Six MISR MPhil/PhD students awarded SSRC Fellowships

22 Mar, 2016,

We are proud to announce that six MISR MPhil/PhD students have been awarded various SSRC Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Program fellowships for 2016-17.

Two fifth year students Yusuf Kajura and Semeneh Ayalew received the Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship, two fourth years Yonas Demisse and Haydee Bangerezako received the Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship and two third years Charles Prempeh and Yahya Sseremba received the Doctoral Dissertation proposal Fellowship.

This achievement has been acknowledged across Makerere University through various messages trending on the academic staff list serv such as;

Dr.Sarah Ssali

MUASA Representative to Makerere University Council

Subject: [AcademicStaff]MISR STUDENTS EXCEL

Date: 2016-03-21 00:10

Dear All,
Allow me to celebrate with the MISR PhD students for excelling through the recently concluded Next Generation (NextGen) of Social Sciences in Africa Scholarship Awards selection process. The NextGen scholarships are offered by the Social Sciences Research Council (SSRC) NY and funded by Carnegie Corporation, in an attempt to nurture intellectual development and increase retention of early career faculty in six countries (Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania).

Because of their excellence, MISR emerged as the institution with the greatest number of awardees. Considering that the competition was from more than 100 universities from 6 countries this was no small achievement for Makerere University.

Ever since MISR scholars entered these competitions (be it NextGen, the US Presidential fellowship programme, etc), their performance has been too good to ignore. But this time it was extremely good, that some in some quarters wondered what would happen if MISR ever raised the number of applicants that were equivalent to the total number of awards. Their performance was even acknowledged by the bosses from Carnegie. Interestingly, in these fora, MISR students outsmart those from the universities that always beat us in the international university rankings. MISR has made its mark and is certainly an academic powerhouse, a force to reckon with on the continent.

Special thanks to MISR scholars who competed so well. Special thanks also to the MISR staff for producing some of the best of Social Scientists on the continent. The rest of us in the Humanities and Social Sciences may need to understudy MISR to see what they are doing differently.

Thank you MISR for making Makerere University proud.

I wish us all a fruitful week.

AS WE BUILD FOR THE FUTURE
Sarah Ssali,
MUASA Rep to Council

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Dr. Josephine Ahikire

Associate Professor, School of Women and Gender Studies, CHUSS

Subject: [AcademicStaff]Re: MISR STUDENTS EXCEL

Date: 2016-03-21 12:51
Dear Dr. Sarah Ssali
Thank you for this great and re-energising news.
Without doubt, MISR students are currently offered unique opportunities to develop as critical and competitive intellectuals. The intellectual engagement is stimulating and the product speaks for itself.
Congratulations MISR for making us proud - CHUSS and Makerere University at large.
Josephine Ahikire

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Dr. William Tayeebwa, Lecturer and Acting Head, Department of Journalism and Communication

Subject: [AcademicStaff] MISR clearly takes the best - Re: MISR STUDENTS EXCEL

Date: 2016-03-21 19:16
Dear Dr. Ssali,
I have interacted with the crop of PhD students at MISR and I can confirm that it is no doubt the best of their kind. The environment Prof. Mamdani has put them in (resident in newly renovated quarters on campus) also contributes to that brilliance. Let the University endeavor to provide the best learning/working environment to our students and you will read many glorifying pages from Prof. Buyinza.
Tayeebwa
@Journalism and Communication

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Prof. Mukadasi Buyinza, Director, Directorate of Research and Graduate Studies

Subject: Re: [AcademicStaff] MISR clearly takes the best - Re: MISR STUDENTS EXCEL

Date: 2016-03-21 20:08
Dear Sarah,
This good news finds me out on official duties but for me these international recognitions just re-affirm one fact of us, we are a flagship university and all recent appraisal tools have placed us in top quartile.
Congrats to MISR as we continue to strive for excellence regardlessly.
prof Buyinza