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