By Patrick Opio
Senior Communications Officer
THIRTY-ONE staff and students from Lira University have scooped research funds worth shs410 Million.
Vice Chancellor, Prof. Jasper Ogwal Okeng congratulated the research funds beneficiaries saying they must account for it in terms of producing outputs of innovations or research areas they are undertaking. He was officiating at the Lira University Research and Innovation Fund (LURIF) Induction Training of Grantees on 7th-8th December 2023.
Central Government has allocated sh500 Million for Lira University’s Research and Innovations activities for the 2023/ 2024 financial year.
Prof. Ogwal Okeng said, “This is my happiest moment when we are energised financially to do serious research and innovations, knowledge and skills are important to solving problems in the community.”
“As a University, we are to look for solutions to community challenges, new knowledge and skills….not only depend on information published by others, which sometimes are outdated”, he observes.
The VC advised students to be able to understand a problem and get a way to avert it. “This is achieved through effective and sustained research,” he adds.
He encouraged lecturers to instil and promote the research spirit amongst the students so that they easily adapt to the rapidly changing world. “Students should stop depending on photocopied notes, this world is a global village, instead they should endeavour to look for more and new knowledge through research and innovations,” he asserts.
Prof. Ogwal Okeng advised, “No system successfully works alone but succeeds by working as a unit, a team to achieve a common goal. The reason we must co-exist and embrace unity of purpose.”
Dr. Benard Omech, the acting Director Graduate Training and Research says the Induction Training was to ensure that the Grantees have shared vision of Lira University Research Agenda, clear purpose for the grant, and agreed roadmap to the deliverable outputs.
Whereas all public universities have been receiving Research and Innovation Funds to the tune of 1 billion every financial year, Dr. Omech said, “our effort to access the same fund has been fruitless.”
He adds, “this fund has given Lira University a new breath of life to perform one of its critical mandate of generating and disseminating knowledge and engaging the community in social transformation. We are extremely grateful for this accomplishment.”
Among the topics discussed were; Grants Management Ethics and Team work, Work plan and Periodic Reporting, Legal Issues on Grants, Accountability, submissions and Reporting, Procurement process, Data Storage and Management Systems and Research Disseminations, Tools and methods.
Please download the attached awardees and their respective research titles
