Genomic medicine promises to revolutionise healthcare, but Africa remains dangerously underrepresented in the data that drives it. This gap leaves thousands of families without answers and, too often, without hope. At the North-West University’s (NWU) Mitochondria Research Laboratory and the National Metabolomics Platform, Dr Maryke Schoonen is determined to change that.
South Africans tend to think of retirement in rands and cents. Yet, research by Lulama Mabala suggests that what people do with their time after leaving work is just as critical as how they fund it.
The North-West University (NWU) is pleased with the overwhelming response to the announcement by our principal and vice-chancellor, Prof. Mzubanzi Bismark Tyobeka, regarding the financial support for qualifying postgraduate students (honours, master’s, and doctoral).This intervention is crucial in ensuring that we play our part towards our country’s research and development agenda and contribute towards the achievement of the objectives of the national development plan.
Women in leadership positions should strive to be role models for younger women coming up through the ranks, always standing for ethics and integrity. This was the message from top women leaders who spoke at an event hosted by the North-West University (NWU) Business School to mark the conclusion of Women’s Month.
The celebration of women in leadership, with a particular focus on women shaping the public sector with courage and integrity, was held at the Mahikeng Protea Hotel on 29 August.
The North-West University (NWU) Technology Transfer and Innovation Support (TTIS) office is proud to celebrate the achievements of Dr Mariaan Wicks, a senior lecturer in Dietetics and a woman innovator whose work is transforming the way South Africans understand their food.
In celebration of the Women’s Month 2025 theme of the North-West University (NWU), “Empowered to Lead: NWU Women Shaping the Future”, the Technology Transfer and Innovation Support (TTIS) office proudly showcases the achievements of women innovators who are transforming society through practical solutions. Leading this charge is Prof Erica Derbyshire, a chartered accountant and academic, whose pioneering research has resulted in the Financial Literacy Survival Toolkit, a practical resource designed to equip owners of small and micro enterprises with essential financial skills.
The North West province of South Africa sits on a bedrock of riches. From platinum to chrome, vanadium to gold, the region is among the most mineral-endowed in the world. Yet its communities remain scarred by poverty and unemployment, relics of a resource economy too often divorced from local benefit. For a province where mines dominate both the landscape and livelihoods, the need to convert mineral wealth into long-term skills, jobs and technological leadership is a necessity.
There is always something special about seeing colleagues outside the boardroom, offices and lecture halls while swapping shoes for sneakers with whistles blowing instead of the ping of an incoming email.
On 15 August 2025, staff members from across all three campuses of the North-West University (NWU) came together for the annual Staff Wellness Tournament.
South Africa’s capacity to deal with incidents involving radioactive materials has received a boost. North-West University (NWU) academic Dr Tebogo Kupi has returned from Austria where he attended a high-level international training course aimed at preparing experts to deliver national workshops on radiological crime scene management.
North-West University (NWU) alumnus Andries van Heerden is the chief executive officer of Afrimat Limited, a JSE-listed company that supplies iron ore, anthracite, phosphate, construction materials and industrial minerals across Southern Africa.
“I started as a first-year mechanical engineering student in Potchefstroom in 1984,” he recalls. His studies took him to the NWU’s Vaal Campus, where he graduated in 1988.
Reflecting on his time at university, he says: “I think my dream to become a successful entrepreneur was really born during the two years in Vanderbijlpark.”