategies of domesticating
the CARTA training model at UoN. With those remarks it is
my pleasure to declare the retreat officially opened.
God bless you.
THANK YOU
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