A master’s-degree study conducted by North-West University (NWU) student Katlego Botlhoko from the School of Nursing explores the experiences of nurse educators with regard to the new diploma in general nursing (R171) curriculum in North West.

The diploma in general nursing is a three-year programme, leading to registration with the South African Nursing Council as a general nurse. The programme consists of a theoretical and a clinical component, which must be completed in each academic year.

The Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) wishes to congratulate two of our students who performed exceptionally well in the annual FameLab competition.

The NWU/CycloDNA team performed exceptionally well at the 2023 South African National Track and Para-Cycling Championships. They won two gold medals within the first two days of the event, which took place at the Belville Velodrome in Cape Town from 1 to 5 April.

Prof Pieter Kruger, director of the NWU Centre for Health and Human Performance (CHHP), participated in the 20 km race for veterans (aged 40 to 49) on Tuesday and successfully defended his title as winner, while earning UCI points for his ranking as a male road cycling rider.

For most newly graduated pharmacy students, the compulsory one-year pharmacy internship is the first step towards their service to the community and the start of their professional pharmacy careers in South Africa.

Prof Elmien Truter, associate professor of social work and research coordinator at Community Psychosocial Research (COMPRES), recently arranged a one-day workshop for researchers at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus.

COMPRES is a research focus area that provides research support and services to researchers and students within the field of social sciences.

The early diagnosis of inherited metabolic diseases not only helps to prevent patients from having a lifetime of suffering, it also saves lives.

Metabolic diseases have a variety of life-threatening consequences, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The symptoms of some of these diseases are well-known and do not need intense specialised knowledge to identify. There are also the rare, inherited metabolic diseases that are much more difficult to identify. This is where the Centre for Human Metabolomics (CHM) of the North-West University (NWU) comes in.

Prof Lebo Gafane-Matemane and Prof Lusilda Schutte of the North-West University (NWU) were recently recognised by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) when they each received a bronze award during the SAMRC’s 9th Scientific Merit Awards gala dinner held in Cape Town on 9 March.

The bronze medals are awarded to scientists who have recently entered the research arena, with at least five years post-PhD experience. While this award is not tied to chronological age, the condition for this award is that researchers should preferably be under the age of 50 years.

North-West University academic and researcher Prof Lebo Gafane-Matemane recently attended the 14th HOPE Meeting with Nobel Laureates from 27 February to 3 March 2023 in Tsukuba City, Japan.

She was nominated by the National Research Foundation (NRF), together with Dr Ncediwe Ndube-Tsolekile from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

The HOPE meetings have been organised by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) since 2008, aiming to advance science and technology in the Asia-Pacific and Africa region.

Dr Marelize Vergottini, a senior lecturer in social work at the North-West University (NWU) recently presented a group work framework that is focused on positive discipline for addressing behaviour issues among primary school students from grades 5 to 7.

This was during a social work practice seminar for school social workers hosted by the Gauteng Province Social Development Department on 3 March.

The North-West University (NWU) continues to feature in international rankings. The latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject includes the NWU in two subject areas: agriculture and forestry, and medicine.

The 2023 QS World University Rankings by Subject ranked the NWU in the 351 to 400 category for agriculture and forestry and in the 551 to 600 category for medicine. This is the first year that the NWU has featured in the ranking table for agriculture and forestry.