The North-West University (NWU) recently hosted the second International Conference on Information Literacy (ICIL) on the Potchefstroom Campus.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic prevented the holding of the conference in 2021, many sighed with relief when things returned to normal and restrictions were eased.
Computers are becoming essential in modern society with a tremendous influence on how humans create and solve problems. The North-West University's (NWU’s) Intelligent Systems research group is on a mission to develop next-generation solutions that will help solve transportation problems using technology.
Researchers of the North-West University (NWU) regularly work in communities to improve lives and find solutions to pressing issues. In the fight against breast cancer, a hospital in Potchefstroom has called on the expertise of the Medicine Usage in South Africa (MUSA) research entity in the Faculty of Health Sciences.
The advent of social media has had a huge effect on teaching and learning, but relatively little is known about the pros and cons of using social media in the classroom.
This is according to Dr Thamie Ndlovu, an educational technologist at the North-West University (NWU), whose PhD study investigated the use of social media as a tool for teaching and learning in higher education.
More than 100 000 people in South Africa have turned to the waste-picking sector as a source of employment. This is according to Nonhlanhla Ngcobo, a PhD student and a researcher at the South African Chair in Cities, Law and Environmental Sustainability in the Faculty of Law at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Potchefstroom Campus.
“The slow economic growth rate in South Africa does not bring hope to the 31% of people currently unemployed, especially those with very low levels of education and skills,” she says.
One of the most challenging anxieties of the 21st century is safeguarding food security for the world’s exponential growing population, as stipulated by goal 2 of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to projections, the global food demand is expected to rise between 60 to 98% by 2050, with a population of more than 9 billion.
South Africa’s freshwater sources are under pressure from various kinds of contaminants, and North-West University (NWU) researchers are searching for ways to keep track of some of the more elusive pollutants.
Prof Rialet Pieters, a researcher in the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, is an ecotoxicologist whose interests lie in organic chemical pollutants and their harmful effects on humans and wildlife.
By Ontiretse Motingwa and Nolwazi Xulu
Prof Howard Chtimira, a professor of securities and financial markets law at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Law, delivered his inaugural lecture on 21 October 2022 at the Mahikeng Campus.
Titled “A legal conspectus of selected challenges affecting financial inclusion for the poor and low-income earners in South Africa”, the lecture advocated for better financial inclusion strategies in South Africa.
He is revered as one of the greatest human rights champions and spiritual leaders of all time. Mahatma Gandhi, who advocated non-violent resistance and influenced civil disobedience protests for generations after him, is an international icon with a special connection to Potchefstroom and indirectly to the North-West University (NWU).
This connection is a special collection of hand-written legal documents by Gandhi himself and owned by the NWU. These are on display at an exhibition by the NWU Library Services and shed light on Gandhi’s time as an attorney in Johannesburg.
By Ontiretse Motingwa
“As a complicated and ever-evolving field, science requires scientists and researchers who are resilient, determined, and knowledgeable. They must also have a great willingness to learn and use new skills and scientific concepts without bias or conformity to what society deems acceptable.” This is according to Khanyisani Ziqubu, a PhD biochemistry candidate at the North-West University (NWU).