Maricélle Botes, a final-year PhD student at the North-West University`s (NWU’s) Research Unit for Law, Justice and Sustainability, has been honoured with the National Research Foundation’s (NRF’s) Research Excellence Award for Next Generation Researchers in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law category.

The award, presented at a glittering event, recognised her outstanding academic performance and demonstrated potential for contributing significantly to the national system of innovation.

The continent is ravaged by a host of factors inhibiting food security and is trapped in what a recent report by the World Bank calls “the perfect storm”. Its consequences are disastrous. The Covid-19 pandemic was followed by the war in the Ukraine, which has led to severe food and fertiliser shortages. Now, Africa is in the midst of a tempest of increased debt and inflation, as well as the effects of climate change. The World Bank states that at least one in five Africans goes to bed hungry, and that about 140 million people in Africa are in a food insecurity stranglehold.

Vickey de Villiers, a master’s student in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the North-West University (NWU), recently received the 2022 Founder’s Medal by the Economic Society of South Africa for the best master’s research paper submitted at a South African university.

Dr Piet Ntema, a statistics lecturer on the North-West University's (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus, has authored a new book to inspire individuals who have encountered obstacles and setbacks in their lives.

Titled The Sunrise Of The Underdogs, Dr Ntema says the book is dedicated to all those who have been counted out, underestimated and told that their dreams were beyond reach.

The North-West University (NWU) is showcasing its impactful research projects and programmes during its biennial Research and Innovation Week.

This year’s theme is “Research and innovation for sustainable impact”. The event is taking place from 18 to 22 September.

Research and Innovation Week is organised by the NWU’s Research Support department, in collaboration with faculties. They also use the event to conduct roadshows across campuses, taking research support services to the users.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Social Sciences will be hosting the Planetary Utilisation of Sustainability Strategies (PLUS) Southern African Regional Conference from 11 to 13 September 2023 at its Mahikeng Campus.

The theme of the conference is “Land, landscape, local knowledge, and the pursuit of sustainable ontologies”.

PLUS is a network concerned with aspects of sustainability and is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service. It consists of nine universities in Southern Africa – including the NWU – Latin America and Germany.

Prof Zandri Dickason-Koekemoer, from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) TRADE research focus area was recently inaugurated as full professor.

Her inaugural lecture was titled "Cracking the Code: Investor Behaviour and Financial Decision-Making".

The new Covid-19 subvariant EG.5 – also known as Eris – has made its way into South Africa with the first case reported in Gauteng in mid-August.

This after it crossed the borders of China, the United States, South Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, France, Portugal and Spain.

Dr Hazel Mufhandu, senior lecturer and virologist at the North-West University (NWU), tells us more about Eris.

Without quality oversight, output suffers. Without transparency, deception thrives. Misinformation and misinterpretation are propagated to become the norm as fiction becomes indistinguishable from fact. In a developing country such as South Africa that faces a multitude of challenges, this cannot be allowed.

An example of this is an economy that is increasingly struggling to awake from a prolonged slumber caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, rolling blackouts and widespread corruption in institutions fundamental to the health of the country.

“The watershed 15th BRICS Summit that took place in Johannesburg had, to its credit, several runs on the scoreboard by the time it concluded last week.”

Prof Raymond Parsons, economist from the North-West University (NWU) Business School, says while the outcomes were inevitably a complex amalgam of politics, economics and business, the overall BRICS profile and agenda have been taken to the next level.