Guna Tana Integrated Field Research and Development Center (GTIFRDC) was established in 2012 as a research center. GTIFRDC is a landscape bounded by Guna Mountain in the east, Lake Tana in the west, Rib River in the north, and Gumara River in the South. This Center is a ‘University without wall’; learning takes place in the community outside the classrooms. Considering its huge potential to facilitate the teaching and learning processes through integrating with the research and community services. Since 2023 the center upgraded to a directorate level following the universities new institutional re-arrangements.
The university attempts to use the directorate to integrate learning, researches and community services by engaging the different disciplines of the university and the different developmental stakeholders. To facilitate the teaching and learning process, students will be attached to this setting at the early stage of their learning that increases in a spiral form as the learning year increases.
The Directorate Responsibility and Role:
- Overseeing the research directorate’s strategic plan to make sure the
center’sdirectorate’s goals lineup with those of the university’s strategic plan. - Developing community need based research and developmental projects and finding grants abroad and in the country.
- Enhancing the reputation of the research directorate and the university by undertaking quality researches and community services.
- Supervises the general operation of the directorate including management, allocation and utilization of existing shared resources, equipment and land to optimize research and farm income generation opportunities.
- Facilitate preconditions for students assigned to the directorate from different colleges of the university and giving support to them to learn and gain experiences.
- Ensure stakeholders’ needs are met through current and targeted research and community service projects.
- Organize and conduct periodic field days and other outreach events.
- Utilize various media to communicate results to the larger public as appropriate.
- Building and providing sufficient support for researchers to enhance research capacity in the university.
- Initiating mutually beneficial linkages, through the university, with academic and developmental institutions to develop partnerships and collaboration.
- Transferring knowledge to society.
- Regular communication of research center activities and opportunities.
Directorate contact
Director: Wondie Mebrat Teshome
Email: Mebratayele21@gmail.com
Phone: +251913870922