The quest for more sustainable and greener coal energy is receiving a boost through the National Research Foundation’s (NRF) renewal of the Chair for Coal Research at the North-West University (NWU).
The chair has secured funding of R4,15 million per year for the next five years as part of the NRF’s South African Research Chairs initiative (SARChI). This adds up to more than R20 million over the full period.
Parasites. Just uttering the word may send shivers down the spine, conjuring up images of rapidly proliferating organisms devouring or destroying other species. A celebrated researcher from the North-West University (NWU) hopes to change those perceptions.
Credited with playing a crucial role in global conservation efforts to protect parasites, Prof Nico Smit is from the NWU’s Water Research Group in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. He aims to ensure that some of the parasites found on endangered species do not end up like their hosts – facing extinction.
Prof Elias Munapo from the North-West University (NWU) is a National Research Foundation- (NRF-) rated researcher – not a simple achievement for academics with major teaching and supervisory obligations.
His research interests are the use of mathematics and statistics in business. In 2022 he obtained his first C3 rating as a researcher. He joined the NWU in 2016 and feels that the path to an NRF rating is a contentious subject that is determined by an academic's preferences.
The Technology Transfer and Innovation Support (TTIS) Office of the North-West University (NWU) is leading the charge in ensuring that innovation remains at the forefront of its activities and across all spheres of the institution.
Bush encroachment is a global challenge, but through the multi-million rand RIBS project, this major contributor to land degradation is being tackled with renewed vigour.
RIBS is an acronym for “Rangeland Improvement through Bush Control and Sustainable Intensification to mitigate Climate Change and improve Livelihoods and Food Security in Southern Africa”.
The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany, through the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL 2.0) programme.
Two researchers from the North-West University (NWU) have received a special grant that will boost their collaborative research nationally and internationally.
By Menziwa Msibi
The subject group Chemistry at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus hosted the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Sasol Foundation during a visit on 2 June 2023.
The purpose of this visit was to reinforce the visiting parties’ commitment to support and enhance research capabilities by providing scholarships for honours, master’s, and PhD students.
The subject group History at the North-West University (NWU) recently hosted Prof Thula Simpson, associate professor of history at the University of Pretoria, as part of the group’s seminar series.
Prof Simpson is also a British scholar who holds a PhD from Birkbeck, University of London, and is the author of the acclaimed book, Umkhonto we Sizwe: The ANC's Armed Struggle.
During the seminar Prof Simpson presented a paper titled “Umkhonto we Sizwe and its Historians: Action, Reaction and Counteraction, c. 1963 to the Present”.
A study by the University of Vienna, in collaboration with researchers from South Africa and the United Kingdom, is investigating the different emotional responses bilingual people have towards swear words in their different languages. The study will focus on English-Afrikaans bilingualism, examining the perceptions of swear words and swearing behaviors of English-Afrikaans bilinguals in South Africa. The study aims to measure complex bilingualism and understand why some words may be considered acceptable in one language but not in another.
Two North-West University (NWU) academics, Prof Frikkie van Niekerk and Prof Nico Vorster, are the proud editors of the transdisciplinary book titled Science and Faith in Dialogue. It is published in open access format by AOSIS Scholarly Books.
Prof van Niekerk was the main editor and also contributed a book chapter, and Prof Vorster was the co-editor.