It will be a first for Africa: One innovative step by the North-West University (NWU) and one giant leap by the continent. The NWU’s Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences is set to launch the research area SpaceBiology@NWU.

According to one of the project leaders, Prof Henk Bouwman, this multidisciplinary research area – which is going encompass expertise from other NWU faculties such as Engineering too – will look at how biology can assist with living in space.

Dr Japie Greeff, deputy director of the School of Computer Science and Information Systems at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus, will be leading four NWU students to take part in a BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) initiative in China.

The students will take part in two skills competitions and Dr Greeff will be one of the judges.

The first competition will focus on data analysis and visualisation, and the second on machine learning and big data.

Prof Klaus Kellner from the North-West University (NWU) was recently appointed by the Director General of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) to serve on the Project Steering Committee (PSC) of the 7th Global Environmental Facility (GEF) funded project.

The GEF-funded project falls within the Land Degradation focal area and is titled “Mainstreaming sustainable land management (SLM) for large-scale impact in grazing lands of the Limpopo and Northern Cape provinces in South Africa”.

Postdoctoral researcher Fortunate Mafeta Phaka recently represented the North-West University (NWU) at the 10th Brazilian Herpetology Congress that took place in Porto Seguro.

This is the largest herpetology event in Brazil, bringing together researchers, students and professionals in the field to discuss the latest discoveries and trends. The event featured lectures, short courses, presentations, symposiums, exhibitions and much more.

By Menziwa Msibi and Phenyo Mokgothu

The Chemistry subject group at the North-West University's (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus, under the leadership of Prof Lebo Katata-Seru and Prof Thebe Medupe, hosted its inaugural "Chemistry in Action" event on 3 October 2023, marking a significant step toward bridging the gap between academia and industry.

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.