Sida has been supporting Addis Ababa University for over three decades through its  earlier program SIDA-SAREC. As the result of this long standing funding support, Addis  Ababa University has been benefiting through capacity building in terms of manpower, programs, infrastructure, equipments, etc. Scaling up its support in 2009, Sida entered into a special block grant agreement with Addis Ababa University in order to support the University’s new initiative on graduate expansion, more specifically the in-house PhD program as well as research development. The project had the following specific objectives:

• To launch and execute quality in-house PhD programs;

• To strengthen the existing research capacity of the University;

• To establish relevant centers of excellence;

• To improve library services and enhance research facilities;

• To undertake Graduate Scholarships for Females;

• To automate the main components of the administrative wing and

• To support the administrative reform and improve efficiency of the administrative wing.