LOUIS EVONGEIJERStudents from Makerere University and Karolinska Institute: collaborationLOUIS EVONGEIJER
Doctoral candidates from Africa who have the opportunity to obtain joint degrees under partnerships with European universities dramatically boost their chances of publishing scientific papers, according to a study released by the journal PLoS Medicine. The same study showed that collaboration also improves the administrative practices of participating institutions. These conclusions were derived from the analysis of a cooperation agreement in the health field between Uganda’s Makerere University and Sweden’s Karolinska Institute. According to the research, the partnership afforded an opportunity for exchanges of experiences in scientific collaboration and in practices that facilitate funding support, while it also inspired changes to Ugandan health policies. Stefan Peterson, professor at the Karolinska Institute and co-author of the paper, told the site SciDev.Net that cooperation did not result in brain drain, since all the African students who were in Sweden returned home. In 10 years, 44 PhD degrees have been awarded under the partnership and more than 500 scientific papers published, most with a Ugandan as first author.
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