In a great step towards advancing technology transfer capabilities across Southern Africa, a pioneering initiative has been launched to provide experiential learning for technology transfer practitioners from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

The World Intellectual Property Organization, in partnership with the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association and the Japan Patent Office, initiated an immersive eight-week training-on-the-job programme based at South African offices of technology transfer (OTTs).

Prof Klaus Kellner from the North-West University (NWU) was recently appointed by the Director General of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) to serve on the Project Steering Committee (PSC) of the 7th Global Environmental Facility (GEF) funded project.

The GEF-funded project falls within the Land Degradation focal area and is titled “Mainstreaming sustainable land management (SLM) for large-scale impact in grazing lands of the Limpopo and Northern Cape provinces in South Africa”.

“The productions and fun of the past week in Potchefstroom are proof that Aardklop is back with a vengeance.”

These words of Prof Daryl Balia, chairperson of the Aardklop board and the deputy vice-chancellor for information technology and Potchefstroom Campus operations at the North-West University (NWU), are echoed by Alexa Strachan, chief executive officer of Momentum Investments Aardklop 2023 National Arts Festival, who says that the festival undoubtedly enriched the lives of attendees.

The School of Government Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at the North-West University (NWU) hosted a public seminar on Tuesday, 3 October.

The seminar's primary objective was to address bridging the gap between academia and practice, with a particular emphasis on the role of the School of Government Studies.

Events of this nature serve the best interest of the university to engage with its stakeholders in government.

• Nepotism is not limited to isolated cases in Africa, but a trend throughout the continent.
• Allowing nepotism practices through family, friends and those least qualified to occupy leadership positions is tantamount to stealing Africa’s future from its young generation.
• The liberation movement of the 1960s has not succeeded in addressing nepotism successfully as we see today that the post-colonial project has failed to resolve many socio-economic issues.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently raised eyebrows – and elicited no shortage of cri

• Crude oil prices are set to skyrocket after the attack on Israel.
• Israel is going to retaliate with full force.
• The attack has massive global implications.

On Saturday, 7 October, southern parts of Israel suffered a surprise attack on an unprecedented scale by Palestinian military group Hamas, leaving a wake of destruction, with more than 700 dead, thousands of injuries and a host of civilians taken hostage.

Postdoctoral researcher Fortunate Mafeta Phaka recently represented the North-West University (NWU) at the 10th Brazilian Herpetology Congress that took place in Porto Seguro.

This is the largest herpetology event in Brazil, bringing together researchers, students and professionals in the field to discuss the latest discoveries and trends. The event featured lectures, short courses, presentations, symposiums, exhibitions and much more.

South Africa and the North-West University (NWU) are stepping up to develop the African continent’s capabilities to develop its own human vaccines.

The glaring disparities in vaccine access during the Covid-19 pandemic has led to South Africa taking significant strides to bridge the gap between the global north and the African continent's vaccine development needs.

The Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Humanities at the North-West University (NWU) jointly hosted the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Forum on the evening of Wednesday, 27 September.

The event centred around AI-generated knowledge and its implications for copyright, originality, and embodiment.

A digital humanities researcher from the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) at the North-West University (NWU) has been selected for the next cohort of the Open Life Science (OLS) Open Seeds programme.

This is an international mentoring and training programme for early-stage researchers and young leaders interested in applying open principles in their work and becoming open science ambassadors in their communities.