Potchefstroom Campus News

Researchers demonstrate that conservation and development can go hand in hand

While cities in Africa expand rapidly and the pressure for economic growth is increasing, the protected areas on the continent face a complex challenge: how to conserve nature and empower people.

At the North-West University (NWU) the Protected Areas Research Group, led by Prof. Reece Alberts, Prof. François Retief, Prof. Claudine Roos and Prof. Dirk Cilliers, is working to find exactly that balance.

“Conservation areas are the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation,” says Prof. Alberts. “They are essential to prevent the loss in biodiversity. Yet, we have to admit that… Read more

NWU alumnus and eTV journalist briefs students

By Oldrin Masowa

The early bird catches the worm, the rest stay longing. This is exactly what the School of Communication Studies at the North-West University (NWU) aims to achieve after hosting a media career development skills workshop. The objective of this workshop was to…

NWU academic elected as representative of Women in Higher Education Management

Prof Shan Simmonds, North-West University (NWU) academic in the research unit Education and Human Rights in Diversity (Edu-HRight), has been elected as the South African representative of Women in Higher Education Management (WHEM).

The WHEM network is an international feminist research consortium. It analyses challenges for women in…

A decade of excellence – NWU’s HART Research and Training Clinic reaches milestone

The Hypertension Research and Training Clinic of the Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART) at the North-West University (NWU) is celebrating its tenth anniversary with a symposium that will see esteemed international and local experts in high blood pressure research converge on the Potchefstroom Campus.

The symposium, A decade of…

Professor continues NWU tradition on popular radio programme

A proud tradition of speaking up to protect the environment is alive and well.

The experts of the North-West University (NWU) have for years been part of the very popular weekly insert Omgewingspraatjies on the radio programme Brêkfis met Derrich on Radio Sonder Grense (RSG) on Saturday mornings. Prof Rialet Pieters, professor in…

NWU professor is using systems thinking to change the game of learning 

Prof Roelien Goede is passionate about teaching and moved to Potchefstroom, where she had been appointed as lecturer in the then School for Computer Science, Statistics and Mathematics, in 2001.

Her main research focus, for which she received a C2 rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa in 2018, is the…

Bringing biokinetics to the public sector

Prof Hanlie Moss, research director of PhASRec (Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation) at the North-West University (NWU), completed her master’s degree in Biochemistry, although she has always had a profound interest in the way the human body moves.

She coached gymnastics while completing a BSc in Physiology and Biochemistry and…

Study finds freshwater species at risk from threats linked to human activities

From climate change and associated extreme weather events to pollutants, over-utilisation and invasive species, human activities are the main threats to freshwater species in South Africa’s largest floodplain ecosystem.

This is according to the Water Research Group (WRG) of the North-West University (NWU), which for the past 10 years…

Hard at work advancing the world of language technology

Prof Febe De Wet, an associate professor in the School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering at the North-West University (NWU), has more than three decades of experience in her field, and her passion is the driving force in making a meaningful contribution to her industry.

She is working on several projects that deal with…

Keeping the economic boat afloat: why South Africa needs female chartered accountants

In times of turmoil and uncertainty, expertise is indispensable. At the North-West University (NWU), potential is nurtured into expertise and moulded in a form that will serve to benefit the society that the NWU serves. Few fields of study fit this description better than chartered accountancy. In a country that faces unique challenges,…

Adele triumphs as NWU's Comrades queen!

Congratulations, congratulations and, once more, congratulations! History will always remember the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Dr Adele Broodryk, a senior lecturer at the School of Human Movement Sciences at the Faculty of Health Sciences, as being the first South African woman to complete the 2022 Comrades Marathon.

She also…