University of Rwanda research and HE 2019-2026

The contribution is a continued support to research capacity building and professional skills development at the level of higher education in Rwanda through support to University of Rwanda during the period July 2019 to June 2024. The objective of the Program (intervention) entitled “UR-Sweden Programme for Research, Higher Education and Institutional Advancement, 2019-2024” is to increase the production of relevant high-quality scientific knowledge that contributes to Rwanda becoming a knowledge-based economy. This overall objective will be implemented through six interconnected specific objectives:i. To strengthen the capacity of University of Rwanda (UR) to conduct Master’s and PhD research training; ii. To increase quantity and quality of relevant research for poverty reduction and social-economic development;iii. To establish administrative and academic structures and systems including infrastructure to support innovation and promote a vibrant research environment; iv. To support and develop research management capacity at UR;v. To strengthen the capacity for scientific communication including communication of research results for evidence-based policy development relevant to sustainable national development plans;vi. To strengthen the capacity of UR for innovation and knowledge transfer including deepened collaborations between the UR research community and public and private sectors.The Program includes 18 sub-program level full proposals including 13 research training sub-programs in various research areas relevant to Rwanda’s development, four so-called research supporting sub-programs (related to library, ICT infrastructure, research management, and innovation) and a subprogram on program coordination. The Program is to be implemented by University of Rwanda in partnership with Swedish universities.The Program aims to consolidate the achievements resulting from the previous three phases, and to extend research capacity building into new areas aligned with Rwanda’s developmental agenda and the capacity needs of UR. During 2019-2024, UR has the aim to train at least 76 new PhDs (with 36 of these enrolled in newly designed PhD programs at UR), continue the training of the 20 PhD students enrolled under the previous phase of the Program, give 26 postdocs fellowships, and run 11 Master’s programs with at least total of 240 students. New postgraduate programs (both PhD and Master’s) are planned to be developed. UR aims to support interdisciplinary research teams through competitive research grants with expectations of resulting in peer review publications. Plans include activities to further improve the library services, ICT infrastructure, foster research uptake and regional collaborations, and activities that would enable UR to develop robust research management and fund mobilization capabilities. In the field of innovation UR aims to strengthen capacity with a focus on innovation management, funding of collaborative innovation projects, and strengthening university-industry linkage. The intervention has been developed following Sida’s modality on Research Training Partnership Programs (RTPP). Scientific quality, development relevance as well as cross-cutting issues of gender, environment and ethical considerations were assessed by an external scientific evaluation committee. In accordance with the RTTP modality the intervention is planned to be implemented in partnership with Swedish universities. Total 15 Swedish universities are to be part of the Program. Their main role is to ensure quality in postgraduate training through enrolment of PhD students from UR, providing supervision to postgraduate students in Sweden and in Rwanda, contributing to curriculum development, and capacity development for supervision, as well as giving courses in the locally run Master’s and PhD programs.