Dr. Kayihura Muganga Didas UR vice chancellor
The Swedish KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Rwanda Polytechnic, Rwanda Development Board (RDB), National Council for Science and Technology (NCST)and the University of Rwanda have signed a partnership agreement that is expected to improve scientific research competencies, technology transfer, business research and innovation.
It was signed in Kigali City, on March 25.
According to the terms of agreement drafted in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), all parties agree to explore various areas of cooperation including conducting joint research technology in health care, energy for sustainable development, data science, internet of things, aerospace engineering, and transportation engineering.
All parties also agreed to cooperate on staff mobility and innovations related to technology creativity, employability, and entrepreneurship, curriculum development, teaching, research, and PhD students’ supervision, collaboration in the expansion of links with industry, Joint application for funding opportunities, co-organization of seminars and conferences in the areas of science, technology, innovation, business development and other areas of interests.
“Let us feel good about what has been achieved, recount the highlights of the satisfying journey Rwanda and Sweden have trodden together in this partnership, as we look ahead with belief that its fruits will continue to multiply through reproduction,” Dr. Kayihura Muganga Didas, Vice Chancellor – University of Rwanda said.
In the terms of agreement, each party fronted areas of interest.
The University of Rwanda outlined various activities for partnership including staff and students mobility and innovations related to technology creativity, employability, and entrepreneurship, joint Curriculum development, teaching, research, and PhD students’ supervision, developing collaboration within research and innovation in connection to Challenge Driven Education (CDE) and/or Challenge Driven Research (CDR), collaboration in the expansion of links with industry, Joint application for funding opportunities, among others.
The RP proposed activities including conducting a joint curriculum development and review and exchange of expertise in advancing problem-based learning in the curriculum, exchange of academic resources and materials, when possible and if relevant in connection with additional agreements on collaboration, and exchange programs that provide opportunities for staff and students to be exposed and practice to acquire international experiences.
For RDB, it proposed interests including to enhance Sweden-Rwanda cooperation in the areas of research and innovation development leading to knowledge creation and technology transfer as exchange programme for the graduates, promote concrete initiatives specified in additional, agreements, enhance mobility of researchers and innovations, leading to technology creativity, employability, and entrepreneurships and to enable, ‘when possible and if relevant’ Rwandan researchers and innovators to access resources-based technology hubs at KTH.
The NCST’s proposed activities of cooperation are Identify and formulate collaborative research and innovation projects of national interest, exploring the possibilities on funds mobilization for joint research development and innovation projects and to enhance Rwandan and Swedish national research and innovation capacity through training and mentorship programs to support human capital development in areas of science, technology, and innovation.
According to KTH, its cooperation aims to strengthen and develop scientific and technological capacity through cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.
