www.kist.ac.rw

Prof Wilson Parawira earned his PhD in Biotechnology from Department of Biotechnology, Lund University, Sweden in 2004. He also has an MSc in Biotechnology from University of Zimbabwe, (1996), and BSc honors in Biological Sciences from University of Zimbabwe (1992). He did two years of postdoctoral research experience to broaden his research capabilities and focus. The first post-doctoral research fellowship was at the Department of Biotechnology, Lund University, Sweden in 2008 and the second post-doctoralresearch in the Departments of Process Engineering and Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa in 2009.

Prior to joining the Department of Applied Biology at Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in 2010 as a Senior Lecturer, he was a Senior Lecturer and former Head of the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Family Sciences at the University of Zimbabwe for three years. He was promoted to Associate Professor in Biotechnology in February 2011. He is currently the Head of Applied Biology Department and Acting Director of Research and Publications, KIST.

He has 13 years of extensive academic experience at university level; teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses, supervising postgraduate research and a good research output through publications in international refereed journals. rof Parawira have been teaching, among other courses, General Microbiology, Food Microbiology, Food Fermentations, Environmental Microbiology to undergraduates; and Microbiology, Environmental Biotechnology, Advanced Fermentation, and Water Microbiology, and Waste(water) Treatment and Biogas Technology for Sustainable Development to MSc students. His research interests are in Environmental Biotechnology/Microbiology, Food Microbiology and fermentations from which he has published more than 30 articles in international peer reviewed journals. He has supervised 7 MSc research projects. Prof Parawira is the Editor-in-Chief of KIST Journal of Science and Technology (KJST) which is published in soft (ISSN 2225-8639) and print copy (ISSN 2225-8647). He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the Tanzania Journal of Science and a reviewer of manuscripts of a number of international journals. He is looking forward to his professorship in the near future.