Prof Loubser’s research focuses on the formation and evolution of massive elliptical galaxies, with emphasis on the dominant galaxies in galaxy groups and clusters.

Loubser's leading edge observational studies, using telescopes such as the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), the Gemini telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, led to her being awarded the 2017 Henri Chrétien Award for observational astronomy by the American Astronomical Society, and the 2018 South African Women in Science Award for Distinguished Young Scientist: Astronomy.

Prof Ashmore Mawire holds a PhD in Applied Physics from the North-West University in South Africa which he obtained in 2010. He is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Electronics at the North-West University. He is the Director, and the principal researcher in the solar thermal group under the Physics subgroup of the Material Science, Innovation and Modelling (MaSIM) research focus area. His research interests include electronic instrumentation, renewable energy systems, heat transfer, solar food processing and solar thermal energy storage technology.

I joined the prestigious Centre (of Excellence) for Space Research (CSR), North-West University (NWU) in 2002 as a graduate student. The Gamma-ray group represents the main South African contribution to the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) Collaboration and is also involved in the next-generation Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). I am currently a B2-rated scientist with considerable international recognition and potentially a world leader in pulsar modelling.