Makerere University deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs, Prof Sarah Ssali, has emphasized the importance of disseminating research findings to the public to achieve a wider impact.
Speaking at the launch of the College of Business and Management Sciences (Cobams) Working Paper Series 2025, Prof Ssali urged researchers to engage with the community and share their findings to inform policy formulations.
“Organise community barrazas, town hall meetings and invite members of the public and various stakeholders and disseminate the findings, let the people be engaged and then go on to write policy briefs that will inform policy formulations,” she said.
Prof Ssali stressed that many valuable research studies are conducted, but they often remain confined to academic journals, limiting their potential impact.
She applauded CoBAMS for fostering academia-government-industry linkages, which facilitate joint research, informed decision-making, and policy formulation.
“I am pleased to note that the academia from the College of Business and Management Sciences, involved the respective Government Ministry, and Industry partners. The academia-Government-Industry linkage will lead to joint research, joint publications, informed decision making and policy formulation, and enhance pathways for more research collaboration and networking,” she said.
Prof Ssali highlighted Makerere University’s commitment to becoming a research-intensive and innovation-driven institution, aligning with national and global development priorities. She commended CoBAMS for establishing and funding research grants for faculty members, yielding remarkable results.
The launched Working Paper Series 2025 contains over 60 papers produced by CoBAMS researchers in FY2024/2025, addressing pressing issues such as Uganda’s refugee policy, substance use among young women, and corruption’s impact on tax fairness. Several papers have already been published in peer-reviewed journals, demonstrating the college’s research excellence.
College Principal, Prof Edward Bbaale, explained that researchers engage with the community before and after conducting studies to ensure relevance and impact.
“Before conducting these research we first engage the public to understand their problems and help us ascertain if indeed the problem statement speaks to the challenges we are intending to solve. After the findings are out, we again engage the communities and government during dissemination,” he said.
Prof Ssali noted that each paper aligns with a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), with Uganda facing implementation challenges due to financing, coordination, and data gaps.
“The alignment of research and working paper series undertaken by CoBAMS to the SDGs is timely and commendable,” she said, emphasising the importance of research in informing policy and driving development.