Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences committed to community engagement

Staying true to its mission statement, the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the North-West University (NWU) is committed to being socially relevant. This is evident from the faculty’s involvement in several community projects across the country.

Empowerment of disaster risk reduction

An innovative partnership…

NWU home to largest Zebra fish bioassay facility in Africa

The Water research group in the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management (UESM) at the North-West University (NWU) installed the National Aquatic Bioassay Facility (NABF) in September 2017. Not only is the 515m2   facility the largest Zebra fish bioassay facility in Africa, but it is also the second largest in the southern hemisphere.…

NWU UESM leads 24 national and international research projects

Currently, researchers in the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management (UESM) in the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences are leading 24 national and international research projects.

These projects are funded by several government funding agencies as well as the private sector and is…

Marine biology at the NWU: the Tsitsikamma National Park Marine Living Lab

Undergraduate and postgraduate students from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Biological Sciences recently undertook the annual Estuarine and Nearshore Marine Ecology Living Lab excursion. This year saw participants visit the Tsitsikamma National Park.

The excursion was presented by several academic staff members of the…

Avoiding junk status: Next assessment from Moody’s holds the key

According to renowned economist Prof Raymond Parsons from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Business School, it is Moody’s next assessment of South Africa and not Standard and Poor’s (S&P’s) rating which holds the key to South Africa’s continued avoidance of universal junk status.

He says the decision by ratings agency S&P…

Taxing answers to carbon emissions

Studies have shown South Africa is one of the world’s largest carbon emitters. Dr Michelle Barnard, a senior lecturer from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Law, has pledged to try and change this.

Dr Barnard recently published an award-winning article on this topic. The article focused on greenhouse gases, climate…

NWU student investigates indigenous precautions for the safe use of plant medicine

Simangaliso Lesley Mashego, a master’s student in Indigenous Knowledge Systems at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Mahikeng, is doing research about safety measures employed by a rural Khoi-San community for commonly used medicinal plants as a way to improve health care in South Africa.

The research focused on 10…

"Green coal": fuel of the future

Coal in its traditional form might soon be a relic of the past, but ground-breaking research by the North-West University (NWU) is showing how a face-lift to this fossil fuel has numerous safe, green possibilities. A revolutionary process to manufacture “green” coal that will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions by up to 80% is…

Faculty of Engineering investigates the mystery of artificial intelligence

The Multilingual Speech Technologies (MuST) research group is a research niche area associated with the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Engineering. It focusses on machine learning and statistical pattern recognition, as well as their application in speech technologies.

Over the years, the group has been involved in…

Faculty of Engineering brings industrial innovation to Delmas

Innovation is heading to Delmas and the Faculty of Engineering at the North-West University (NWU) is at the helm.

The German-based conglomerate Siemens, in conjunction with Eskom, approached Hasan Darwish, an industrial engineer at the Faculty of Engineering, early in 2018 to assist with a project that will introduce industrial…