The collaboration between the Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership (BHP) and the University of Botswana (UB) should be strengthened to enable both entities to sustain growth in different areas of research and training. This was said by the Project Leader for the Trials of Excellence in Southern Africa (TESA) Network, Dr Francisco Saute during an online meeting with the two institutions on August 04, 2022 during the TESA leadership visit to BHP. Dr Saute was accompanied by TESA Project Manager & Coordinator, Rodriques Matcheve.

Dr Francisco Saute and Rodrigues Matcheve are both from Mozambique Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), the research institution that is the host grant recipient for the consortium. TESA is a consortium constituted by nine African members (Angola, Botswana, eSwatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe) and three

European members (France, The Netherlands, Spain) and is funded through the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). The funding has facilitated research and capacity buidling of next generation scientists at BHP including fellows registered for MSc/MPhil and PhD at UB, core-mentored by BHP scientists and UB academics.

During this visit BHP arranged for the TESA leadership to meet its key collaborators and discuss available opportunities for enhancing such collaborations. Dr Saute applauded the collaboration, especially that both BHP and UB have projects that are funded through the EDCTP. He gave an overview of the network and explained changes to the grant application process which now requires countries to be members of the EDCTP council for its institutions to benefit from EDCTP funding. He presented EDCTP opportunities for joint grant applications between the two institutions.

To strengthen their collaboration, BHP and UB regularly engage to review how best the partnership can be enriched for the benefit of both institutions. For his part, BHP Chief Executive Officer, Dr Joseph Makhema hailed the collaboration a success, observing that producing scientists with post graduate qualifications from UB has also promoted the BHP brand, strengthening its capacity building credentials.

The meeting discussed opportunities for the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between BHP, UB and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health (HSPH), reflecting on how it can be expanded. Dr Makhema suggested that the MOU could include UB staff becoming Research Associates with the BHP so that they can fully participate in the BHP research portfolio and thus expand their skills beyond didactic training. As part of the collaboration and reciprocity the university was requested to consider waving some of the requirements like tuition fees for post graduate students so that the money can be directed towards funding the research.

UB’s Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Prof Richard Tabulawa commended the collaboration between his institution and the BHP. “This meeting has offered us an opportunity to interact as partners. Any collaboration that benefits both parties is a great partnership and we are here to support this collaboration”, he said.

Prof Tabulawa reiterated that the MOU between BHP and UB offers opportunities for the appointment of BHP staff as adjunct lecturers at the university, something that he described as enhancing the university’s research agenda.

UB’s Prof Mabel Magowe affirmed that UB is already reviewing adjunct professorship applications from some BHP scientists stating that the applications are still undergoing the normal recruitment assessment. BHP’s Laboratory Director, Dr Sikhulile Moyo has been an adjunct lecturer in the faculty of biological sciences at UB for the past six years.

Dr Margaret Mokomane, Head of Department of at the School of Allied Health Services at UB underscored that the university is working well with BHP in training of MPhil and PhDs as well as supervision of students’ thesis as part of the partnership.

“We are continuously looking for opportunities for collaborative grant applications with BHP to leverage on each other’s capabilities and capacities. Meanwhile We are also looking forward to become Research Associates with BHP and certainly encourage BHP staff to apply for adjunct lecturer positions so that you affiliate with UB. This will address the issues surrounding student supervision and publication authorship,” said Dr Mokomane.