Human Interest

COMPRES addresses development and training needs of researchers

Prof Elmien Truter, associate professor of social work and research coordinator at Community Psychosocial Research (COMPRES), recently arranged a one-day workshop for researchers at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus.

COMPRES is a research focus area that provides research support and services to researchers and students within the field of social sciences.

Submitted on Mon, 04/03/2023 - 08:33

NWU students battle it out for Hult prize

This year, North-West University (NWU) students showed their mettle during the on-campus qualifying round of the 2023 Hult Prize competition.

This international competition challenges young people to solve the world’s most pressing issues through social entrepreneurship. Every year, the best team globally receives $1 000 000 in funding to make their idea a reality.

Submitted on Fri, 03/31/2023 - 10:50

This is how the CHM is saving lives

The early diagnosis of inherited metabolic diseases not only helps to prevent patients from having a lifetime of suffering, it also saves lives.

Metabolic diseases have a variety of life-threatening consequences, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The symptoms of some of these diseases are well-known and do not need intense specialised knowledge to identify. There are also the rare, inherited metabolic diseases that are much more difficult to identify. This is where the Centre for Human Metabolomics (CHM) of the North-West University (NWU) comes in.

Submitted on Fri, 03/31/2023 - 10:31

Extent of increase in borrowing costs is surprising

Contrary to the consensus view expressed by many economists that the repo rate would be raised by only 25 basis points (bsp) on 30 March, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) decided by a 3:2 vote to raise interest rates again by 50 bsp.

In commenting on the decision to increase the repo rate, Prof Raymond Parsons, economist from the North-West University (NWU) Business School, says the MPC majority view sees the risks to inflation on the upside – shaped by both domestic and global factors.

Submitted on Fri, 03/31/2023 - 09:48

Prof Bismark Tyobeka: “It is our responsibility” (SASUF 2023)

On the surface there is little commonality between the two. One is a predominantly homogenous first-world country with a population of 10,5 million people where you are more likely to see the northern lights than a lanky giraffe. It occupies an area of 447,425 km2 . The other is almost thrice as large. Its contours encapsulates 1,221,037 km2  and within it a diverse population of 60,6 million people live in a developing country at the foot of Africa.

Submitted on Fri, 03/31/2023 - 08:03

Teaching entrepreneurs to protect their intellectual property

Entrepreneurs should deal with challenges in their own communities, conduct thorough research, and protect their intellectual capital on their way to monetising their unique ideas.

They received this advice recently when the North-West University (NWU) hosted the 4th annual Intellectual Property and Technology Commercialisation Colloquium under the theme: “Driving innovation and positioning Intellectual Property Commercialisation for post Covid-19 pandemic.”

Submitted on Wed, 03/29/2023 - 15:59

SASUF 2023: Sustainability takes the spotlight

They may sit in opposite hemispheres, but in the global village, borders and boundaries are no inhibitors to cooperation. The South Africa Sweden University Forum (SASUF) is evidence thereof.

From 29 to 31 March, SASUF is hosting its Sustainability Forum at the University of the Western Cape in conjunction with its 40 partner universities – including the North-West University (NWU) - from across Sweden and South Africa.

Submitted on Wed, 03/29/2023 - 13:34

Repositories pivotal for language preservation

by Birgit Ottermann

Two researchers from the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) at the North-West University (NWU) share their findings on the existence, use and importance of language repositories in the latest issue of the Journal of the Digital Humanities Association of Southern Africa (DHASA), a peer-reviewed open-access journal of DHASA.

Submitted on Wed, 03/29/2023 - 10:06

Six km of sanitary pads may score NWU a record

By Phenyo Mokgothu and Mafumane Tlhapi

The North-West University (NWU) GoAllOut and Golden Key student chapters on its Mahikeng Campus attempted the Guinness World Record for the longest line of sanitary pads on 25 March 2023.

Spanning a distance of 6 km, a total of 60 000 pads were laid in line to advocate against period poverty. This attempt has now been sent to Guinness World Records to evaluate.

Submitted on Tue, 03/28/2023 - 09:28