Overview of Department of Chemistry (meeting with VC,
Uppsala University)
Muhammad Ntale (PhD)
Department of Chemistry
CONAS
Makerere University
29th November, 2013
Introduction
• The department started in 1944.
• Has four fully-operational branches:
Physical chemistry.
Inorganic chemistry.
Organic chemistry.
analytical/environmental chemistry.
Undergraduate programs
• B.Sc (Chemistry Major and Minor) - about 200 students (1st, 2nd and 3rd year).
• B. Industrial Chemistry- about 200 students (1st, 2nd and 3rd year).
• Students from the School of Educ. -
about 150 students (1st, 2nd and 3rd year).
Students from Department of Distance Educ. – about 60 students (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th).
Graduate Programs:
• Master of Science – about 10 students per year.
• PhD – about 5 students at any given time (at least for the last 5 years).
• Student population has increased.
• There are several common laboratories; 1 for inorganic.1 for organic.1 for physical chemistry. 2 for first year and 1specialised laboratory
(unit operations lab) for industrial chemistry.
Instrumentation room.
Available facilities
Facilities cont.• There are also 5 research labs mainly dealing
with analytical work.
• The department has 1 computer lab.
1 room for graduate students.
• There are two lecture rooms and 1 seminar room.
• The rest of the space is used as office space.
Facilities cont.
– Several pH meters– Analytical Balances– Water baths– Rotary evaporators– Glassware– ICT / E-Learning – thanks to the SIDA
support to Makerere– Chemicals
Equipment for research purposes– FTIR Spectrophotometer.
– UV-VIS Spectrophotometer.
– 2 operational GCs and 1 GC-MS.
– 1 New HPLC system.
Ongoing research
• Pesticide Residue Analysis.
• Indigenous Food/medicinal Plants.
• Plant Pigments.
• Natural products chemistry.
• Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms.
Ongoing research cont.
• Clays and Zeolites as Bleaching Earths.
• Non-metallic/Metallic derivative species in environmental systems.
• Other areas such as clinical chemistry.
StaffingDesignation Established
posts Occupied
Professors 2 2Associate professors
3 3
Senior Lecturers 6 2Lecturers 10 6Assistant Lecturers 4 8Chief Technicians 2 1Principal Technicians
2 1
Total 29 23
Staffing challenges
• Academic Staff:– Attraction/Retention at PhD Level still a
problem. We are overcoming this by training them from here.
– Thanks to ISP/SIDA for the support to build capacity for the University.
– Only 10 PhDs out of 21 members.
– 7 members currently pursuing their PhDs.
Challenges cont. All the professors are on contract.
Only 3 out of 21 members are Female.
1 PhD for the Industrial Chemistry section.
Poor Staffing in Physical and organic chemistry sections.
Technical and Support Staff:
Designation Established posts
Occupied
Senior Technicians 2 1Technicians I 6 2Technicians II 12 2Lab. Assistants 14 8Personal Secretary 2 0Copy typist 1 1Stenographer 1 0Lab. attendants 9 3Cleaner 1 3Store man 1 0Total 49 20
General Challenges Understaffing (43 out of 78 occupied).
Competition with other new Universities for trained technical staff.
We need to train/upgrade our staff.
Infrastructural problems
• In the recent past the department was faced with many other challenges such as non- functional fume hoods etc.
• Thanks to Professor Peter Sundin for the donation (Fume Hoods).
• When the ADB funding becomes a reality, the department will get a facelift and some equipment too.
Other problems
• Organic Lab (lacks most of the necessary materials such as extraction systems, fume Hoods not efficient).
• Inorganic Lab (apparatus and equipment not enough).
• Industrial Lab (all equipment is very old and most is non functional; obtained in 1984).
Problems cont.• Physical Lab still needs more necessary
equipment such as;
– pH meters
– Analytical Balances
– Water baths
– Conductivity meters
Problems cont.
• Running Costs/ Service /minor repairs is also a major problem.
• There is no gas for heating purposes in all labs.
• The hydrogen Generator is no longer functional.
Past linkages/collaborations
• Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Wildlife (Cleaner Production Centre, a UNIDO Project)
• NEMA • Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala• Uppsala University (Environ. N, P, S derivatives Project)• International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
(Indigenous Food Plants of Uganda)• University of Bergen, Norway (Research Projects on
Environmental Chemistry, Fish Oils and Plant Pigments under NUFU)
Publications • Proceedings from regional and international
workshops.• Several articles in international peer-review
journals, e.g, Journal of chromatography B.Phytochemistry.Journal of Food Composition and Analysis.Chemosphere.Malaria journal. American Journal of Oil Chemists’ Society.
Future plans
• Increase PhDs in Department.
• Enhance Research collaboration, locally, nationally, regionally and internationally.
• Encourage staff to search for grants.
• Improve/Strengthen Quality Assurance.
Future plans cont.
• Strive to equip/service/repair equipment.
• Improve /Introduce new Academic programs eg one for pure chemists.
• Promote/ Improve staffing at all levels.
• Embrace ICT in Learning/Teaching.
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