Awards and accolades

NWU adds another top placement to its impressive performance in rankings

The North-West University (NWU) has added another top placement to its impressive show in international rankings. The ShanghaiRanking Consultancy ranks the NWU in the category for the top 5 to 7 South African universities in its 2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

The placing in the 5 to 7 category is an improvement from being ranked seventh in the country last year.

ARWU places the NWU in the 501 to 600 ranking category internationally – a considerable achievement, as it was ranked in the 601 to 700 category in 2022.

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WaterNet executive manager makes history

Prof Jean-Marie Kileshye Onema, executive manager for SADC WaterNet and extraordinary professor at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, has been elected the secretary-general of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS).

Prof Onema's election, which took place during the 28th International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics in Berlin, Germany, marks a momentous occasion in the history of IAHS. He is the first African to hold this significant position since the association's inception 101 years ago.

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Another accreditation accolade for the NWU’s School of Accounting Sciences

The School of Accounting Sciences at the North-West University (NWU) has once again distinguished itself as an indisputable leader in its field with the recent announcement by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) that the school’s Bachelor of Commerce in Financial Accountancy has been accredited for the purposes of SAICA’s Associate General Accountant [AGA(SA)] designation.

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Academic receives prestigious botany award

North-West University (NWU) academic Prof Oladapo Aremu recently received the Economic Botany Excellence Award (EBEA) at the joint conference of the Society for Economic Botany (SEB) and the Society of Ethnobiology at Emory University Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

The EBEA – also called the Mid-Career Excellence Award – is made annually to an individual whose early career has substantially advanced economic botany or ethnobotany by teaching, publishing, or practical work.

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NWU excels again in QS World University Rankings – now tenth in Africa

The North-West University (NWU) has shown great improvement in the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings ― moving up in ranking position locally, in Africa and globally.

The NWU’s performance in these rankings has been consistent for the past five years and the latest results affirm the university’s position among the cream of the crop of local and international universities.

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Adele and Tete gunning for Comrades gold

It is a tale etched in South African athletics folklore. One-hundred-and-two-years ago, an ultramarathon was born to celebrate comradery and the indomitable human spirit in the wake of the devastation caused by the First World War.

It is an 87701 km odyssey of pain and perseverance. It is the Comrades Marathon. It again starts at dawn and ends at dusk on Sunday, 11 June and it is a showcase for the best the North-West University (NWU) has to offer.

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Vanderbijlpark Campus celebrates PhD graduates

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus 2023 winter graduations ended with a special congratulatory ceremony for PhD graduates, hosted by Prof Linda du Plessis, deputy vice-chancellor for planning and Vanderbijlpark Campus operations.

This event followed the 18 PhD graduates’ graduation ceremony where NWU principal and vice-chancellor Prof Bismark Tyobeka conferred their degrees upon them at the new Tsebonokeng Hall.

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NWU graduate: age is just a number

Annemarie van Heerden's story is inspiring and demonstrates that age should never hold you back from achieving your academic goals. She made history by becoming the oldest graduate to walk across the stage at the new Tsebonokeng Hall at the North-West University's (NWU’s) Vandebijlpark Campus during a recent graduation ceremony.

At the age of 66, Annemarie received an honours degree in psychology, an amazing accomplishment considering she took a 42-year break after obtaining her honours degree in music from Stellenbosch University in 1980.

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