Kigali, June 28, 2019:  The Government of Rwanda, Sweden, and University of Rwanda today signed SEK 330 million (approximately Frw 31.5 billion) to boost research and use of scientific knowledge.

Under the “University of Rwanda – Sweden Programme for Research, Higher Education and Institutional Advancement”, the grant will support production and use of scientific knowledge of international quality that contributes to Rwanda's development and enable poor people to improve their quality of life through research carried out at the University.

Specifically, the support will establish conducive environment for research and postgraduate training at the University of Rwanda. It will also improve quantity and quality of research and other competences in policy making as well as increase the number of PhD and Masters holders in Rwanda.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana said: “This program supports Rwanda's ambitions to develop into an innovative knowledge society and aims to increase the production and use of scientifically based knowledge contributing to Rwanda's development.”

The Swedish Ambassador to Rwanda Jenny Ohlsson said: “Rwanda’s highly ambitions national development strategy aims to transform the country to a knowledge-based economy. No doubt that a modern knowledge-based economy requires investment in research and professional skills development. ”

Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) supported research capacity building in Rwanda since 2002 through the National University of Rwanda (NUR) until the formation of the University of Rwanda (UR) in 2013.

A total of 67 Rwandans students have graduated with a PhD from Swedish universities since the partnership began of which 50 PhD students graduated during 2013-2019 and 30 continuing students will graduate during 2019-2021.

Additional 80 new students will enrol for PhD Studies i.e. 110 Rwandan will be doing a PhD during 2019 – 2024 under this program. In this 4th Phase, 39 of the total 80 students will be studying in Rwanda but will also have a chance to spend some time in Sweden.

The program offers PhD studies in Agriculture, Rural transformation, Infectious disease, Digital health, Undernutrition, Peace and security, Social work, Bioenergy, Waste Management, Water Engineering, Sustainable energy, Mathematics and statistics, Management and Economics, E-governance, Geographic Information Systems, Law and research Management. The program also offers the flexible conditions for women who want to undertake PhD. The program will improve library services and the ICT infrastructure and contribute to create conditions that enable quality scientific research at UR.