By Patrick Opio
Senior Communications Officer
The Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Hon. Dr. Monica Musenero Masanza, will grace Lira University First Annual Research Dissemination, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation Exhibition Conference held on 23rd – 25th April 2025 at Faculty of Education block.
The University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Jasper Ogwal Okeng has announced that the Minister, together with a delegation from Science, Technology and Innovation-Office of the President(STI-OP) will visit Lira University on April 25th, 2025. “The focus of the visit will be to interact with the STI-OP funded as well as other ventures at the University,” Prof. Ogwal Okeng explains.
Lira University will also, Prof. Ogwal Okeng says, host the Greater Northern Region STI Stakeholders’ Conference, scheduled for April 25th, 2025, with the goal to disseminate the national STI strategy and discuss actions that will accelerate the translation of research into market-ready products that drive our nation’s socioeconomic transformation.
“All researchers and innovators, as well as actors in the innovation support ecosystem of the University are expected to attend,” he adds.
Graduate Training and Research Director, Assoc. Professor Dr. Omech Bernard noted that the conference is in line with the university’s mission of providing access to quality higher education, research and to conduct professional training.
Prof. Omech revealed that the inaugural Research Dissemination, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation Exhibition Conference is a landmark event under the theme: “Bridging the Gaps: The role of Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in National Social and Economic Transformation”
“This conference marks an exciting chapter in our journey toward transforming knowledge into impact. Over the course of three days, we bring together researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, students, policymakers, and community leaders to explore how academic research and innovation can drive sustainable development and socio-economic transformation,” Prof. Omech explains.
In addition to Minister Musenero, other key-note speakers include Prof. Celestino Obua, chairperson Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), also former VC Mbarara University of Science and Technology and a Commissioner from the Ministry of Trade.
Representatives from all the universities in the greater north have also been invited to attend the function.
Through engaging exhibitions, Prof. Omech explains, thought-provoking discussions, and inspiring presentations, with aim to showcase cutting-edge research that addresses real-world challenges will be handled at the conference.
“The Conference aims at promoting entrepreneurial thinking and foster innovation, create strategic linkages between academia, industry, and communities and empower the next generation of leaders and change makers,” Prof. Omech elucidates.
Dr. Laury Ocen, the Senior Lecturer and Grants Officer said the Workshop presents an excellent opportunity for researchers and innovators who received grants from the Uganda Government’s Research and Innovation Funds to showcase their findings during the 3-day dissemination conference.
Dr. Ocen noted that during the last ten months, recipients of the grants and a few who have undertaken privately sponsored projects ventured into a plethora of exploratory, clinical, and experimental search for knowledge-based solutions that our communities and societies need.
“We are happy to note that in this year’s inaugural conference 32 researchers and innovators will participate in the science and innovation extravaganza,” Dr. Ocen explains.
To enrich the scientific aura of the conference, Dr. Ocen narrates, three distinguished scholars and public intellectuals will give well informed key note papers in the areas of research, innovation and entrepreneurship.
He adds, in addition to the academic community of Lira University, the organizing committee has invited a multisectoral range of stakeholders that include manufacturers, industrialists, local government officials, and the private sector to interface with the academia, as an important partner in nation building and knowledge production.
The Conference showcases the capacity of Lira University to build institutional synergies that support local economic development initiatives, and provide inter-organizational intellectual frameworks that give a strong vitality to Uganda’s national transformation agenda.
The conference shall present, exhibit, and showcase more than 30 research, innovation, and entrepreneurship products that inform policies and practices in the sectors of appropriate and applied technology, environmental and health sciences, education and service delivery, etc.
“We would like to salute the Government of Uganda for providing the research and innovation funds that enabled us to achieve this milestone,” Dr. Ocen applauds.
