Exploring Undergraduate Research Projects Success Factors in Muni University, Uganda

Abstract

This paper presents the success factors for undergraduate research projects (URPs) at Muni University. The objectives of the study were to determine the relevant skills required for the success of undergraduate research projects and investigate the roles of students, supervisors and faculty towards the success of URPs. Questionnaires were administered to a population of 70 final-year students. SPSS-v.21 program was used to analyse the data collected. The research instrument was reliable at Chronbach’s alpha 0.9038. Results showed that research, research environment, research management, personal effectiveness, communication, networking and teamwork skills are paramount to the success of URPs. The study found out that the key stakeholders (students, supervisors and faculty) perform their roles throughout the project period. However, there’s a need to have a mechanism for project tracking, filing complaints, and having URPs externally examined among others.