The North-West University (NWU) has received eight nominations for this year’s prestigious NSTF-South32 Awards. It is another feather in the University’s cap in its pursuit of excellence without boundaries.

The NSTF-South 32 Awards, also known as the ‘Science Oscars’, is the largest, most comprehensive and one of the most coveted national awards.  It recognises outstanding contributions in science, engineering and technology (SET) and innovation by individuals, teams and organisations.

The NWU is proud of this year’s nominees, who include:

The World Cup winning Springboks were named the 2023 Newsmaker of the Year by the National Press Club on Wednesday 17 April. The event is sponsored by the North-West University (NWU) and was held at the Pretoria National Botanical Gardens. Prof Bismark Tyobeka, principal and vice-chancellor of the NWU, lauded the Springboks for their immense achievements and their contributions to nation building, whilst also highlighting the integral role the press plays in working democracy.

The North-West University (NWU) recently hosted the media launch for the World Intellectual Property Day (WIPD) celebrations in partnership with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition (DTIC), the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), the National Intellectual Property Management Office (NIPMO), the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), and the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA).

As the world marks World Art Day 2024 on 15 April, Othusitse Maunatlala, an academic in the School of Communication at the North-West University (NWU), shares insights on the significance of art.

World Art Day is an international celebration of the fine arts which was declared by the International Association of Art to promote awareness of creative activity worldwide.

Othusitse emphasises the universal nature of art and says it is important to recognise the relationship between art and technology.

The North-West University (NWU) continues its impressive showing in international rankings. The latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject rank three of the NWU’s subject groups in the top 700 globally, with one of these in the top 400. These include agriculture and forestry, physics and astronomy, and medicine.

Although the NWU does not have a medical school, it offers subjects that fall within the medicine category. These subjects will form a strong foundation for the NWU Medical School, which is envisaged to enrol students from 2028.

Professor Quentin Campbell from the Faculty of Engineering at the North-West University (NWU) has an eloquent, soft-spoken way with words. Therefore, when he said, “it is time to make mining sexy”, the attendees at the NWU’s first ever mining indaba immediately took note with a chuckle.

Prof Campbell was serving as moderator during a group discussion, and his quick wit summed up a few of the delegates’ comments. The NWU’s mining indaba served to bring together leaders in the mining industry with the NWU to discuss establishing a mining school in the Rustenburg area.

To unearth potential, you need to dig deep. To break new ground, knowledge is needed. The North-West University (NWU) brought these two themes together on Wednesday, 3 April, when the NWU held its first mining indaba at the Capitol on Park Hotel in Sandton.

“While most analysts believe that, barring shocks, rates have now peaked in South Africa, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) for understandable reasons still sees inflation risks as being on the upside.”

In commenting on the decision by the MPC on 27 March to again leave interest rates unchanged, Prof Raymond Parsons, economist at the North-West University (NWU) Business School, says it was widely expected that interest rates would be left unchanged.

A continued downward trajectory is the only possible forecast for South Africa’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) if political appointments in SOEs continue to take precedence over expertise.

This is according to Prof Bismark Tyobeka, principal and vice-chancellor of the North-West University (NWU). Prof Tyobeka says this is not only an inescapable truth, but a gross dereliction of duty by those in key positions, which serves to hamper economic growth to the detriment of the country’s struggling citizens.

By Phenyo Mokgothu and Keaoleboga Motshabi

The North-West University (NWU) Eagles cricket team on the Mahikeng Campus walked away as champions in the North West Cricket (NWC) First Club League 2023-2024 season, after a resounding victory over Klerksdorp Travellers IV in the final match on 23 March 2024.