Celebrating the Groot Marico Biosphere Reserve

Over the years the North West University (NWU) has shown that it is not only dedicated to achieving academic excellence, but also to helping and developing the community and the environment.

The NWU, together with a number of other industry partners recently worked together to have the United Nations Educational, Scientific and…

Caring connections enable resilience

“My teacher loves me.” “My social worker is like my mother, she cares.” “My neighbour cares for me; he doesn’t want me to go hungry.”

These quotes illustrate that caring connections matter for the resilience of South African adolescents facing chronic, unthinkable levels of hardship.

Prof Linda Theron’s research among young people has…

Having grit goes a long way

It is the year 2000. The share price of a multi-billion dollar Fortune 500 company peaks at $90. Their recruitment strategy reads: Hire the best, fire the rest. At the time it seemed to work, only it didn’t. That company was Enron.

“Grit” is a positive, non-cognitive trait based on an individual’s perseverance - combined with a passion for a…

Cannabis judgment paves way for research development

The global discourse around cannabis prohibition has gained significant momentum over the course of the last 15 years. This is largely due to a growing realisation of the need for reform.

The historically dominant model of legislated prohibition is gradually being challenged by overwhelming evidence of its inefficacy.

On…

NWU professor inducted into Nigerian Academy of Letters

Prof Abiodun Salawu, the director of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Indigenous Language Media in Africa research entity on the campus in Mahikeng, was recently inducted into the Nigerian Academy of Letters.

The event took place at the University of Lagos in Nigeria, and featured the 20th convocation of the academy as well as the…

International researchers collaborate to understand unemployment

“No job, no food, please help.” These words on makeshift cardboard signs can be seen at every street corner on any given day in South Africa. With an unemployment rate of 26,7% in the first quarter of 2018, it comes as no surprise that South Africa is one of 20 nations with the highest unemployment figures in the world.

Yet there is hope.…

Work addiction is a reality in the 21st century

Organisational interventions should aim to help young adults and managers to suppress and inhibit workaholic tendencies and maintain a positive work-life balance. This is what Prof Cecelie Schou Andreassen from the University of Bergen in Norway said during a guest lecture hosted by the Optentia research focus area on the North-West University’s…

NWU academic elected as fellow in World Council for Psychotherapy

Prof Erhabor Idemudia, a North-West University (NWU) academic in the Faculty of Humanities in the campus in Mahikeng, has recently been elected into the fellowship of the World Council for Psychotherapy (WCP) for his outstanding services to the science and profession of psychotherapy.

The WCP is a non-governmental organisation with…

NWU graduation ceremonies a celebration of diversity

The third day of the four-day graduation ceremony of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark did not only represent the culmination of years of study for graduates, but also bore witness to the rich cultural diversity evident at the institution.

A total of 442 students from the Faculty of Humanities obtained their…

Humanities crosses the digital divide with SADiLaR

For many years, the North-West University (NWU) has been at the heart of technology advances that support the use and development of South Africa’s 11 official languages. Now, as host of a national research infrastructure, the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR), the NWU will be able to take its commitment to…