Pan African University Institute of Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation (PAUSTI) Project under DUE

The Government in collaboration with the African Union Commission continues to support the Regional Pan African University Institute of Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation (PAUSTI) at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. The institute trains graduates from African Countries at Masters and PhD level in basic sciences and Engineering.

The aim is to produce high caliber staff to help exploit Africa’s enormous resources. The first cohort of 55 masters’ students from 16 African countries was admitted in November, 2012 and graduated in November 2014. Since then the Institute has admitted another five cohorts comprising of masters and PhD students.  The Institute admitted the last cohort of 118 students as from 31^st January, 2020. The students are drawn from all over Africa from over 30 African Nationalities out of the 54.

Funding

PAUSTI receives funding from the African Development Bank (ADB) through the Government, Ministry of Education, under the recurrent funds for universities. The financial implication to the Ministry is about Kshs. 70 million disbursed to PAUSTI every year as grants for recurrent expenditure. The institute has used the savings to contract Phase I and II of the PAUSTI block.

The Pan African University Institute for Basic Sciences, technology and Innovation (PAUSTI) prides itself as a postgraduate hub of research and innovation featuring a highly diverse faculty, and students drawn from whole of Africa.

PAUSTI which is hosted at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Nairobi, Kenya, opened its doors to the pioneer students in November 2012. The inaugural cohort graduated in record time in November 2014.

The Institute is mandated to produce leaders and innovators in the fields of Mathematics, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology; Civil Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Mechatronic Engineering and Electrical Engineering.

PAUSTI continues to attract highly talented and motivated students from across Africa. It encourages the students to leverage local wisdom, knowledge and resources; and generate cutting edge knowledge that could be harnessed to provide innovative and sustainable solutions to Africa’s socio-economic challenges.

Programmes under PAUSTI

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in:

1. Civil Engineering (Structural, ASAL, Transportation options)
2. Electrical Engineering (Power, Telecommunications options)
3. Mathematics (Financial, Statistics, Computational options)
4. Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (Industrial, Plant, Animal options)

 Master of Science (MSc) in:

1. Civil Engineering (Structural, ASAL, Transportation options)
2. Electrical Engineering (Power, Telecommunications options)
3. Mathematics (Financial, Statistics, Computational options)
4. Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (Industrial, Plant, Animal options)
5. Mechatronic Engineering.
6. Mechanical Engineering

Southern Eastern Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence (Ace II) projects.

The ACE II project is resident in the Directorate of the University Education(DUE) and  is jointly funded by the Government of Kenya and the World Bank through a credit facility. Three centers have been established in Kenya namely; Egerton University and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology which are implementing projects dealing with food security while the third center is Moi University which deals with renewable energy. The project was declared effective from 4^th February, 2017 and will close in June 2022.

The three Centers, Egerton University, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology and Moi  University  already received funds and have commenced the project. The main objective of the project is to strengthen the Centers of Excellence by delivering quality post-graduate education and collaborative research in collaboration with industries. The three Centers have altogether enrolled 238 Masters and 104 PhD Students from Kenya and the region.

The three centers in Kenya are among 24 Africa Centers of Excellence (ACE) funded up to US$6 million over the project period. The objective of the ACE II project is to strengthen selected Eastern and Southern Africa higher education institutions to deliver quality postgraduate education and build collaborative research capacity in the regional priority areas.

The selected ACEs are expected to address specific development challenges facing the region through graduate training in Master’s, PhD, and short-term courses and applied research in the form of partnerships and collaborations with other institutions and the private sector.

Eight participating countries Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia committed $140 million, credit from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group to finance the selected ACEs.

 Project background

The ACEs were selected through an open, objective, transparent and merit-based competitive process based on the following criteria:

(a) proposal that addressed a specific challenge in one of the five priority areas in the region – industry, agriculture, health, education and applied statistics;

(b) proposal of the highest quality;

(c) hosting institution had evident capacity;

(d) selection that provided for geographical balance; and

(e) the hosting country had International Development Association (IDA) funding eligibility and availability.

All these ACEs are expected to perform the following tasks:

(a) build institutional capacity to provide quality post-graduate education with relevance to the labor market;

(b) build institutional capacity to conduct high quality applied research, relevant to addressing a key development challenge/priority;

(c) develop and enhance partnerships with other academic institutions (national, regional and international) to pursue academic excellence;

(d) develop and enhance partnerships with industry and the private sector to generate greater impact; 

(e) improve governance and management of the institution and set up a role model for other higher education institutions; and 

(f) deliver outreach, and create an impact, to society by delivering excellent teaching and producing high quality applied research.

Over the project duration of five years, collectively these ACEs are expected to enroll more than 3,500 graduate students in the regional development priority areas, out of which more than 700 will be PhD students and more than 1,000 will be female students, publish almost 1,500 journal articles, launch more than 300 research collaborations with private sector and other institutions, and generate almost US$30 million in external revenue.

The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), an institution of the East African Community, was selected by the Regional Steering Committee (RSC) of the ACE II project as the Regional Facilitation Unit (RFU). IUCEA will provide overall coordination, facilitation and administration to the project implementation under the oversight of the RSC. IUCEA, with assistance from the World Bank, coordinated the project preparation including the ACE selection process.

IUCEA will provide forums for industry-academic engagement for ACEs to share knowledge on collaborative research ideas. IUCEA will also supervise a competitive scholarship program in which 30 regional students in STEM will be financed for two years to attain a Master’s degree in any of the ACEs.  An IDA grant of US$8 million will finance these activities.

The project will operate under the overall guidance and oversight of the Regional Steering Committee. RSC comprises of members from participating countries, the private sector and academic experts of international stature.

It is envisaged that at the end of the project the centers will have developed sufficient capacity to become sustainable regional hubs for training and research in their specialized fields, capable of leading efforts to address priority development challenges and improve lives in the region. 

About The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA)

The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) is an institution of the East African Community (EAC) responsible for coordinating the development of higher education and research, with its headquarters in Kampala, Uganda. IUCEA is the Regional Facilitation Unit for the ACEII Project.   

PS University Education and Research Amb Simon Nabukwesi, is taken on a tour of the Insefoods ACE II project at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology in Bondo.