Post graduate students at Africa Center of Excellence for Climate Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation, Haramaya University, who have submitted their papers for presentation in this round of University wide schedule for open defenses have successfully defended their findings. On 17th and 18th of November 2022, the Center has examined members of its first Cohort PhD students, and second and third Cohorts MSc students in an open defense session. In this round of open defense, three PhD dissertations and Eight MSc theses have been assessed by the board of examiners from different fields of specializations.
The examination has been employed in a virtual and face to face presence of the board of examiners and board of advisory committees. The board of examiners with potential experiences in advising and examining graduate students, and having incredible experiences of publishing many more articles on reputable journals have joined the Center from research institutions and universities in Ethiopia. Critical examinations were undertaken, scientific debates have been exchanged with the participation of students and members of staff from the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences of Haramaya University.
All the presented papers were successfully defended and accepted in the partial fulfillments of the requirements for the degrees in their respective fields of studies scoring very attractive grades. The PhD dissertations have focused more on the areas of climate change and agricultural production and productivity with special focus on Rice and Maize. Also, social network for climate change adaptation is one of the focus areas of dissertations presented. The three PhD students who have successfully defended and ready to graduate could be be taken as an emblem of progress in the achievements of the Center in changing its objectives into remarkable goals that, now, it has successfully managed to graduate Nine PhD students.
By this time, about 53 MSc and 9 PhD students have successfully completed their studies including the ones that have already graduated in the previous rounds. In the near future, the Center expects more PhD and MSc candidates who are on a way to finish their studies by which it aspires to continue to produce more graduates in the fields of Climate Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity management.