Programme for Institutional Transformation, Research and Outreach (PITRO)
In 2009 the University of Oslo (UiO) entered a formal partnership with the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) in Tanzania under the Programme for Institutional Transformation, Research and Outreach (PITRO III). This programme is financed by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) for the period 2009 - 2012.
About the project
The programme involves collaboration between the central administration and a number of different departments at the two institutions. UDSM and UiO have collaborated in research and teaching in a variety of different fields for many years, but PITRO is a more overarching programme.
Overall goal
The overall goal of the PITRO-programme is to increase the contribution of the University of Dar es Salaam to Tanzania’s efforts to economic growth, reduced poverty and improved social well-being of Tanzanians through transformation of the education, science and technology sectors. The immediate objective is to ensure that qualifying candidates have equitable access to high quality education, knowledge and skills for increasing productivity and reducing poverty.
Objectives: Strategic collaboration
This partnership is in accord with UiOs Strategy 2020 which states that ”UiO shall be more selective and purposeful in its institutional cooperation and give priority to long-term cooperation with some of the best international research and educational institutions. Cooperation with 7 prioritised countries in other parts of the world will be improved and include selected institutions in the global South.”
Collaboration in three thematic areas
PITRO involves collaboration in three thematic areas "Education", "Environment and Conservation" and "Good Governance" as well as cross-cutting institutional interventions.
Activities to date
The first year of the programme was dedicated to establishing contacts and developing collaborative projects in research, capacity building and institution building Project proposals for research and teaching were prepared and submitted in a competitive process which led, in summer 2010, to the selection of six projects to be funded for the next two years. In addition to these is collaboration in a range of activities including quality assurance, the library, research ethics and HIV/Aids.
Background
Financing
PITRO is financed by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).