Research

School of Research and Postgraduate Studies

The United Christian University School of Research and Postgraduate Studies (SRPGS) was set up to provide quality research and graduate academic services.
It oversees research and postgraduate studies at UCU. The SRPGS aspires to be "A centre for quality centred graduate training and knowledge generation in Africa".

SRPGS Goal

To promote excellence in graduate education and training across the entire University in the areas of instruction, research and professional activity leading to the acquisition, creation and dissemination of new knowledge and the preparation of outstanding scholars and professionals in an atmosphere of free and lively inquiry.

SRPGS Aim

The School of Research and Postgraduate Studies (SRPGS) aims to foster interdisciplinary research and teaching, and to help programs prepare current graduate students as future leaders in teaching, research and development, applied science, policy making, and social service to Malawi and to the wider region.

Our Objectives

We are committed to the growth and development of research and scholarly activity in order to:

Contribute to original thinking and the creation, growth and dissemination of knowledge.
Contribute to scholarship and the body of knowledge which underpins learning and teaching.
Contribute to the development of useful and commercially exploitable inventions, products and processes.
Increase external funding of our activities. We have registered with grants.gov and NIH which are big American funders for scientific research.

UCU Research Ethics Committee

The number of research projects involving humans as research participants in Malawi has more than quadrupled since 1990s. This increasing quest for knowledge and the search for novel remedies to health, social and other challenges is commendable, but could, if uncontrolled, expose research participants to a spectrum of risks. It is therefore important to have in place a system that promotes beneficial research and guards against unethical research. Oversight of research involving humans as research participants in Malawi is done first at the organizational level by Research Ethics Committees (RECs) and second at the national level by National Commission of Science and Technology (NCST) in collaboration with Malawi National Health Research Organization (MNHRO) for research in health.

The Malawi Christian University (UCU), has one of its core values as INTEGRITY and aims to uphold sound moral character, as defined by Biblical principles. UCU therefore has Research Ethics Committee (REC) to be accredited by National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) to review and oversee all research activities involving human subjects in her catchment area.