Research News

NWU academic elected as chairperson of South African Indian Ocean Academic Group

Kgame Molope, a programme leader in the subject group Political Studies and International Relations on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus, was recently elected to serve a two-year term as chairperson of the group of South African academics representing the country in the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).

Before his…

Poetry as a portrayal of life

World-renowned poet and writer Audre Lorde held that poetry is not only a dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before.

No one understands and resonates more with this saying than Dr Kezell McCarthy-Klinck, North-…

Sasol Foundation visits NWU

On 4 May 2022 a delegation from the Sasol Foundation visited the subject group Chemistry on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus.

The aim of the visit was for the new head of the foundation, Noxolo Kahlana, to meet and engage…

NWU academic gives insight into Intimate Partner Violence law developments

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently signed into effect three anti gender-based violence bills that will afford victims more protection.

These amendments will, among other things, allow victims to apply for protection orders online without having to appear in court, and will require all sexual offenders to be placed on a national registry…

NWU academic shares her expertise on food security and safety

Ontiretse Motingwa

North-West University (NWU) Prof Olubukola Oluranti Babalola recently shared her expertise by editing the book, Food Security and Safety: African Perspectives, published by Springer, Cham.

The book offers insight into the lack of enough, safe, and nutritious…

NWU acting vice-chancellor receives international awards for outstanding research

The acting vice-chancellor of the North-West University (NWU), Prof Linda du Plessis, clearly sets the example after she was awarded her second doctorate in 2020, and has also been praised for the quality of her study by two international academic institutions and associations.

After she completed her Doctorate in Business…

HART at NWU promotes healthy blood pressure

Blood is the life-giving substance that flows through our veins, but if the pressure in our veins becomes too high it can be detrimental to our health. This is why the Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART) in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the North-West University (NWU) is actively promoting blood pressure…

NWU now ranks in top 4,5% of global universities

The North-West University (NWU) continues to shine in global rankings. In the latest rankings, the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) placed the NWU in the top 4,5% of universities in their 2022/2023 edition of the Global 2000 list. This is an improvement from being in the top 4,7% in last year’s ranking.

This outstanding…

Student wins VC Medal with research on deep learning in space weather

Jacques Beukes of the MUST Deep Learning research group at the Faculty of Engineering is the 2021 winner of a North-West University (NWU) Vice-Chancellor’s Medal for his dissertation “Interpretability of deep neural networks for SYM-H prediction”. Eight vice-chancellor’s medals are awarded annually to the best master’s-degree students at the…

NWU farm manager reflects on economic impact of foot and mouth disease outbreak

Phenyo Mokgothu

South Africa is presently experiencing an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) on farms and communal areas in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, North West and Gauteng. 

Hannes Lombard, manager of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) farm in Mahikeng, says the outbreak of FMD in…