Historical aspects of the relationship between University of Bergen (UiB) and Makerere

Makerere University and the University of Bergen have one of the longest bilateral partnerships between a Ugandan institution of higher learning and a University in the Global North. The partnership began in 1988, when Professor Endre Lillethun of the University of Bergen (UiB) visited Makerere University. That visit led to a successful application to NUFU, the Norwegian programme for development research and higher education, for capacity building in chemistry, mathematics and physics. From 1991 to 1995, NUFU Project 39/91, "Basic Science for Technological Development in Uganda", gave the cooperation its first formal footing. In November 1999, the two universities signed a Framework Agreement for fifteen years. It committed both institutions to prioritise joint projects, share information on new activities, and cooperate in research, teaching, staff exchange, and graduate student exchange. 

The collaboration spans many departments and disciplines rather than a single research group. Master's and Ph.D. students are supervised jointly. Indeed, it is mostly through supervision and pedagogy that relationships have been nurtured, sustaining the partnership between the two institutions. 

Read more about the Health Professions Education and Experimental Epidemiology (HePEd) Programme is a NORPART-funded collaboration (2022-2026) between Makerere University, Uganda, and the University of Bergen (UiB), Norway here.

For Uganda, well-supervised Ph.D. candidates are the people who staff and lead the country's universities and health institutions. Training medical professionals in teaching methods strengthens the next generation of clinicians and researchers at home, which is vital in a resource-constrained setting. For Norway, working with Ugandan colleagues widens the perspective of Bergen's researchers and students. It exposes students and staff to direct experiences of health and research questions in an African context, such as child nutrition, maternal health, non-communicable diseases, and mental health. For both, the partnership has lasted because of mutual benefit, trust, and the steady backing of each university's leadership. Joint supervision also builds relationships between people, not just between institutions.