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The University of Botswana (UB) Vice Chancellor, Professor David Norris, has reaffirmed UB’s commitment to its transformative agenda. Professor Norris reaffirmed UB’s position during a meet-and-greet session with the newly appointed Minister of Higher Education, Honorable Prince Maele, and Assistant Minister, Honorable Justin Hunyepa this week.

He outlined UB's vision to redefine its role as a hub of research, innovation and academic excellence to drive the institution towards a more impactful future. He indicated that the initiative was grounded on the understanding that universities played a central role in economic and social development through the generation and dissemination of knowledge.

UB, he stated, was focused on becoming a High-Performance Organisation as well as a research-intensive institution and has laid deliberate groundwork to enhance its local and global impact.

Professor Norris noted UB’s active participation in the entire research value chain, from basic investigations to the commercialisation of innovations, achieved through collaborations with industry partners and investors. The approach, he said, has led to a significant improvement in the University's research impact score which has risen from 11 to nearly 60 out of 100.

International recognition was also a focal point, with UB benchmarking itself against global institutions such as Harvard and Cambridge. This is a bold move which underscores UB’s strengths in disciplines such as clinical health, physical sciences and social sciences.

The Vice Chancellor also addressed UB's efforts to reduce reliance on government funding by generating tax-free income through academic activities. Projects such as the biodiesel initiative which utilises local resources such as used oil, beef tallow and other raw materials, demonstrate UB’s dedication to sustainable development and job creation. Other initiatives, including glassblowing and liquid nitrogen production, demonstrate scalability and the potential to serve both local and regional markets.

In collaboration with institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), UB has also ventured into vaccine development to address critical challenges including foot-and-mouth disease. The partnerships underline UB’s capability to deliver real-world solutions with significant impact.

For his part, Mr Maele expressed gratitude for the informative session, acknowledging its value beyond his initial expectation of a simple meet-and-greet. The Minister reflected on his recent appointment by highlighting the importance of understanding his ministry's direction.

Mr Maele acknowledged that Botswana’s recent elections marked a historic change in leadership in that new priorities and expectations were set for the government. He encouraged all stakeholders to embrace this change to align with the government’s manifesto and work collaboratively to achieve Botswana’s educational goals.

The event, hosted by UB in partnership with the Ministry of Higher Education, brought together a delegation from various institutions within the higher education ecosystem. Attendees included representatives from funding and regulatory bodies such as the Department of Tertiary Education Financing (DTEF), Department of Institutes of Health Sciences, Department of Skills Development, Department of Teacher Training and Technical Education, Construction Industry Trust Fund (CITF), Botswana Accountancy College (BAC), Botswana Open University (BOU), Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BUIST), Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA) and Human Resources Development Council (HRDC).