How to Find the Right Faculty or Department for Your Field on the University of Nairobi Site

Updated

The University of Nairobi site organizes its academic offerings by faculty, and within each faculty by department, so the fastest route to your subject area is to scan the faculty list for the broad discipline first, then read the department names under it to pinpoint your field. For example, computing sits under the Faculty of Science & Technology, while nursing sits under the Faculty of Health Sciences. Department names are the entry point for more detail.

How the site is structured

The homepage presents an alphabetical listing of faculties, each followed by its departments, then a separate section for institutes and centres. This means you navigate from the general (faculty) to the specific (department), rather than searching by course name.

Level What it represents Example from the site
Faculty Broad discipline area Faculty of Science & Technology
Department Specific subject within the faculty Computing and Informatics
Institute / Centre Research-focused unit, often cross-cutting Institute of Climate Change and Adaptation

Step-by-step: locating your field

  1. Identify your broad discipline. Decide which faculty category your interest falls under — for instance, business, engineering, law, health, or arts.
  2. Scan the faculty list for that category. The faculties are named plainly, so match your discipline to the closest name (e.g., "Faculty of Business & Management Sciences" for management or accounting).
  3. Read the department names under that faculty. These are the specific subject areas. Confirm one matches your intended field before going further.
  4. Use the department name as your entry point. The department listing is where you move from the overview to more detail about that subject area.

Worked examples

  • Computing or IT: Look under Faculty of Science & Technology → Computing and Informatics.
  • Nursing: Look under Faculty of Health Sciences → Nursing Sciences.
  • Architecture or urban planning: Look under Faculty of Built Environment → Architecture, or Urban and Regional Planning.
  • Journalism: Look under Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences → Journalism and Mass Communication.
  • Agriculture or food science: Look under Faculty of Agriculture → Agricultural Economics, or Food Science, Nutrition & Technology.

Common sticking points

  • A subject appears in more than one place. Some fields span faculties — for example, economics appears under Arts and Social Sciences (Economics and Development Studies), while business subjects sit in the Business faculty. Check both before deciding.
  • Research vs. teaching units. Institutes and centres (such as the Institute for Development Studies or the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies) are listed separately from teaching faculties. If your interest is research-oriented, scan that section too.
  • Similar-sounding departments. Names like "Management Science and Project Planning" versus "Business Administration" sit in the same faculty but cover different ground; read the full department name rather than skimming.

What you will and won't find at this stage

The faculty and department listing tells you which unit covers your subject; it is a navigation aid, not a course catalogue. Details such as specific programmes, entry requirements, and application steps sit at the department level, so treat the department name as the starting point for your next lookup rather than the final answer.