Dr Bismark Tyobeka, principal and vice-chancellor of the North-West University (NWU), has been nominated to replace Dr Trevor Dudley as South-Africa’s representative on the Senior Industry Advisory Panel (SIAP) of the Generation IV International Forum (GIF). This forum was created in 2001 as an international body to develop research necessary to ensure the deployment of fourth-generation nuclear systems by 2030.

Dr Bismark, how does it feel to be nominated to serve on the SIAP of the GIF?

After having been selected for the first time in 2015, North-West University (NWU) academic Prof Klaus Beiter has been reappointed for a second term as one of 16 ambassadors to the global Magna Charta Observatory (MCO) in Bologna.

He is one of only three ambassadors from South Africa, the other two being a former vice-chancellor of a major university and the executive director of a private higher education operator.

Over the past few years, there were not nearly enough school-leaving applicants who met the minimum requirements for tertiary fields of study such as Engineering, Natural Sciences, Economic Sciences and Health Sciences. This is according to Elza Hattingh from the Faculty of Engineering at the North-West University (NWU). She heads the faculty’s Xcel programme – an initiative that offers a second chance to students who want to improve their previous Grade 12 Senior Certificate exam results in Mathematics and Physical Sciences.

To change the world, we must help people change how they see things, and if you want to see real change, stay persistent in educating humanity on how we are all more similar than different. When one reads this, the director of Academic and Office Solutions at the North-West University (NWU), Andiswa Msi, immediately comes to mind. When you walk into her office, her beaming smile and positive aura are a very welcome sight.

Andiswa grew up in Bhaziya, a village in Mthatha, in an education-oriented household surrounded by strong women.

A team of second-year students from the Faculty of Law on the Vanderbijlpark Campus of the North-West University (NWU) are this year’s winners in the popular annual NWU Juta Mock Trial competition that took place in Potchefstroom on 15 August.

An exhibition capturing the hopes and dreams of South Africans living in a democratic country since 1994 is currently touring six of South Africa’s university campuses. Members of the management, staff and students of the North-West University (NWU) attended a walkabout at the NWU’s Potchefstroom Campus where they could experience Fulbright scholar Prof Peter Glendinning’s “Attached to the Soil” exhibition.

The Business School of the North-West University (NWU) proudly launched its first formal African outreach initiative on 11 August in Gaborone, Botswana. Some 80 delegates from the Botswana government, the formal business sector and staff from various universities attended this glamorous event. The first Business School alumni chapter was also formally launched during the function.

She danced, sang and prayed. For a few moments, the entire Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (NWU) and all the joy in the world belonged to Ntombizanele Beauty Tshona. Because, on a Thursday morning, with the winter sun smiling playfully through the rows of wattle trees, the 38-year-old Toto Tshona received his doctoral degree in Mathematics Education from the Faculty of Education. 

There was colour and sound and merriment until late and all of it for a good cause: welcome back RAG. From 28 to 30 July, Potchefstroom was buzzing with floats, and no cold weather could dampen the enthusiasm of the students from the North-West University.

It was admittedly the first time in the long history of RAG that this charity event was presented in winter – Covid’s fault – but nothing else about the event was tampered with.

What good is theory if it is not put into practice? This is especially true for those studying or working in the health sciences. The Africa Unit for Transdisciplinary Health Research (AUTHeR) at the North-West University (NWU) is presenting various informal workshops and webinars throughout the year, concentrating on qualitative and quantitative research methodologies that focus on skills development and optimal support for researchers, study leaders and students.