News & Updates

May 2025 Edition, Issue 89

Welcome to another edition of the CARTA monthly updates. Read on to keep abreast with what is new.

Highlights from the CARTA Board of Management Engagement

The CARTA Board of Management (BoM) convened for a two-day engagement that featured a development workshop, a formal BoM meeting, and an intensive strategy session. The development workshop sought to enhance the governance capacities of both new and continuing board members. It was informed by recommendations from the 2024 board performance appraisal and underscores CARTA’s commitment to institutional learning and excellence in governance. 



During the BoM meeting, members deliberated on key governance matters and reviewed resolutions from the recent Partners Forum. The discussions are critical in steering CARTA forward as the program continues to strengthen African universities and nurture a pipeline of multidisciplinary researchers equipped to address the continent’s pressing development challenges.



The strategic planning session capped the engagement, providing a platform for the Board to engage with emerging priorities and ideas generated by CARTA stakeholders for the program's next phase. Facilitated by the program co-Director and Executive Director of the African Population and Health Research Center, Catherine Kyobutungi, the session examined strategic cause-and-effect relationships and culminated in the drafting of initial strategy statements, laying the foundation for CARTA’s 2026 - 2030 strategy.

CARTA Engages Institutional Leaders to Strengthen Research and Postgraduate Training

In a virtual forum held on May 28, 2025, CARTA convened Vice Chancellors and Heads of Partner Institutions to explore strategic alignment and future priorities. Held every two years and the seventh of its kind, the meeting provided a platform to review program performance, discuss the evolving funding landscape, and deepen institutional engagement in strengthening postgraduate training and research ecosystems. Institutional leaders contributed to the ongoing strategy development process and identified tailored opportunities to enhance program impact, reaffirming their collective commitment to CARTA’s vision of developing and retaining Africa’s next generation of research leaders

Optimizing the CARTA Curricula for Greater Accessibility and Use

From May 28 - 30, 2025, CARTA convened a consultative workshop to review its curricula and develop a strategic roadmap for broader adoption and dissemination within and beyond partner institutions. The workshop brought together CARTA training coordinators and facilitators to evaluate the use, accessibility, and relevance of CARTA’s teaching resources.

Participants reviewed feedback from a targeted survey of trainer-of-trainers (ToT) beneficiaries, conducted a hands-on critique of digital content and the curricula site, and assessed materials across five key interventions. These include PhD training; ESE:0’s Academic writing; Academic, Professional and Administration Staff Workshops - APAS, also referred to as Institutional support or Research management; Graduate Grant Writing Workshop; and Supervisors Workshop. The workshop culminated in the development of detailed action plans and a structured review roadmap, which will be guided by the coordinators of each of the interventions.

Enhancing Grant Writing Capacity at the University of Nairobi

The University of Nairobi, through its institutionalized initiative ‘Enhancing the Capacity of PhD Students and Early Career Researchers on Grant Proposal Writing,’ implemented a structured program between April 2024 and April 2025. Supported by CARTA, the initiative sought to respond to low research funding success rates. It was informed by a baseline needs assessment, which revealed that more than half of the academic units lacked formal grant-writing activities and access to training materials. 



In response, a tailored, interactive Grant Proposal Writing Guide was developed to support both facilitated and self-directed learning. The initiative engaged stakeholders through consultative meetings, training workshops, and a writers' retreat. Ultimately, 51 PhD students and ECRs were trained, along with 20 faculty-based ToTs. Embedding practical tools such as case studies and exercises, the guide promotes long-term skill development, and the broader effort has contributed to embedding a culture of research excellence and sustainability in grant development at the University.

University of Rwanda Harmonizes Multidisciplinary Research Methods Training

Between August 2024 and May 2025, the University of Rwanda advanced its institutional commitment to high-quality doctoral education through the 'Expanding Institutional Capacity Strengthening for Enhanced Doctoral Research Training (ECASERT)' initiative. Supported through a CARTA institutionalization seed grant, the initiative sought to harmonize teaching and learning materials for the university's multidisciplinary research methodology module. This module, based on the CARTA PhD training curriculum, was approved in 2020 but had faced inconsistent delivery across university colleges.

By convening doctoral research trainers from six UR colleges, ECASERT led to the co-creation of a unified, peer-reviewed set of e-learning materials now housed on the University’s digital platform. These resources, which incorporate CARTA’s training philosophy, enhance both structured and self-guided learning and feature clear learning outcomes, open educational resources, and discipline-specific content.

CARTA Facilitator Joins WHO Advisory Group on Behavioural Health Science

Violet Naanyu, a CARTA facilitator and Associate Professor at Moi University, a valued CARTA partner institution, has been nominated to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Technical Advisory Group on Behavioural Sciences for Better Health. She will bring her expertise in qualitative research, health communication, and social science approaches to help improve global health outcomes. In addition to her teaching and academic leadership, Violet has carved a niche in strengthening health systems across Africa through evidence-based, culturally grounded research and capacity strengthening. Learn more

Ernest Moya, cohort 9, graduated with a PhD in Maternal Health on May 1, 2025, from Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi.

Henry Zakumumpa, cohort 4, was invited to speak at the International Society of Pharmacovigilance conference held in Uppsala, Sweden, between May 14 - 15, 2025. He presented findings from a follow-on pharmacovigilance research grant awarded last year by the Uppsala Monitoring Centre and CARTA. The project, implemented jointly with the National Drug Authority of Uganda, focused on improving data quality in the reporting of adverse drug reactions in HIV clinics in Uganda.

James Kangethe, cohort 10, was recognized as one of the top PhD students at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, for the 2023/2024 academic year. His research work received an award for excellence in publication. 



Between May 13 - 16, he attended the International Conference on HIV Treatment, Pathogenesis, and Prevention Research in Resource-Limited Settings (INTEREST) 2025, held in Windhoek, Namibia, where he chaired a session. Titled ‘Strengthening Research Capacity in Early Career Investigators,’ the season featured speakers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA, and the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), who shared valuable insights on advancing research capacity among early-career researchers.

Felishan Cherop, cohort 7, presented a paper on ’Navigating Academic Freedom in University Governance: Faculty Struggles and Structural Barriers in African Higher Education’ at the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) Academic Freedom Conference, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The paper explored how governance structures and policy frameworks affect faculty autonomy in African Universities. The conference brought together scholars across Africa and provided valuable feedback that deepened my understanding and enriched my ongoing research interests in higher education governance.

Godwin Anywar, cohort 6, facilitated a session on scholarly writing to PhD and master's students of Health Sciences at the 1st national workshop on Strengthening Essential Research Skills of the Young East African Research Scientists (YEARS') Forum, held on May 14 - 15, in Kampala, Uganda. YEARS' is a program of the East African Health Research Commission, under the East African Community.

Funding: Research Programme on Evidence Use in Policymaking

The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) invites expressions of interest from organizations or consortia for different strands of its Evidence-Informed Policymaking (EIPM) program that explores how policymakers engage with evidence and identifies the factors that influence evidence uptake in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with a central focus on policymaking for national economic growth. The award size is up to GBP 400,000. Details

Deadline: June 27, 2025

Fellowship: African Scholar Residency Opportunity

The African Foundational Learning Data Hub (AFLEARN) is dedicated to African foundational learning data, measurement, research, and capacity building. AFLEARN DataHub offers opportunities for African scholars or researchers to spend a one-month residency at DataFirst, UCT. This residency program aims to stimulate a research agenda around foundational learning data and build capacity across the African continent. The residency program covers flights, visas, accommodation, and a daily stipend. Scholars will be based at DataFirst. Details

Fellowship: Postdoctorals in Science and Society

The Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST) at Stellenbosch University invites applications for two exciting postdoctoral fellowship opportunities in the broad field of science and society. The specific fellowships are on Civic Science and Public Engagement with the Social Sciences and Humanities. Both fellowships will be hosted within the Public Engagement Lab at CREST, led by Prof Marina Joubert. These fellowships provide an opportunity to engage in innovative, interdisciplinary research with a dynamic and supportive team. Both fellowships will be hosted within the Public Engagement Lab at CREST, led by Prof Marina Joubert. Details

Deadline: June 5, 2025

Course: Cold Chain for Global Health 

Over 30% of food is lost, around 25% of vaccines are wasted, and pandemic surveillance systems still face significant challenges due to inadequate management strategies, such as broken cold-chain systems. The cold chain is a temperature-controlled supply system essential for preserving food, vaccines, reagents, and biological samples, playing a critical role in health outcomes and food security. It also intersects with climate change due to its reliance on energy and refrigerants. Details

Narrowing the Field of Focus for Cost-Effective Sequencing of Relevant Regions

During tumor progression, cells acquire mutations in their DNA that drive hallmarks of cancer, such as proliferation, survival, and immune escape. Understanding these mutations can help researchers understand the biology of the disease, pave the way for new biomarkers, and elucidate potential therapeutic targets. Learn more

To be featured in the next CARTA Monthly, share with us your news and updates

via email to cartacomms@cartafrica.org on or before June 25, 2025.

Submissions should include but are not limited to:

Upcoming events, meetings, story ideas, new collaborations, new trials/updates, upcoming and published papers, policy briefs, community engagement activities, scholarships, what you are reading, if you won a grant, attending or about an upcoming conference, a call for applications/funding/papers, etc.

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