School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences celebrates 10th anniversary

Accra, Mar. 22, GNA - Mr Mahama Ayariga, Minister of Environment, Science Technology and Innovation (MESTI), has launched the 10th Anniversary celebrations of the University of Ghana's School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences (SNAS) at its Atomic Campus.

The School, which was jointly established by the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) in collaboration with the University of Ghana, with support from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2006, is to promote human resource development in nuclear and related technologies in Ghana and Africa.

The School currently has five academic Departments that offer 12 accredited Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes, and a five month IAEA post graduate Education Course in Radiation Protection, as well as other 'sandwich' programmes.

It has so far produced 19 PhD and 350 MPhil graduates out of which 17 were international students.

It has also trained additional 80 people in its Postgraduate Education Course in Radiation Protection and Safety in Radiation Sources, of which 64 were also from outside Ghana.

Mr Ayariga, who delivered a keynote at the launch on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama, said SNAS had through its postgraduate programmes built and continued to build capacity for Ghanaians and other nationals in the nuclear field.

He thanked the IAEA for the tremendous support in the area of capacity building initiatives through technical training and 'sandwich' PhD programmes for the school's graduate students.

He said the Government of Ghana would continue to play its role in ensuring the development of additional infrastructure for sound education and human capacity development across the African continent.

He said in response to the need for the expansion of the physical infrastructure at the school, the government through the GETFund, had built a new faculty block, a hostel facility and a two-story library block at a total cost of GHC 5,140,712.

Professor Francis K. Allotey, Board Chairman of the School, said the facility was initially designated as an AFRA/IAEA Regional Centre of Excellence for Professional and Higher Education in Nuclear Science and Technology in September, 2009, and Radiation Protection in October 2011.

The school, he said, was on September 25, 2014, recognised as an AFRA/IAEA Regional Designated Centre for Education in Medical Physics.

He said SNAS in its quest to meet the academic requirements of its students from different African countries, had also added new academic programmes such as Radiation and Cancer Biology, Process Control and Instrumentation, as well as Renewable Energy and Hydrological Sciences.

The School, he said, could boast of exceptional successes including the winner of the University of Ghana Vice-Chancellor's Award for the Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in Sciences for 2013/2014, and again in the 2014/2015 academic years respectively, and would remain one of the best ranking tertiary institutions in the world.

Prof Allotey, however called for the IAEA's support to host and implement a PhD 'sandwich' programme.

GNA