The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus recently hosted a long-service awards ceremony to honour and acknowledge staff members who have served the institution with loyalty, dedication and hard work for 10 years and more.

The event has become a highly anticipated occasion, and this year more than 40 staff members were awarded.

Dine Du Pleez, who has worked at the university as an academic adviser for 30 years, was honoured for being the longest-serving individual on campus at this occasion.

For children up to seven years old to reach their full potential, early childhood education is essential. Across Africa, many caregivers are grannies and mothers without formal qualifications. Filling this gap is one of several areas for fruitful collaboration between researchers from the North-West University (NWU) and their counterparts in countries such as Zimbabwe.

Dr Marinda Neethling and Dr Susan Greyling of the Faculty of Education visited Zimbabwe in December to collaborate and foster friendships in the field.

Operational risk has been identified as the primary source of reputational risk for South African banks. This is according to new research by Prof Suné Ferreira-Schenk, Finance and Investment professor at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences of the North-West University (NWU).

Though banks have been subject to operational risks for decades, there are compelling reasons to anticipate that operational risk will only increase in the future as regulators demand greater transparency and banks rely more on increased digital technology automation.

Poor service delivery is a problem throughout South Africa, but one North-West University (NWU) academic, Prof Costa Hofisi, is doing something about it. Using his research expertise, he has set his sights on contributing to service delivery improvements in the public sector.   

His research focuses on the extent to which the public sector will be successful in responding to citizens’ demands and improving the quality and innovativeness of public services.

Students’ low performance and interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, particularly among women, who are underrepresented in the scientific community, have been a major concern in many countries. This is exacerbated when one views the 2020 UNESCO report, which shows that women account for only 28% of engineering graduates, 40% of computer science graduates and 33% of researchers around the world.

Researchers have found an important piece of the puzzle in the formation of massive stars, also known as protons (stars with a mass that is about eight times or more greater than that of the sun). In the first-ever observational evidence, they have determined that accretion discs around forming protostars have spiral arm structures.

This significant discovery changes the way scientists look at big stars and will likely result in them specifically observing these kinds of arms in the forming discs of massive stars in future studies.

North-West University (NWU) academic Prof Erhabor Idemudia has been awarded the 2023 Friedrich-Schiller Universitat Excellence Research award.

He received this award in recognition of his excellent research track record and respected global and international research reputation.

The Indigenous Language Media in Africa (ILMA) research unit of the North-West University (NWU) wants to find out why businesses in African language media are unstable, and what can be done about it.

The research unit hosted an event on 23 February 2023 to engage with relevant stakeholders to discuss the survival, management and economics of African language media.

The director of the ILMA research unit, Prof Abiodun Salawu, says it is important that the university does research that betters the community and is meaningful to them.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus recently celebrated the completion of the new Lecture Hall Complex as part of the official academic opening that took place on 23 February 2023.

Positioned at the heart of the campus and designed by multi-award-winning architects Mathews & Associates Architects, the building, comprises four lecture halls – three 252-seaters and one 386-seater – providing a total of 1 142 seats. The building has added 22% more capacity on the campus.

The Department of Arts, Culture, Sports, and Recreation, in collaboration with the North West Sports Confederation, recently honoured North-West University (NWU) alumnus Keorapetse Mashimo for his contribution to sport.

He was announced the Sports Volunteer of the Year as well as Sports Administrator of the Year during the North West Sports awards that took place on 24 February at Sun City.

Keorapetse was recognised for his hard work and dedication in the field of boxing in particular.