NAIROBI, Kenya — Mount Kenya University (MKU) is turning up the volume on research, and it’s not just talk — it’s grants, innovation exchanges, and a digital transformation of its postgraduate programmes.
The private university, with campuses across East Africa, is making deliberate moves to position itself among Africa’s top research institutions by betting big on innovation and international recognition.
If you ask MKU Vice Chancellor Prof. Deogratius Jaganyi, research is not just another academic checkbox — it’s the fuel powering the university’s climb onto the continental stage.
Speaking during the launch of the 2024/2025 Vice Chancellor’s Research and Innovation Grant at the Mwai Kibaki Convention Centre, Prof. Jaganyi said: “Any university that has risen to global repute has done so through research. That’s what we are doing at MKU — ensuring our output earns us international respect.”
The grant isn’t just symbolic. It’s MKU’s internal engine room, driving multidisciplinary projects, postdoctoral studies, and capacity-building for early-career researchers.
According to the Director of Grants and Development, the university has broadened the scope of the grants to encourage cross-discipline collaboration and scalable, impact-driven studies.
The ceremony also recognized faculty and students who secured external grants — both local and international — signaling MKU’s growing footprint in the research community.
Dr. Samuel Karenga, Director of Graduate Studies, highlighted how the institution’s full transition to digital postgraduate management — accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic — has changed the game.
“Many of our students are scattered across the country and even in the diaspora,” he noted.
“Now they’re able to progress in their programs from anywhere, attend virtual supervision sessions, and complete their studies on time.” That digital shift is already yielding results.
The university has seen a sharp uptick in postgraduate students completing their studies within the minimum timeframe, a notable feat for any higher education institution navigating modern academic pressures.
During the same event, a group of standout students was honored for securing slots in the Africa Meets Bavaria innovation exchange programme in Munich, Germany.
Come mid-May, these students will land in Europe for a two-and-a-half-month immersion in startup culture, where they’ll get hands-on experience in design, AI engineering, and software development.
It’s not just an internship — it’s a launchpad.
They’ll be placed in German startups, allowing them to flex their technical muscles, showcase homegrown talent, and absorb lessons from a tech ecosystem that’s among the most sophisticated in Europe.
It’s MKU’s answer to brain gain — not brain drain.
MKU’s approach is clear: put research at the core, embrace digital transformation, and let students take on the world.
As the university expands its collaborations and continues investing in internal funding, it’s signaling to the rest of the continent — and the globe — that it’s playing to win.
