Researchers within the new research focus area of the North-West University (NWU), TELIT-SA, is hard at work to not only vest the entity but also to expand its reach and impact. Its latest endeavor entails an intercampus and inter-research support forum.

“The optimism that most children are born with – the joy of learning, playing and simply living when they are small – gradually diminishes for many learners. This happens if they sense that, no matter how much they try to do well in school, they can’t succeed.”
These are the words of Prof Hans Henrik Knoop, extraordinary professor at the Optentia Research Focus Area on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Campus in Mahikeng recorded a surge in doctoral degree graduates during its recent autumn graduation ceremony. Thirty-nine doctoral degrees out of a total of 2 233 degrees across all faculties were conferred, with 11 of these being university staff members.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Mahikeng produced its first group of graduates who graduated with a Bachelor in Indigenous Knowledge Systems (BIKS) degree during the recent autumn graduation ceremony. This group is also the first BIKS graduates in Africa.

The North-West University (NWU) has produced one of Africa’s youngest female PhD graduates. Musawenkosi “Musa” Saurombe received her PhD in Industrial Psychology at the university`s campus in Mahikeng on 25 April 2017.

Few scientific events are more prestigious than those where Nobel Prize winners share their knowledge. Retha Peach, a doctoral student from the North-West University (NWU), is being given the rare opportunity to attend a gathering where 31 Nobel laureates will be present.

On 8 and 9 June 2017, Dr Charmaine Williamson will facilitate an introductory workshop on research funding and applications which is hosted by the research focus area Technology Enhanced Learning and Innovative Education and Training in South Africa (TELIT-SA) on the North-West University’s (NW’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus.

With 11 official languages in South Africa, finding an effective yet affordable way to transcribe speech to text was never going to be easy, but that is set to change with some innovative thinking from researchers who are creating an open source web-based platform for speech transcription.

Researchers from North-West University’s Multilingual Speech Technologies (MuST) and a young South African company called INTSYST have developed a prototype speech transcription platform that will have applications for both the public and private sectors.

The heart-wrenching reality of childhood sexual abuse is a global scourge which two researchers from North-West University (NWU) are tackling by assisting survivors to deal with their trauma and thrive.  

Thousands of people rely on the floodplain of the Lower Phongolo River in KwaZulu-Natal, as do millions of fish, frogs, birds, insects and other aquatic animals. But how can they all co-exist sustainably and what is needed to maintain the delicate balance of South Africa's biggest, richest and most diverse floodplain ecosystem?