As winter ended and spring entered with sunny pleasantness, thousands of “attackers” sprang into action to plague the part of the population that suffers from allergies and hay fever.

Prof Stuart Piketh from the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management in the School of Geo and Spatial Sciences at the North-West University (NWU) was recently honoured with the prestigious National Association for Clean Air (NACA) Golden Award during the annual NACA conference.

The ESKOM Science Expo is a regional contest proudly sponsored by the North-West University's (NWU's) Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and the Department of Education. The Dr Kenneth Kaunda district municipality recently played home to this year's event, which was held in the Weet and Sweet Hall on the NWU's Potchefstroom Campus.

This annual event serves as a platform for young scientists from primary and secondary schools to present their innovative research in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has ushered in rapid progress that is fundamentally reshaping various facets of human life, including career opportunities and educational methodologies. Kurt Naicker, senior lecturer and chartered accountant from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Accounting Sciences, delves into the ongoing discourse surrounding advanced process automation and machine learning.

In his inaugural lecture on 14 September, North-West University (NWU) academic Prof Adeyemi Oladapo Aremu shed light on the significance of indigenous knowledge and its role in medicine.

He delivered his lecture titled "Indigenous knowledge: Connecting plants, people, and everything in between" on the Mahikeng Campus.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Social Sciences played host to the successful Planetary Utilisation of Sustainability Strategies (PLUS) Southern African Regional Conference from 11 to 13 September at its Mahikeng Campus.

The conference, themed "Land, Landscape, Local Knowledge, and the Pursuit of Sustainable Ontologies," brought together experts, postgraduate students, and thought leaders to discuss pressing issues related to sustainability.

The continent is ravaged by a host of factors inhibiting food security and is trapped in what a recent report by the World Bank calls “the perfect storm”. Its consequences are disastrous. The Covid-19 pandemic was followed by the war in the Ukraine, which has led to severe food and fertiliser shortages. Now, Africa is in the midst of a tempest of increased debt and inflation, as well as the effects of climate change. The World Bank states that at least one in five Africans goes to bed hungry, and that about 140 million people in Africa are in a food insecurity stranglehold.

“What is in a name?” William Shakespeare wanted to know.  A young researcher from the North-West University (NWU) knows exactly how important a name is. She is currently believed to be the youngest gnathiid taxonomist in the world, at the forefront of describing these parasites and identifying their names – or the lack thereof.

Dr Anja Erasmus thrives on recording the tiny sea species and listing important information used to identify them. She is one of only a few active gnathiid taxonomists in the world ― the others being in the Philippines, Japan, Australia and Europe.

North-West University (NWU) academic and professor in chemistry, Prof Lebo Seru, has praised the Department of Transport’s announcement that they will be embarking on a pioneering plan to reinforce collapsing roads in the North West province through the innovative application of nanotechnology.

The department has committed to launching a pilot programme that will harness the potential of nanotechnology to transform road construction, enhance road surfaces and curb water seepage.

The North-West University (NWU) has secured fourth place in the Sustainable Development Goals Initiative of the Year category of the 2023 Global Triple E Awards for Africa.
These awards – made by the Accreditation Council for Entrepreneurial and Engaged Universities (ACEEU) – recognise universities worldwide that exhibit an exceptional commitment to entrepreneurship and community engagement in higher education.