Research Conference

On Nov 1-3, NUR held its fourth annual research conference. We at CGIS had again the honour to deliver the four speeches in the first session. That's honourable because it is immediately after the opening speech by the Honourable Minister of Education.

The opening ceremony was scheduled to start at 9h30. But the minister left Kigali only at 9h00, the trip from Kigali to Butare takes at least two hours, and the conference cannot start without the minister's opening speech. The rector would have had the power to decide otherwise, but he was in a meeting...

This gave us time to enjoy the magnificently decorated stage: huge, with a background of nicely pleated tissues in the country's colours (blue, yellow, green), a big table below an even bigger table cloth, and a miniature (compared to the stage) screen next to the lectern. And all that was topped with some country music.

At 11am, they arrived. The honourable minister of eductation and the rector (whose meeting seems to have finished just on time) stepped on stage. The rector's speech stressed the importance of research for the university and the minister stressed the importance of including students into research endeavours. The conference was held during the semester break. No students around. Probably unaware of this, she continued that "men in rose [prisoners, including professors] should not write the mémoirs for students". (By the way, most professors at NUR have a master's degree, some a bachelor, and few a PhD.)

Finally, the presentations. They were refreshing.