The Graduate Teaching Assistantship Programme
The Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) Programme contributes to one of RUFORUM’s three strategic goals to “build synergy from networks of specialisation to develop quality human resources and capacity required to intensify and increase Africa’s agricultural productivity and competitiveness” and its Vision 2030 Strategy that focuses on building postgraduate training and research capacity in its member universities. The GTA programme has been implemented since 2015 to: (i) improve the quality of higher education and increase the pool of PhD-level trained academic staff in African universities; (ii) provide opportunities for the doctoral research to contribute more directly to African development; (iii) strengthen inter- university collaboration in the field of higher education in Africa; and (iv) promote staff mobility among RUFORUM member universities, and across Africa. Initially, the programme focused only on agriculture and related fields; recently it has been opened up to more fields based on the gap areas and priorities of member universities.
GTA Implementing Approach
The GTA programme uses a unique approach in which the costs of training are covered by both the sending and host universities. The sending university provides stipend in form of salary for the staff, travel and research support whereas the host university waivers tuition and provides accommodation. The GTA candidate also contributes to teaching in the department offering PhD training in the host university. Full time or part time staff at member universities that have signed the Memorandum of Understanding are the potential candidates to be considered under this arrangement.
GTA Student Profiles
Mr. Fred Bwayo Masika is a Ugandan national, an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Muni University and a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Plant Science Microbiology and Biotechnology, College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University. He has expertise in the subject areas of Plant Pathology and Genetics
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Boadu, Kwasi Opoku is my name. Born in Kumasi, Ghana and a Lecturer at the Industrial Chemistry Unit, Department of Chemistry, University of Cape Coast, Ghana since 2006. I enrolled in August 2017 to the World Bank African Centre of Excellence in Oil Field Chemicals programme, Institute of Petroleum Studies, University of Port Harcourt and completed my PhD. Chemical Engineering with major in Oil Field Chemicals in January 2020.
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Mrs. Kabod hails from Uganda, and has a first degree in agriculture specializing in crop science and a Master of Science degree in Agriculture (Biotechnology) both from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. She has also received various trainings in plant health management as a plant doctor, scientific data management, business development and entrepreneurship and adult training methodologies.
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Mrs. Bintu Ndusha (Democratic Republic of Congo) - PhD Fellow, Department of Land Resource Management and Agricultural Technology (LARMAT), Faculty of Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Veterinary sciences, University of Nairobi (UoN). Bintu is a Congolese citizen, born on 27th July 1986. Bintu has six years of experience working as an Assistant lecturer at the Université Evangélique en Afrique
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GTA Continental Coverage
The GTA program has been implemented in a total of 22 of the 38 RUFORUM member countries among a total of 37 sending and 25 hosting universities. The current coverage spans Southern, Eastern, Western, Northern and Central regions of the African Continent.
GTA Student Profiles
Please download a full list of all GTA students profiles
Michael M. Nkosi is a Malawian PhD student in Animal Science under the RUFORUM Graduate Teaching Assistant at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources in the Faculty of Agriculture, Animal Science Department. He is assessing Aflatoxin contaminations in the smallholder Dairy Value Chain.
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Mr. Bwihangane Birindwa Ahadi is a Congolese from the DRC, born on 1986. He holds a BSc. Agricultural Sciences and Environmental studies, MSc. One Health Molecular Biology awarded by the department of Veterinary Pathology, Microbiology and Parasitology at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania.
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Mr Espoir Bagula, born in 1987, is a holder od a BSc in Agricultural Sciences (Crop production) and an MSc in Land resource and environmental Management awarded by the Université Evangélique en Afrique (UEA). Currently, he is a lecturer of Geoinformatics, Land Resource and Biophysical Modeling related course units.
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Mr. Mwije Anthony (Uganda) - GTA Fellow / Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Horticultural Science, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He is a Ugandan agriculturalist and teacher by profession and training. Currently, Mr Mwije is in his third year of a Ph.D. programme in Horticultural Science at Stellenbosch University. His Ph.D. research focuses on applied plant physiology techniques to enhance production of quality apple (Malus domestica, Borkh) fruits in an increasingly warming up environment by using mineral nutrition regimes at post full bloom in apple trees
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GTA Implementation between 2015-2024
PhD training in 25 universities bringing the total number placed to 138 (97 male, 41 female). Already 16 have completed training. Currently, 289 (217 male, 72 female) academic Staff from 35 Universities are waiting placement. The target is to train 450 PhDs by 2024.
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Publications, Reports, Guidelines and Calls
Call for RUFORUM GTA PhD Program 2022 - Oct 2022”
Prof.Adipala and Ms.Adidja debriefing the VC, DVC and academic staff from Eldoret University on GTA during their visit at the University.
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