Wednesday, 20 December 2006 was a remarkable day in the history of UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in Delft. A new record was set with three PhD students successfully presenting and defending their PhD-theses on one day. The three students are all from East Africa and worked on research projects related to Lake Victoria, the second-largest freshwater lake in the world and of tremendous importance, both ecologically and socio-economically, for millions of people in the lake basin. All three were supervised by Prof. Patrick Denny (Emeritus Professor of Wetland and Aquatic Ecology, Department of Environmental Resources, UNESCO-IHE).

The first to defend her thesis at 10:30 was Ms. Rose Kaggwa from Uganda. The title of her thesis was "Fingerponds: managing nutrients and primary productivity for enhanced fish production in Lake Victoria's wetlands, Uganda". Co-promotors were Prof. Frank Kansiime (Makerere University, Uganda) and  Dr. Anne van Dam (UNESCO-IHE, The Netherlands). At 13:30, the second defense followed. Mr. Julius Kipkemboi  from Kenya answered questions about his study entitled "Fingerponds: seasonal integrated aquaculture in East African fieshwater wetlands: exploring their potential for wise use strategies". Co-promotor was Dr. Anne van Dam (UNESCO-IHE, The Netherlands). The last candidate was Mr. Nicholas Azza  from Uganda at 16:30. The title of his thesis was "The dynamics of coastal wetlands and sediments of northern Lake Victoria". Co-promotor was Dr. Johan van de Koppel (Netherlands Institute of Ecology). 

All ceremonies took place in the Auditorium of the UNESCO-IHE building in Delft. The session was presided over jointly by the rectors of Wageningen University and UNESCO-IHE, Prof. Rudy Rabbinge and Prof. Richard Meganck. Several distinguished scientists had travelled to Delft to take part in the graduation ceremony and grill the candidates with some tough questions. Among the examiners were Dr. Md. Abdul Wahab of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Prof. Brian Moss of the University of Liverpool, Prof. Jos Verhoeven of Utrecht University, and several professors of Wageningen University and UNESCO-IHE. While all candidates did very well in defending their work, Nicholas Azza was awarded a distinction because of the outstanding quality of his work. UNESCO-IHE is proud of these graduates and hopes to continue its close professional links with these talented young scientists who are all working in East Africa.