The Secretary General for Research, Professor Marie-Claire YANDJU DEMBO, carried out a series of visits to various faculties of the University of Kinshasa, spread over three days: Monday 7, Tuesday 8 and Thursday 10 April 2025.

The Deans, Vice-Deans and members of the offices of the various departments took part in these exchange meetings with the Secretary General for Research.

The main objectives of these visits were:

1. To inform academic stakeholders about the arrangements to be made within the framework of the organization of scientific and cultural conferences;
2. To present the Project Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, as well as its facilitators;
3. And to announce the upcoming effectiveness of the Doctoral School.

As part of entrepreneurial and research projects, the Management Committee deemed it appropriate to create a Unit responsible for participatory monitoring and evaluation and the capitalization of management experiences. During her presentations to members of the faculty and department offices, the Secretary General for Research presented the organizational chart of the Research Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, as well as the members who lead it.

She specified that this unit constitutes strategic support for the work of the Secretaries of the Departments, particularly in the management of the Research Units for Sustainable Development, which provide concrete solutions to societal problems.

The Monitoring Unit helps to support the development of projects by ensuring their alignment with the set missions, the efficient use of resources, the smooth running of planned actions at all levels of intervention, and the identification of necessary adjustments in the event of deviation from the initial objectives.

In accordance with Academic Instructions No. 026, Professor Marie-Claire YANDJU DEMBO provided the audience with detailed information on the admission requirements, the application process, and the procedures for defending DEA/DES dissertations and theses. She particularly emphasized the need to ensure the compliance of the constituent documents in DEA/DES and doctoral application files. To this end, a checklist was made available to members of the Faculty and Department offices to enable them to process applications according to established criteria.

These visits were also marked by the upcoming announcement of the establishment of doctoral schools at the University of Kinshasa. Several schools will be launched, each covering a specific area of research. This initiative aims to strengthen the quality of doctoral training and promote high-level scientific research, focused on the real issues and challenges facing society.

In a dynamic of revitalizing research and regulating the multiplication of conferences and workshops, it was announced that the calendars of all categories of conferences will now be developed and updated monthly.

The types of conferences planned are as follows:

• Scientific conferences, organized within each faculty, are intended for the presentation of research results from the work of second and third cycle students, under the supervision of departments and faculties;
• Research and teaching seminars, which present partial reports or progress reports on current research, as well as the directions of work carried out within the departments;
• Major university conferences, allowing researchers from various disciplines to reflect on current issues in order to propose solutions or academic contributions to societal challenges (examples: malnutrition in Kwango, the COVID-19 epidemic, the effects of war on the natural resources of the DRC);
• Conferences of a political nature, requested by political authorities, in connection with patriotic awakening or national or international events.

Each session concluded with an interactive question-and-answer session, which enriched the discussions and satisfied the participants.

Faculties visited per day:

Monday, April 7, 2025:

• Oil, Gas and Renewable Energy
• Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
• Science and Technology
• Psychology and Educational Sciences
• Polytechnic

Tuesday, April 8, 2025:

• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Medicine
• Veterinary medicine
• Oral Medicine

Thursday, April 10, 2025:

• Economics and Management Sciences
• Social, Political and Administrative Sciences
• Right
• Letters and Human Sciences