The Vice Chancellor Prof. Romanus Odhiambo (3rd right) with staff from UCD Dublin; Prof. Thilo Kroll (far right) and Dr. Purity Mwendwa (4th Right) and MUST staff; Dr. Eunice Marete (2nd Right); Dr. Joshua Arimi (2nd left) and Dr. Maryjoy Kaimuri (Far left).

Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST) has been working in partnership with University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland. Pictured above, Prof. Thilo Kroll and Dr. Purity Mwendwa (currently adjunct lecturers at MUST) made a courtesy visit to the University to discuss areas for further collaboration between the two universities.  These include and but are not limited to joint grant writing workshops, publications, supervision of postgraduate students and European Union funded research and development programmes, such as Erasmus Plus.

In 2017, two members of staff from UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, Dr Gabrielle O’Kelly and Dr Purity Mwendwa visited MUST School of Nursing. Two members of staff from the School of Nursing in MUST, Dr Naomi Mutea, the Dean of the School and Dr MaryJoy Kaimuri then paid a return visit in the same year. This visit was made possible through the award of the ESTHER Ireland Small Grant Scheme, a European initiative that involves the twinning of European institutions with those in developing countries to strengthen health care services by building expertise and sharing experience. The initial exchange led to the development and consecutive approval of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

In 2018, Prof. Thilo Kroll and Dr. Purity Mwendwa participated as keynote speakers in a research and research output workshop hosted at MUST. The workshop showcased findings of a MUST funded research output and capacity mapping exercise that had been conducted by Dr. Mwendwa and Dr. Marete.

Further, MUST has been involved in an Erasmus Plus students and staff exchange between the MUST School of Agriculture and Food Science and the UCD Institute of Food and Health that was funded by European Commission. Through this programme two members of staff from MUST visited UCD recently. Two faculty members from UCD will come to MUST in early 2020. As part of the same programme, a student pursuing PhD in Food Science at MUST is currently placed at the UCD Institute of Food and Health.