​The United Kingdom’s Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) has presented its 2022 Service Award for Astronomy to Prof Don Kurtz of the North-West University (NWU).

"I am delighted to be recognised by the RAS for my outreach and service activities over my 55-year career," says Prof Kurtz.

He joined the NWU’s Mahikeng Campus as extraordinary professor in 2021, and has an A1 research rating from the South African National Research Foundation.

It is no secret that the Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART) at the North-West University (NWU) is at the forefront of in-depth research. Over the past year they have demonstrated yet again that their mission is to conduct research that could solve many health-related problems that affect young and old.  

Recently, HART researchers took part in a programme, #theArtofResearch, as an initiative to activate African knowledge. The researchers showcased their research by means of posters to make African science more accessible to our communities.

The South African penal system has failed and as a result crime remains out of control. This is the harsh and uncomfortable reality that is plaguing society, and the country’s haunting crime statistics attest to that.

One reason for this is the lack of rehabilitation opportunities available to offenders. The allure of falling back in old ways can be too appealing, but there is also a fundamental misunderstanding of the systematised obstacles criminal offenders face when reintroduced into society.

The Research Support division at the North-West University (NWU) recently hosted grant writing hybrid workshops across all three campuses.

South Africa is set to save billions of rands it currently spends on importing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) with the launch of the API Technology Innovation Cluster.

APIs are the biologically active components used to make finished pharmaceutical products such as tablets and capsules, and South Africa's heavy reliance on API imports is one of the factors behind the high cost of health care locally. The country currently spends approximately R15 billion a year on imported APIs.

The North-West University (NWU) Council appointed Prof Sonia Swanepoel as the new deputy vice-chancellor for Community Engagement and Mahikeng Campus Operations during its meeting on 18 November. She will serve a three-year term.

As an industrial psychologist, Prof Swanepoel has extensive knowledge and experience in various areas of teaching and learning, research and innovation, community engagement and management.

 She has been serving as acting deputy vice-chancellor for Community Engagement and Mahikeng Campus Operations since May 2021.

The North-West University (NWU) saluted Dr Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi with

Ingenuity built the world, resourcefulness sustains it and our imaginations will take it forward. This is evident from some of the interesting and important PhDs that the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Engineering has delivered in 2021.

In the field of chemical engineering, Innocentia Erdogan received her PhD for her thesis titled “Species dispersion from a closed Namaqualand metalliferous mine into water sources, South Africa”.

From January 2022, the secretariat of the regional water research network known as WaterNet will be based at Mahikeng Campus of the North-West University (NWU) as part of a five-year agreement.

We caught up with the WaterNet executive management head, associate professor Jean-Marie Kileshye Onema, to obtain a better understanding of the 79-member organisation, a network of southern African university departments, research and training institutes specialising in water.

What is your role as WaterNet executive manager?

Private label brands have gained momentum in the grocery retail sector over the past few years. They are no longer just alternatives to the big-name brands, but are fast becoming brands of choice – provided attention is paid to perceptions about quality.

This is according to Gift Ndlovu, a researcher from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the North-West University (NWU).