University of Dar es Salaam

THIS UNIVERSITY, Tanzania’s oldest, began life in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. It had only one faculty – Law – with 14 students. In 1963 it was merged with Makerere University College in Kampala (Uganda) and Nairobi University College in Kenya to form the University of East Africa. Then in 1970, the University of East Africa was
unbundled and the University of Dar es Salaam became independent and autonomous.

Since inception (in 1961) the institution has shown steady growth, both in student numbers and academic programmes. Today, the university has five campuses in and around the city of Dar es Salaam and operates academically through ten faculties, some of which are exclusive to specific campuses. For example, the College of Engineering and Technology campus houses the faculties of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, as well as Civil Engineering and the Built Environment. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is active in the Mkwawa University College of Education campus and also in the Dar es Salaam University College of
Education.

The main campus, situated on a rolling hillside 13 km to the west of downtown Dar es Salaam, is home to the basic faculties of Education, Arts and Social Science, and Science, which are also active on the other campuses. In addition, four specialist faculties – Informatics and Virtual Education; Law; Commerce and Management; and Aquatic Science and Technology – have been established there. The Institute of Journalism and Mass Communication provides the university with its fifth campus.

Academic and research staff on all campuses total over 1 300, with 80 percent holding doctoral degrees, but with less than a quarter of them women. Research output in 2006/07 amounted to 353 publications in accredited journals (more than 80 percent in international journals) and
the publication of 22 books.