Organization structure of COSTECH

COSTECH is structured in three tiers, consisting of the Board of Commissioners, Research and Development (R&D) Advisory Committees and the Secretariat. The Chairperson of the Board of Commissioners is appointed by the President of United Republic of Tanzania while members of the Commission are appointed by the Minister responsible for Education, Science and Technology. Some members of the Board of Commissioners constitute an Executive Committee, which is a statutory organ of the Commission to which the Commission can delegate any of its functions. The Board of Commissioners gives broad directives and guidelines for implementation of COSTECH strategic objectives to the Secretariat or management through its various R&D Advisory Committees.

The composition of the Commission and R&D Advisory Committees embraces public and private universities, government departments and major national R&D institutions affiliated to COSTECH which make COSTECH a unique body for local R&D, regional and international linkages necessary for the development of STI in the country. The R&D Advisory Committees’ general functions are to act as the Commission think-tank on various science, technology and innovation issues in its endeavor to fulfill its mission. Currently, COSTECH has registered 11 R&D Advisory committees and two technical committees. The R&D committees are ICT; Basic Sciences; Biotechnology; Natural resources; Research registry; Environment and climate change; Health; Social sciences; Industry and energy; Agriculture and livestock; and Technology transfer and development. The two technical committees are: Tanzania Advancement of Science and Technology Award (TASTA) and National Fund for Advancement of Science and Technology (NFAST). Other sub-committees of the Board of commissioners include Audit Committee; Finance, Planning and Administration Committee.

COSTECH Secretariat is made up of the Director General’s Office, four (4) directorates namely: Knowledge Management; Centre for Development and Transfer of Technology; Research Coordination and Promotion; and Corporate Services. Furthermore, the Office of the Director General is made up of four (4) sections which are Procurement Management; Internal Audit; Legal; and the NFAST. The organization chart below (Figure 1) depicts the management structure of the Secretariat.