Overview of Department of Chemistry (meeting with VC, Uppsala University) Muhammad Ntale (PhD) Department of Chemistry CONAS Makerere University 29 th.

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.

Main activities

• Teaching.

• Research.

• Outreach to the community.

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.

THANK YOU