The University of West Indies

The University of West Indies

Carlton A. Samuels

oadmin@uwimona.edu.jm

The University of the West Indies, established in 1948 initially as an external College of the University of London and made fully independent in 1962, is the oldest, fully regional institution of higher learning in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Supported by fifteen countries all current or former colonies of Great Britain, the UWI is committed to the development of the region through the training of its human resources, conducting research, delivering advisory services to governments as well as to the private sector and forging links with other institutions in the wider region and the rest of the world.
The University has expanded to four campuses that serve diverse communities across the Caribbean region - Cave Hill (in Barbados), Mona (in Jamaica) and St. Augustine (in Trinidad) and the Open Campus - all of which deliver high-quality education, research and services to all 15 contributing countries that support the University, as well as the Turks & Caicos Islands. The University of the West Indies currently has a total enrolment of over 39,000 students and graduates annually approximately 5,800 students (at undergraduate, graduate and diploma levels).
Knowledge creation as well as knowledge application in biotechnology, information technology, tropical medicine and chronic diseases, inter alia, are acknowledged as traditional strengths of the UWI. We have committed ourselves to expanding on these as well as delving into new and important areas such as health economics and Health issues arising from certain chronic diseases with the HIV/AIDS pandemic being a major concern for the region. We recognise that our research capacity is a most important asset that must be supported and promoted because our graduate research students do form the core of the region’s future research capability.