Under the theme of ‘Advancing Science Tourism’, the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Mahikeng celebrated National Science Week from 7 to 11 August 2017.

National Science Week (NSW), an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), is a countrywide celebration of science involving various role players conducting science-based activities during the week.

The objective of the NSW is to popularise science to the broader South African society by showcasing local innovations in science and technology.

In doing this, the DST aims to make science, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation more appealing to learners, thereby encouraging them to consider Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) as career options.

The five-day science celebrations on the campus started with science shows for learners, followed by a tour of the campus science labs. Various science industry role players also did presentations on possible SET careers.

During this week four public lectures were also presented to the public. The topics of these lectures were “Do you know how stars are made?”, presented by Dr Bruno Letarte, an astrophysics lecturer; “African origin of science”, presented by Mr Zulumathabo Zulu; “Science and the revelation of God”, presented by Millicent Mongale; and Reduction of fungi in liquid medium”, presented by Nicholas Igiehon.

This display was on show during the National Science Week celebrations on the NWU’s campus in Mahikeng.