Gulu University is seeking stronger government support to turn its research innovations into commercial products, citing inadequate financing, limited product-development infrastructure and regulatory barriers that have left many inventions confined to university laboratories.
The university says that although its researchers and students have developed innovations in agriculture, technology, medicine and environmental management, taking them beyond the laboratory remains a major challenge because of limited business expertise and the high costs associated with testing, certification and commercialisation.
The concerns emerged on Friday during a visit by the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Jonard Asiimwe Akiiki, to selected research and innovation facilities at Gulu University.
The Minister, however, challenged university researchers to concentrate on developing one promising innovation at a time rather than spreading their efforts across several projects simultaneously.
Akiiki said some researchers, particularly professors, pursue multiple innovations without completing the development of any one product, limiting their ability to demonstrate results, attract further funding and enter the market.
He urged researchers to identify promising ideas, develop them into viable products and demonstrate their commercial potential before moving on to other projects.
During the tour, the Minister inspected research facilities in the Information Technology and Computer Science Department, Chemistry and Physics laboratories, and the Faculty of Agriculture.
Among the innovations presented were a plastic and polythene waste-sorting machine, a mobility assistance device for blind people, an automated seed planter and the Ngaa digital application, designed to register vehicles entering and leaving institutional parking facilities.
Akiiki said government was preparing substantial resources to support scientific research but warned that continued access to funding would increasingly depend on researchers demonstrating tangible results and defending the relevance of their work.
The Minister also expressed concern about the condition of some of the university’s laboratories, particularly those in the Chemistry Department, which he said were below the required standards.
He directed his technical team to engage university management and explore how the institution could benefit from planned government laboratory upgrading programmes.
However, the university leadership said improving research facilities and providing funding alone would not be sufficient unless government also addressed the institutional and regulatory challenges that prevent innovations from reaching the market.
Vice Chancellor Professor George Ladaah Openjuru said many university researchers were academics with limited experience in business development, licensing, marketing and the processes involved in commercialising scientific discoveries.
He proposed establishing a Directorate of Entrepreneurship and an entrepreneur-in-residence programme to provide specialised support to researchers seeking to turn their innovations into businesses.
Openjuru said researchers also faced difficulties securing early-stage financing, developing prototypes and accessing facilities for product testing.
He particularly raised concerns about the costs and regulatory requirements associated with institutions such as the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB).
He asked the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to engage the relevant government agencies to develop a policy framework that supports university startups, especially those still developing and testing their products.
“We really expect you, as the responsible minister, to create this policy framework within government and regulatory bodies to work supportively,” he said.
The Chairperson of the Gulu University Council, Theresa Mary Obbo, also identified inadequate financing as a major constraint to research and innovation. She said the University Council had allocated 800 million shillings from the institution’s budget for the 2026/27 financial year to support research and innovation activities, but the amount remained insufficient for the university’s needs.”Besides infrastructure, financing research and innovation has been a challenge. In view of this, Council in the financial year 2026/2027 approved a meagre 800 million shillings out of our budget to support research and innovation. Research staff will benefit from this little resource,” Obbo said.
She appealed to the Ministry to support the establishment of a well-funded Research and Innovation Fund (RIF) to provide more sustainable financing for university research.
Akiiki pledged government support for selected innovations at Gulu University, particularly projects in the sciences focusing on converting plastic waste into fuel, sorting plastic and polythene waste, automated seed planting and improving mobility for blind people.
Other research presented during the visit included a testing kit for animal and crop diseases, investigations into the causes of nodding syndrome and treatment for jiggers, led by Associate Professor Richard Echodu.
Researchers also showcased work on indigenous medicines for sickle cell disease by Dr Alice Lamwaka and value addition to fruits from Borassus aethiopum, commonly known as the Tugu tree, under a project led by Associate Professor Christine Oryema.
The university’s appeal highlights a wider challenge facing Uganda’s efforts to strengthen science, technology and innovation: moving beyond the production of research findings and prototypes to developing products that meet market requirements and can sustain commercial operations.
While government expects universities to contribute to industrialisation, agricultural productivity, environmental management and technological development, the process requires more than scientific ideas. Researchers need funding to develop and test prototypes, institutions to support business development, and affordable pathways through product certification and registration.