Institutional News

North-West University expertise puts rural women’s mental health in the spotlight

They are too often forgotten and relegated to an afterthought – their plight unheard, their future uncertain. They are the women in South Africa’s low- and middle-income communities who suffer from perinatal mental health issues, and the North-West University (NWU) is putting their needs in the spotlight.

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North-West University at the forefront of agricultural innovation

Crop production in South Africa is overshadowed by storm clouds, and not the type that farmers crave. A multitude of uncertainties combine to darken prospects for the country’s crop farmers, which include climate change, water shortages, soil degradation, disease, economic instability and infrastructure and energy restrictions.

That is why researchers at the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences of the North-West University (NWU) pursue active solutions for the country’s most critical agricultural issues.

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A new era for SADiLaR: Advancing South Africa's digital language revolution

"Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the manner in which the principles of generation are used is free and infinitely varied. Even the interpretation and use of words involves a process of free creation."

These words by Noam Chomsky encapsulate the core of SADiLaR’s mission - harnessing the creative potential of language and technology to shape the future of South Africa’s indigenous languages.

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Society of Atmospheric Sciences awards highest honour in the field to NWU researcher

In a world of extreme climate change where air pollution is rife and people’s health is at stake, it has become paramount to predict the impact of chemical processes within the Earth’s atmosphere to plan measures for the future. A researcher at the North-West University (NWU) has made it his life’s labour to study atmospheric sciences.

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Huge Cambridge honour for Prof Paul Smit

He has found a home away from home. Prof Paul Smit, associate professor for Labour Relations Management at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the North-West (NWU), has been elected to Life Membership of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, during their most recently held governing body meeting.

Clare Hall is a college for advanced study at the University of Cambridge.

Smit has an extensive collaborative history with the United Kingdom based university, having been a visiting fellow with Clare Hall earlier in the year.

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Botany professor and leading scholar on forbs publishes in respected journal series

Prof Frances Siebert from the subject group Botany at the North-West University (NWU) was recently invited to publish in the Annual Reviews journal series.

This paper is the first from the NWU’s Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management (UESM) in this highly regarded publication series on ecology, evolution and systematics.

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Prof Raymond Parsons awarded an honorary doctorate by the NWU

On Thursday, 28 November the North-West University (NWU) conferred an honorary doctorate on the renowned economist Prof Raymond Parsons.

The honorary doctorate was awarded in recognition of the exceptional contribution Prof Parsons has made to the country throughout his distinguished career as an organised business leader, academic, media personality, economic commentator and author. Among his many achievements is the groundbreaking work he has done on the development and refinement of the NWU Policy Uncertainty Index, the first of its kind in South Africa.

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NWU academic achieves B1 NRF rating for research in systems thinking

Prof Roelien Goede, director of the Unit for Data Science and Computing at the North-West University (NWU), has been awarded a B1 rating by the National Research Foundation (NRF).

This is in recognition of her contributions to critical systems thinking and its applications in information systems and information systems education.

The B1 rating acknowledges researchers whose work is of high quality and has significant impact, affirming their international standing.

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