CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
7th BRICS Young Scientist Forum, 22 June 2022
As nominating partners, the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), in collaboration with the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) invite the submission of applications for participation in the 7th BRICS Young Scientist Forum. Please assist to disseminate further within your networks and databases in your institution.
.The idea of the BRICS Young Scientist Forum was adopted at the 2nd BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation(STI) Ministerial Meeting upon the proposal of India. The first forum was held in September 2016. During the 4th BRICS STI Ministerial Meeting in October 2016, members agreed to hold the forum on a rotation basis in the hosting country. China, as the BRICS Chair Country for 2022, will host the 7th BRICS Young Scientists Forum from 29th August to 1st September in Xiamen. During the forum, an online platform will be published to show the scientific research achievements of young scientists and young innovators, promoting more people to understand the scientific and technological innovation of BRICS countries, and deepen scientific and technological innovation cooperation among BRICS countries. The forum will provide a high-level academic and policy exchange platform for outstanding young scientists and scientific and technological talents from BRICS countries, promote exchanges and cooperation in the field of research and development, and create a BRICS intercultural talent pool for STI cooperation.
The theme of the 7th BRICS Young Scientists Forum is Inspire Youth Potential, Shape BRICS’s Future and will feature the following thematic fields: Low-carbon technology, Biomedicine, Artificial Intelligence and New material.
The Call: 7th BRICS Young Scientist Forum 2022 -The Call
Application Form: Form-BRICS YSF_South Africa 2022
To apply, prospective applicants need to fill in the attached application form, and upload it with a short motivation, together with their CV on the online application form at: 7th BRICS 2022_SA Applicants.
Note: Emailed applications will NOT be accepted, and submissions from applicants who have already participated in previous editions of the BRICS Young Scientist Conclaves are NOT eligible to apply.
The application deadline is Wednesday, 22 June 2022.
For more information, please refer to the attached call for applications.
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
Pioneering Intellectual Property Programme for African Young Researchers 2022
In recognition of the role that research plays in sustaining economic growth and societal well-being in the region, many African countries have made significant investments to advance their science and technological capacity. A nation’s research progress is often determined through quantifiable metrics such as the size of the tech talent pool, number of research institutions, publications and patents. The South African Young Academy of Science in partnership with the Academy of Science of South Africa, the Department of Science and Innovation, the Licensing Executives Society of South Africa, and the Thai Young Scientists Academy will host a four-part Pioneering Intellectual Property Programme for African Young Researchers over 4 weeks in August/September 2022.
Scientists and early career researchers play an important role in the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) landscape in Africa. Besides possessing expertise and experience, they are flexible to adapt to the rapid changing nature of STI and are at their most productive career stage. Young scientists are also future science leaders who can influence relevant policies through diplomacy and the implementation of STI to effectively address societal needs. As future leaders, being well-rounded and well-trained is vital.
Despite the significant STI progress that has been made by many African countries in the past decades, the region continues to play ‘catch-up’ to more established R&D-intensive nations; especially in the context of research translation into wealth creation. Unfortunately, many young researchers have limited knowledge on the fundamentals of intellectual property and many institutions in the region are ill-equipped with the ability to train these researchers. These challenges result in poor conceptualization and utilization of their research endeavours. In the developing world, Africa has the majority of her countries that are classified as Science and Technology Lagging Countries (STLCs) and most are Least Developed Countries (LDCs). This programme seeks to capacitate the least represented which will in future increase the uptake of research opportunities.
In recognition of the need to harness the talent and drive of young African researchers to better understand intellectual property in the context of their research, the Pioneering IP Programme for African Young Scientists has been established, adapted from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) programme. Through this initiative, we hope to create a pool of IP-competent African researchers who will champion the realisation of the STI potential in the region.
The objectives of the PIP Programme for African Young Researchers include to:
- provide opportunity for young researchers in Africa to get trained in the fundamentals of IP knowledge;
- provide a platform where young researchers can engage with IP experts, convene and network with professionals beyond their fields of expertise;
- stimulate a shift towards an academic culture that promotes interactions between scientists, industry, and business/investors.
Downloads: Call for Applications_Pioneering Intellectual Property Programme for African Young Researchers 2022 and Pioneering Intellectual Property Programme- Application Form 2022
Selection criteria and application process
Applicants will need to display compelling evidence of their potential and interest in the program. This potential can be demonstrated in areas such as research excellence, project management, technology/invention awards, technology commercialization, consultancy, science advice, outreach etc. The selection process will not only consider these individual qualities but also focus on the possibility to further promote IP awareness (at national and/or regional), and opportunity to engage business partners. The final selection will be done by the appointed Selection Committee consisting of partner institutions’ representatives.
All applicants have to provide three recommendation letters from their proposed referees (details are provided in the PIP Programme for African Young Researchers Fellowship Application Form). Please ensure that the support letters are sent from an accredited institutional email address. The referee should express their willingness towards supporting the fellow’s professional development and their emerging role in promoting IP knowledge awareness.
Deadline to submit applications is 15 July 2022.
Please contact: Email: kholani@assaf.org.za for further enquiries.
Call for Nominations of Young Scientists to be Members of the South African Young Academy of Science 2022
The South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS), founded in September 2011, is calling for nominations for new members. The attached call invites you to nominate outstanding young scientists who may be elected as members of SAYAS. In the founding year (2011), 20 young scientists were elected. 10 new members have been elected progressively on an annual basis. After five years of service, members will become alumni and will be replaced by newly elected members.
To qualify for nomination, a candidate should meet the following criteria:
- Be in possession of a PhD or equivalent degree in any field of scientific enquiry, where science is defined broadly as encompassing natural sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities, medical sciences and engineering;
- Be under the age of 40 years and within 7 years from award of a PhD at the time of nomination. Nomination of candidates who deviate from this profile requires additional motivation;
- Evidence of scientific excellence through a proven publication record, and receipt of honours and awards;
- Evidence of activities demonstrating service to society;
- Be willing to actively work towards achieving the goals of SAYAS as well as a commitment to attending the Annual General Meetings (AGM).
Institutions/associations/individuals may nominate more than one candidate. Self-nominations shall also be considered, provided that the nomination is endorsed by the nominee’s institution. Access the official call and 2022 nomination form:
- SAYAS Call for New Member Nominations Letter 2022- The Call_2022
- Nomination Form – SAYAS-New-Member-Nomination-Form-2022
- SAYAS – Background Information
Applicants are requested to complete the nomination form and send the completed form to Edith Shikumo, SAYAS Secretariat (Kholani@assaf.org.za) by 30 June 2022. Unfortunately, we will be unable to accept any late submissions. Should you require any further information please contact Kholani Mbhiza on Tel: 012 349 6638.
Call For Nominations: The 7th Lindau Meeting Of The Laureates Of The Sveriges Riksbank Prize In Economic Sciences In Memory Of Alfred Nobel
The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), in partnership with the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), is seeking candidates to participate in the 7th Lindau Meeting of the Laureates of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel. This meeting is to be held from 23 – 27 August 2022 in Lindau, Germany. The meeting will be attended by 400 young economists (graduate/post-doc students and young professionals). The call:7th Lindau Meeting -The Call-Economics 2022
Eligibility
Eligible applicants should demonstrate a strong commitment to the field of Economic Sciences, closely related disciplines or interdisciplinary work. All nominated participants should meet the following criteria in order to participate:
- Applications are open to graduate students or post-doctoral students who are South African citizens totalling (5). Specifics are:
Postdoctoral scientists, who
- be less than 5 years away from their PhD
- have published outstanding papers in widely recognised academic journals and
- have presented their work at international scientific meetings.
- Applicants must be 35 years or younger at the time of the meeting.
- Applicants should demonstrate outstanding academic accomplishments.
- Applicants should have presented their research at international meetings and be able to communicate in English and have the desire to participate in discussions.
- Applicants should not hold a permanent position (scientists with permanent positions, in particular a professorship, will not be considered).
- Applicants should not have participated in previous Lindau meetings.
- Applicants should commit themselves to be present for the full duration of the meeting.
Applications should be sent to: kholani@assaf.org.za
Applications should be submitted with all the listed attachments at once quoting your surname and initials as follows: SITHOLE E.K Nomination for 71st Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting. Applicants should submit the following documents:
- Completed application form (incomplete forms will not be considered). Access the form at: 7th Lindau Meeting-Application Form-Economics 2022
- Curriculum vitae
- At least two letters of recommendation/reference from a head of department or supervisor (or a higher position). These letters of recommendation form the most important component during the evaluation stage and it is recommended to provide compelling references
NB: Applicants are also advised to submit good recommendation letters that clearly describes the candidate’s achievements not the nominating institution’s and it should point out specific accomplishments of the candidate in their scientific work or in raising public awareness.
Note
-Further communications and guidelines will be given to the shortlisted applicants.
-Nomination does not necessarily mean attendance, as the final selection of the participants will be done by the Lindau Nobel Laureate Council and Foundation.
-For more information on the Meetings of Nobel Laureates in Lindau please visit www.lindau-nobel.org.
– South African applicants should however direct all applications to the address listed below.
-The successful candidates will receive a travel grant to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting from ASSAf which covers return air ticket, ground transport, visa costs, accommodation and meals for the participant only for the duration of the meeting.
Deadline for sending nominations is 26 January 2022.
For any queries please contact:
Kholani Mbhiza I Tel: +27(0)12 349 6614 I Email: kholani@assaf.org.za
SAYAS Elects New Leadership for 2021-2022 and Inducts 10 New Members
The South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) hosted its Annual General Meeting virtually on 10 November 2021. The young academy utilised the online platform to elect its new leadership for 2021-2022 and the New Executive Committee (ExCo) Members are Prof Sudesh Sivarasu (Co-chair, University of Cape Town), Dr Tozama Qwebani-Ogunleye (Co-chair, Vaal University of Technology), Prof Tjaart Kruger (University of Pretoria), Prof Dustin van der Haar (University of Johannesburg) and Prof Thashree Marimuthu (University of the Witwatersrand). The young academy wishes to congratulate the incoming ExCo and also wishes to thank the outgoing ExCo for steering the young scientists’ activities in the year that SAYAS was celebrating its 10 years of existence.
The new leadership takes over from the remarkable and inclusive contributions from Dr Keagan Pokpas (University of Western Cape), Prof Nhlanhla Mpofu (Rhodes University), Dr Marizvikuru Manjoro-Mwale (Former Co-chair, University of Venda), Prof Sudesh Sivarasu (2021-2022 Co-chair, University of Cape Town) and Prof Willie Chinyamurindi (Former Co-chair, University of Fort Hare). The AGM also announced the 10 New SAYAS members who were officially inaugurated during the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) Award Ceremony on 20 October 2021. The outgoing ExCo held an onboarding meeting on 5 November 2021 to official induct the new members. SAYAS is proud to announce the 2021 new members as follows:
Call for Nominations/Applications for 71st Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting_CHEMISTRY: Closing on 21 October 2021
The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), in partnership with the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), is seeking candidates to participate in the 71st Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting dedicated to Chemistry from 26 June – 1 July 2022 in Lindau; Germany. About 600 highly talented young scientists worldwide will be the audience for lectures, panel discussions and small-size discussion session.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants should demonstrate a strong commitment to the field of Chemistry and closely related disciplines of science. All nominated participants should meet the following criteria in order to participate:
Applications are open to graduates or post-doctoral students who are South African citizens totalling (12). Specifics are:
Postdoctoral scientists in particular should:
- Be less than 5 years away from their PhD
- have published outstanding papers in widely recognised academic journals and
- have presented their work at international scientific meetings.
- Applicants must be 35 years or younger at the time of the meeting.
- Applicants should demonstrate outstanding academic accomplishments.
- Applicants should have presented their research at international meetings and be able to communicate in English and have the desire to participate in discussions.
- Applicants should not hold a permanent position (scientists with permanent positions, in particular a professorship, will not be considered).
- Applicants should not have participated in previous Lindau meetings.
- Applicants should commit themselves to be present for the full duration of the meeting.
Applications should be sent to: kholani@assaf.org.za;
Downloads: 71st Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting_Chemistry- Call for Nominations;
71st Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting- Application Form- Chemistry;
Applications should be submitted with all the listed attachments at once quoting your surname and initials as follows: SITHOLE E.K Nomination for 71st Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting:
- Signed completed application form (incomplete forms will not be considered). Please also complete the online form here.
- Curriculum vitae
- At least two letters of recommendation/reference from a head of department or supervisor (or a higher position). These letters of recommendation form the most important component during the evaluation stage and it is recommended to provide compelling references.
NB: Applicants are also advised to submit good recommendation letters that clearly describes the candidate’s achievements not the nominating institution’s and it should point out specific accomplishments of the candidate in their scientific work or in raising public awareness.
Note
-Further communications and guidelines will be given to the shortlisted applicants.
-Nomination does not necessarily mean attendance, as the final selection of the participants will be done by the Lindau Nobel Laureate Council and Foundation.
-For more information on the Meetings of Nobel Laureates in Lindau please visit www.lindau-nobel.org.
– South African applicants should however direct all applications to the address listed below.
-The successful candidates will receive a travel grant to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting from ASSAf which covers return air ticket, ground transport, visa costs, accommodation and meals for the participant only for the duration of the meeting.
Deadline for sending nominations is 21 October 2021.
For any queries please contact:
Kholani Mbhiza I Tel: +27(0)12 349 6638 I Email: kholani@assaf.org.za
We look forward to receiving your applications/nominations.
SAYAS Blogging Competition 2022
Are you a masters or doctoral student or postdoctoral researcher in South Africa? Do you want to express yourself and share your thoughts and opinions, but do not have a platform to do so? Read more here: SAYAS Blogging Competition 2022_Advert
What do I need to enter?
Any masters or PhD student or postdoctoral researcher from any research field in or from South Africa who can communicate in English can enter.
How do I enter the blogging competition?
You will enter the competition by completing this form: https://forms.gle/tWMbyWqBy81vkJyA7
This includes:
– A short bio (500-700 words) describing yourself/
your research/ your dreams/ your journey in word format.
– Your CV
– A high-resolution photo of you.
The closing date for applications is Monday, 25th October 2021. For more Information, write to: Jennifer.Fitchett@wits.ac.za
SAYAS’ Contribution to South African National Science Week (NSW) 2021
The South African National Science Week (NSW) is an annual event founded by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) to celebrate the contributions of academics young and old nationally toward the advancement of science, engineering and technology. Bringing together learners, educators, scientists and more, an exciting programme is planned annually to recognize these tremendous efforts, inspire future generations and highlight the importance of science for improving society. Various stakeholders, role players and interest groups conduct activities that promote awareness of the value of STEMI to people’s daily lives.
In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) would, more than ever, like to celebrate the achievements made by young scientists toward achieving this goal. Join us in recognizing all the unique, vibrant and passionate young leaders driving science in the country!
How will you?
#CelabrateYoungScientists SAYAS National Science Week Poster 2021
For the programme, please follow the link below: https://www.saasta.ac.za/national-science…/nsw-programme/
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS AND STRATEGIC ADVISORY ON FARMING AND FOOD SECURITY IN SOUTH AFRICA IN THE AFTERMATH OF WIDESPREAD PUBLIC VIOLENCE AND LOOTING IN KWAZULU-NATAL AND GAUTENG BETWEEN 10-14 JULY 2021
SAGE SUB-COMMITTEE ON FOOD SECURITY
Date: 30 July 2021
Authors – Simbarashe Tatsvarei, Marizvikuru Mwale-Manjoro, Cletos Mapiye, Munyaradzi C. Marufu, Jerome A. Singh, Brigid A. Letty, Sershen Naidoo, Caradee Wright, Adeyemi Aremu.
Executive Summary
Largescale and widespread acts of public violence and rampant theft in the provinces of Kwazulu-Natal (KZN) and Gauteng, primarily between 10-14 July 2021, have severely affected the economies of both provinces. Relatively scant attention has been afforded to the impact of these criminal acts on many rural communities, the farming sector, the food processing and food storage sectors, associated logistics and value chains.
Download the advisory here: Strategic Advisory on Farming and Food Security
Call for Abstracts for the 6th BRICS Young Scientist Forum 2021
The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) in collaboration with the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) invite the submission of applications for participation in the 6th BRICS Young Scientist Forum, to be held virtually by the Department of Science and Technology of India, from 13 to 16 September 2021.
The decision to establish the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Young Scientist Forum (YSF) was taken at the 2nd BRICS Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Ministerial Meeting held in Brazil in March 2015. India assumed the BRICS rotational Presidency of 2021. As part of its BRICS STI activities, India will host the 6th BRICS Young Scientist Forum in line with the decision taken at the BRICS STI Jaipur Ministerial in October 2016 that these events will be held on a rotational basis. The main goals of the 6th BRICS YSF are:
- To ensure that BRICS Young Scientists have collaborative and networking opportunities that will help harness their knowledge to resolve common societal challenges through research and innovation.
- To strengthen the advancement of skills and research competencies of youth, primarily below the age of 35 years drawn from Science, Engineering, and other allied disciplines.
- To build BRICS leadership in science, technology, and innovation through creative youth with capacity and capability to accelerate, change individually and collectively through the BRICS Youth Alumni.
- To reinforce BRICS nations’ and regional STI policies, youth policies, skill development and entrepreneurship policies.
The themes for this year’s Forum are Healthcare, Energy Solutions and Cyber Physical systems (CPS). To apply, prospective applicants need to fill in the attached application form, and upload it with a short motivation, together with their CV on the online application form at: https://cutt.ly/VmHALI9.
Note: Emailed applications will NOT be accepted, and submissions from applicants who have already participated in previous editions of the BRICS Young Scientist Conclaves are NOT eligible to apply.
The application deadline is Friday, 6 August 2021.
For more information, please refer to the following documents: 6TH BRICS Young Scientist Forum 2021 call for applications; 6TH BRICS Young Scientist Forum 2021 application form
SITUATIONAL AND STRATEGIC ADVISORY ON SOCIAL AND POLITICAL INSTABILITY IN SOUTH AFRICA: JULY 2021
SAGE Advisory Authors: Jerome Amir Singh, David McQuoid Mason, Glenda Gray, Basil Pillay, Marizvikuru Manjoro, Adeyemi Aremu, Keagan Pokpas, Sershen Naidoo, Pradeep Kumar, Aliza Le Roux, Anthony Pillay
14 July 2021
Background
On 29 June 2021, South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruled that South Africa’s former President, Jacob Zuma, was guilty of contempt of court for refusing to appear before the Secretary of the Judicial Commission of inquiry into Allegation of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector. The Constitutional Court sentenced Mr Zuma to 15 months imprisonment for his contempt. In the aftermath of Mr Zuma’s imprisonment on the evening of 8 July 2021, civil unrest and looting unfolded in various parts of the country, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
SAGE classifies the civil unrest and looting unfolding in various parts of South Africa as an emergency situation. In the opinion of SAGE, the current situation also meets the definition of a ‘disaster’, as defined in South Africa’s Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002: “natural or human-caused occurrence which (a) causes or threatens to cause – (i) death, injury or disease; (ii) damage to property, infrastructure or the environment, (iii) disruption of the life of a community; (b) is of a magnitude that exceeds the ability of those affected by the disaster to cope with its effects using only their own resources”.
This Advisory aims to provide a Situational and Strategic Assessment of the current emergency. Download the advisory to read the recommended actions at this critical juncture: SAGE Situational and Strategic Advisory on Social and Political Instability – 14 July 2021
SAGE Advisory on the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in KwaZulu-Natal in June-July 2021: mitigating a potential emergency
SAGE Sub-committee on Foot and Mouth Disease
Authors – Munyaradzi C. Marufu, Musafiri Karama, Marizvikuru Mwale-Manjoro, Cletos Mapiye, Jerome A. Singh, Sershen Naidoo, Aliza Le Roux
Date: 12 July 2021
Executive summary
Foot and Mouth Disease [FMD; serotype Southern Africa Territory (SAT) 2] is highly contagious and affects all cloven-hoofed livestock and wildlife, with cattle being the primary host of the virus, pigs serving as infection multipliers (not carriers), and recovered sheep being potential virus carriers. In addition, FMD severely affects the production of livestock and disrupts trade in animals and animal products. The most current outbreak of FMD in northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in June 2021 merits concern and necessitates increased awareness around risk factors amongst all stakeholders. Uncontained, FMD could spread beyond KZN and South Africa, given the unique geographical characteristics of KZN. Such a situation could constitute an emergency and merits the implementation of urgent risk mitigation measures. To this end, biosecurity measures, surveillance, awareness-raising, and capacity building, particularly in smallholder farming communities, could facilitate rapid detection of the disease, prevent its introduction into disease-free areas, reduce its spread, and mitigate its socio-economic impact.
Download the advisory here: SAGE advisory FMD – 12 July 2021 (1)
SAYAS Funding Applications Toolkit for Postgraduates
The South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) Task Team on Feeding the Pipeline presents: Empowering your success for Postgraduate (Hons, Masters, PhD & Post-doctoral Studies) Funding Applications Toolkit.
Below are the crucial issues that the Toolkit advises on:
- Applicants adhere to the institutional cut- off dates and or closing dates of the applications.
- Ample time is dedicated towards the application and that the application is commenced well on time to ensure submission of a quality application.
- Applicants read and understand (all necessary documents) the framework and/or funding call before preparing the application.
- Applicants must make sure to fulfil the bursary/funding eligibility requirements.
- Applicants must ensure all sections of the online or hardcopy of the application form are adequately completed and seek help if needed (most funders have an email address to which queries can be addressed).
- The application has been checked/revised for any errors before submission.
- Potential supervisors and referees must have seen the proposal before their names are entered into the system or recommendation letters requested.
- Applicants update their CV on the respective funder’s website or platform if required.
- If you require a mentor to assist with your application (contact Mr K Mbhiza Kholani@assaf.org.za or Prof T Naicker Naickert1@ukzn.ac.za that can put you in touch with someone from the task team.
Download the Toolkit here: Toolkit_sayas; Screening Checklist – final
Invitation to SAGE Webinar on “WHY ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT MUST BECOME THE NEW NORMAL”
The Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE), established within the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf ), cordially invites you to a webinar series on WHY ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT MUST BECOME THE NEW NORMAL. The webinar series is planned as follows:
Date: 29 July 2021; 5 August 2021; 12 August 2021 and 19 August 2021
Time: 11:00 12:30
Venue: Zoom (link to be provided upon registration
RSVP: Click here to RSVP
The series aims to raise awareness on the importance of emergency risk mitigation in the context of environmental management:
– How can we prevent future pandemics and human driven environmental emergencies?
– How should we manage the environment in a more pro active and integrated fashion?
This is an event organised by the Steering Committee of SAGE, the Academy of Science of South Africa ( ASSAf ), the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) and the Institute of Natural Resources (INR). We have assembled a diverse group of experts to provide a series of short talks (15 minutes each, with 3 speakers on each day) spread over four sessions. The series will end with a panel discussion focused on what we can learn from the COVID 19 pandemic crisis to manage ourselves better and weather future storms in the Anthropocene.
Download the official invitation: SAGE Webinar
INVITATION: Webinar on Public Health and Social Measures for COVID-19 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa
The Academy of Science of South Africa ( ASSAf ), in collaboration with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Academy of Sciences and Technology, and the United States National Academies of Sciences (US NAS) cordially invites you to a webinar on Public Health and Social Measures for COVID 19 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa. The event is planned as follows:
Date: 15 April 2021
Time: 14:00 to 16:00 (CAT)
Platform: Zoom
RSVP: Click here to register
Keynote address by Prof Quarraisha Abdool Karim on COVID 19 Lessons learnt in responding to health epidemics in Africa.
Prof Quarraisha Abdool Karim PhD) is a National Research Foundation A 1 rated scientist, infectious diseases epidemiologist and Associate Scientific Director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa ( She is Professor in Clinical Epidemiology, Columbia University, USA and is Pro Vice Chancellor for African Health, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa Her research for the past 28 years has focused on HIV infection in adolescent girls and young women She was the Principal Investigator of the Columbia University Southern African Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Programme that focused on establishing a strong science base and increasing the capacity to conduct clinical RCTs to highest international scientific an d ethical standards Her landmark study, the tenofovir gel CAPRISA 004 trial, demonstrated for the first time that anti retrovirals can prevent HIV infection highlighted by the journal Science as one of the top 10 scientific breakthroughs in 2010 Professor Abdool Karim has over 200 peer reviewed publications edited several books, contributed several book chapters including co editing the 6 th and 7 th edition of the Oxford Textbook on Global Public Health Prof Abdool Karim is the UNAIDS Special Ambassador for Adolescents and HIV and co chairs the UNAIDS Strategic Working Group She is a member of the UNAIDS 2025 target setting and resource mobilisation Steering Committee and is a member of the PEPFAR Scientific Advisory Board She holds Fellowships at the National Academy of Medicine, The World Academy of Science, Royal Society of South Africa, Academy of Science of South Africa and the African Academy of Science.
SAYAS Coronavirus Vaccine Myth vs Fact Poster
With South Africa moving closer and closer to combatting the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccination procurement and distribution in full swing, the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) experts weigh in on some of the common misconceptions surrounding the vaccine and its rollout in the country. SAYAS aims to keep all South Africans informed of all Covid-19 pandemic related developments by dispelling any myths that may exist. Please download the poster: SAYAS Coronavirus Vaccine Myth Poster 2021
ASSAf launches Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings – South African Alumni Narratives
The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) launched a publication on the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings – South African Alumni Narratives on 26 March 2021. This publication reflects on the journey and experiences of some of the Alumni that attended the life-changing Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings in Lindau, Germany. The publication is funded by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI).
Ordinarily held in June/July each year, the Lindau Meetings serve to promote networking among scientists of different generations, cultures, and disciplines, and have evolved into a unique international forum for scientific exchanges. About 30 to 50 Nobel Laureates attend the annual Meetings together with about 500 to 600 postgraduate students, postdoctoral fellows and emerging researchers from all over the world.
In 2015, the DSI partnered with ASSAf to coordinate and oversee the activities associated with the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. Through this arrangement, the DSI funds a travel grant to enable young scientists to participate in these Meetings. ASSAf is the nominating partner. Since then, South Africa has sent groups of the next generation of scientists to the Lindau Meetings, in a more supported way, to enhance their contributions to the growth of South Africa’s science community and to advance networking opportunities for these scholars.
Danielle Douglas-Henry says that for a young scientist, to be selected to attend the Lindau Meeting is the equivalent of winning the golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. “You are surrounded by hundreds of people who share your passion and on top of that you get to meet, interact with, and learn from the world’s best in your field,” he concluded.
According to Itumeleng Monageng, “the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting was an unreal experience that any young, emerging scientist ought to experience. Not just for the details of the scientific content, but for inspiration to change the world, however big (or small) the impact of the change is!”
Read more about these and other scientists and their experiences here.
SAYAS response to curb the spread of COVID-19
In South Africa, a national lockdown for 21 days commencing 26 March 2020 has been declared by President Cyril Ramaphosa in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. This is the time that the scientific community can contribute to mitigating the effects of COVID-19, and actively engage in the science-policy-society interface. In a bid to stay informed about #Covid19InSA and protect each other, SAYAS has produced health advertorials on COVID19 in the different languages spoken in Africa as well as a few other spoken by dominant migrant communities.
SAYAS News
SAYAS members response to the Corona virus
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an unprecedented global challenge. In their own personal capacities, various SAYAS members have written informative articles on the impact of the virus and undertaken various societal engagement activities.
Access the collated April 2020 articles here: Click here
Access the collated May 2020 articles here: Click here
Access the Collated June 2020 articles here: Click here
SAYAS News
SAYAS book on COVID-19 -Inviting Abstracts
Deadline: 31 August 2020
The South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) is inviting proposal chapters for a planned book on ‘PUSHING FRONTIERS: MULTI-DISCIPLINARY REFLECTIONS OF SCIENCE POST COVID-19’.
-For further information contact: Prof Willie Chinyamurindi – wchinyamurindi@ufh.ac.za
-Email book chapter abstract to: Edith@assaf.org.za
Link with more information on the guidelines & criteria: https://bit.ly/2ESTYiU
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SAYAS Survey on Identities
The South African Young Academy of Science and the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies are undertaking a survey titled: ‘Hidden Identities in South African Academia: Contestations and Contradictions for Belonging’. The study aims to establish the role of identity as a barrier in academia, and to determine strategies to promote inclusivity in academia within the South African context.
Transformation within South African universities is hampered by more than just historical practices, but by many factors currently at play, either hindering or helping individuals’ progress on the academic career path. For many young academics, making sense of their professional functions and roles within the ever-changing environment of academia is largely shaped by the concept of identity construction.
An initial online survey was conducted after which Dialogues will be held in early 2020 at four universities in the country. The study partners will use the data obtained from this research to develop policy recommendations that highlight the ways in which young academics / early career researchers can be better supported in their careers.
SAYAS News
SAYAS book on COVID-19 -Inviting Abstracts
Deadline: 31 August 2020
The South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) is inviting proposal chapters for a planned book on ‘PUSHING FRONTIERS: MULTI-DISCIPLINARY REFLECTIONS OF SCIENCE POST COVID-19’.
-For further information contact: Prof Willie Chinyamurindi – wchinyamurindi@ufh.ac.za
-Email book chapter abstract to: Edith@assaf.org.za
Link with more information on the guidelines & criteria: https://bit.ly/2ESTYiU
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SAYAS Survey on Identities
The South African Young Academy of Science and the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies are undertaking a survey titled: ‘Hidden Identities in South African Academia: Contestations and Contradictions for Belonging’. The study aims to establish the role of identity as a barrier in academia, and to determine strategies to promote inclusivity in academia within the South African context.
Transformation within South African universities is hampered by more than just historical practices, but by many factors currently at play, either hindering or helping individuals’ progress on the academic career path. For many young academics, making sense of their professional functions and roles within the ever-changing environment of academia is largely shaped by the concept of identity construction.
An initial online survey was conducted after which Dialogues will be held in early 2020 at four universities in the country. The study partners will use the data obtained from this research to develop policy recommendations that highlight the ways in which young academics / early career researchers can be better supported in their careers.
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Mpho Tshitangoni
Dr Tshitangoni has more than 16 years experience in Environmental Management and Rural Development. After completing his Bachelor of Environmental Science degree, he chose to apply his knowledge and skills in the environmental consulting arena. He founded Wandma Consulting Services and worked for five (5) years before joining the KZN Department of Environmental Affairs. He worked in Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development before being appointed by the National Department of Environmental Affairs where he is currently serving as a Director: Land Remediation. He led the team that developed documentations in preparation for bringing Part 8 (Contaminated Land Provision) of the Waste Act into effect.
His academic qualifications includes: Diploma in Project Management, Diploma in Financial Management, B. Env.Sc, Hons, Masters and PhD in Rural Development. He has successfully supervised a Masters student. Currently he is co-promoting two PhD candidates at the Institute for Rural Development at the University of Venda. He has published numerous research papers in peer reviewed scientific journals and presented papers in National and International Conferences such as International Committee on Contaminated Land in the United States of America, Australia; Chrysotile Asbestos meeting in Switzerland. His research interest includes: Sustainable Rural Development, Governance, Community Participation and Engagement, Land Reform. Rural Planning and Development.
He held many positions of responsibility which includes: Public relation officer of Environmental Science society at the University of Venda. He is a member of Institute of Environment and Recreation Management, a member of Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa.
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Mardé Helbig
Dr Mardé Helbig is Senior Lecturer, School of Information and Communication Technology, Griffith University in Australia. She was formerly Senior Lecturer at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Pretoria. Her research focuses on solving dynamic multi-objective optimisation problems using computational intelligence algorithms. These problems typically have multiple objectives, where at least two objectives are in conflict with one another, and at least one objective changes over time. She obtained an Y1 rating from the NRF in 2016. She is currently the vice-chair of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (CIS)’s task force on evolutionary multi-objective optimisation, a member of the IEEE CIS Emerging Technologies Technical Committee (ETTC), a member of the IEEE CIS Women in Computational Intelligence (WCI) sub-committee, a member of the IEEE CIS Young Professionals sub-committee and the chair of the IEEE CIS South African Chapter. Before joining the university, she worked at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). In 2013 she was awarded the CSIR Meraka Institute Emerging Researcher Excellence Award and in 2009 the CSIR Meraka Institute Promising Young Researcher Excellence Award.
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Usisipho Feleni
Dr Usisipho Feleni is a Senior Lecturer at the Nanotechnology and Sustainability Research Unit (NanoWS) in the School of Science, University of South Africa (UNISA). She holds an MSc Nanoscience and a PhD Chemistry degree from the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Her research expertise is in the development of chalcogenide quantum dots as tuneable electroactive platforms for the fabrication of biosensors, for biomedical and environmental analysis. She also has current research interest on electrochemical membranous reactors for water purification. She has published more than 20 papers and supervised 7 MSc students. She has given oral presentations at international scientific conferences and symposia, and has done several popular media interviews on the impact of her research work. She is an Associate Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (AMRSC), as well as, a Full Member of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) and the International Society of electrochemistry (ISE). She is a Visiting Lecturer for the MSc Nanoscience degree programme at UWC. Her recent awards include the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Sub-Saharan Africa Doctoral Fellowship Award in 2016 and the South African Women in Science TATA Doctoral Fellowship Award in 2016. Dr Feleni also, has expertise in small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) spectroscopy. She has research collaborations at the Biosensors and Bioelectronics Centre at Linkoping University in Sweden, the University of the Western Cape Sensor Laboratories (SensorLab) and the Tianjin Polytechnic University (TJPU) in China.
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Puleng Segalo
Prof Puleng Segalo is a Fulbright scholar currently holding the position of Head of Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Human Sciences at the University of South Africa. Her research work analyzes South African women’s narratives of survival and resistance pre, during and post-apartheid, contrasting testimonies offered by women to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), narratives spoken in interviews and focus groups, and embroidered stories that women stitch onto fabric to tell another tale of survival and resistance. Her scholarship focuses on the post-apartheid struggles that women engage in, in freeing themselves now from the shackles of patriarchy. She has dedicated her work toward the advancement of women in South Africa, at the level of economics, education and also their deep psychological sense of purpose and community. In addition to being an NRF rated researcher, Prof Segalo has received recognition for her research work in the form of awards and invitations as a guest speaker at a number of national and international academic forums and popular media. In 2013 she was awarded the University of South Africa Principal Prize for Excellence in Research and in 2014 named the Distinguished Young Woman Scientist of the year by the National Department of Science and Technology.
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Willie Tafadzwa Chinyamurindi
Prof Willie Chinyamurindi is an NRF Rated Researcher (Y2) working at the University of Fort Hare as a Professor within the Department of Business Management. He considers himself as a pan-Africanist and is a scholar with intent in promoting such ideals in his work. As a broad theme, his research is along aspects of human and organizational capabilities and how they contribute towards the theme of development. This entails aspects such as: Human Resources Development (HRD) and Organisational Psychology covering sub-themes such as careers, employability, decent work, technology in HRD; Interpretivist research methods within the management sciences; and Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management especially the intersection of strategy in organizational behaviour.
Further, Prof Chinyamurindi is also interested in research that improves his teaching practice. The nexus between humans and organizational capabilities becomes important especially considering the role of technology and even socio-economic systems. In essence, the thread is around making the human experience better through harnessing and improving individual, organisational, and community capabilities. This has seen Prof Chinyamurindi’s work published in local and international journals. This is also includes being featured in a number of local and African newspapers. Prof Chinyamurindi has professional memberships with the a) South African Board for People Practices; b) Health Professions Council of South Africa; c) Psychological Society of South Africa; d) South African Career Development Association and the e) Southern African Institute for Management.
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Srila Roy
Dr Srila Roy is Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand. She has a BA in Philosophy from the University of Delhi and a MA in Philosophy and Social Theory and PhD in Sociology, both from the University of Warwick. Before joining Wits in 2014, she was Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Nottingham where she continues to be Honorary Assistant Professor. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of South Asian Development, and serves on the editorial board of The Sociological Review, and the council of the South African Sociological Association. She has held visiting fellowships at the Delhi School of Economics, the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, the University of Johannesburg, the Universidad de Valparaiso in Chile, and also acted as an external expert to the Bergen Summer School on Global Development Challenges.
Dr. Roy uses a postcolonial and transnational feminist lens to research a number of themes including gender and sexuality; cultural memory, violence and trauma; the affective economies of social movements; and the politics of development and neoliberalism, much of which takes as its starting point the contemporary socio-political history of India/South Asia. She is the author of Remembering Revolution: Gender, Violence and Subjectivity in India’s Naxalbari Movement (OUP, 2012), the editor of New South Asian Feminisms (Zed, 2012), and the co-editor of New Subaltern Politics (OUP 2015).
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Eugene Lee Davids
Dr Eugene Lee Davids holds the position of Senior Scientist at the South African Medical Research Council and Co-Director of the Adolescent Health Research Unit, University of Cape Town. He completed a Bachelor of Psychology, as well as masters and doctoral degree specialising in Child and Family Studies from the University of the Western Cape. Dr Davids later completed a Master of Public Health from the University of Cape Town. His research focuses on the social determinants of adolescent health, decision-making and parenting. In addition, to his scholarly contributions, Dr Davids has a keen interest and passion for the development and capacity building of emerging researchers. He serves as the Emerging Research Coordinator and National Secretary for the South African Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (SA-ACAPAP). His passion and interest has led him to being awarded the Mandela-Rhodes Scholarship, being selected as a Donald J Cohen International Scholar in Child and Adolescent Mental Health as well as being nominated as one of the Mail and Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans.
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Lindie Koorts
Lindie Koorts is a historian and biographer, who is fascinated by the ability of individuals to shape their environment. I completed my MA in Historical Studies (cum laude) at the University of Johannesburg in 2005, and received my DPhil in History from the University of Stellenbosch in 2010. My postgraduate research focused on DF Malan, the first of the apartheid prime ministers. As part of my studies, I spent a year at the University of Groningen’s Institute for Biography.
In 2014, I published a biography of Malan, in both English and Afrikaans, entitled DF Malan and the Rise of Afrikaner Nationalism and DF Malan en die opkoms van Afrikaner-nasionalisme. It was the first full-length biography of an apartheid prime minister to be published after 1994. The two books were shortlisted for the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award and the KykNET-Rapport Prys vir Nie-Fiksie respectively. This exposure gave me access to a wider, non-academic readership. I am a strong believer in public engagement, and making history accessible to a wider audience. For this reason, I regularly participate in public debates, and I write a bi-weekly column for the Afrikaans daily newspapers.
I am currently a Senior Lecturer in the University of the Free State’s International Studies Group, which is a specialist history unit. My research focuses on Paul Kruger’s Transvaal, and in particular the relationship between capital and the state in a society undergoing rapid modernisation, all within the context of globalisation.
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Jennifer Fitchett
Jennifer Fitchett is an Associate Professor of Physical Geography in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. She has a BSc in Environmental and Geographical Science and Ocean and Atmospheric Science from the University of Cape Town, a BSc Honours and MSc in Geography from the University of the Witwatersrand, and a PhD in Geography which was completed split-site, co-registered at the University of the Witwatersrand and University College London. She serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Biometeorology, is an elected member of council of the Society of South African Geographers, and the elected African Councillor of the Executive Board of the International Society of Biometeorology. Her research is situated within the discipline of Biometeorology, exploring the impacts of climate and climatic change, on animal, plant and human communities. This includes research into contemporary changes in the climatology of tropical cyclones, rainfall seasonality and extreme thermal events, analyses of the impacts of climate change on tourism, and investigations of changes plant phenology and plant community assemblages under long- (tens of thousands of years) and short- (decades) time periods. Over the two years, her biometeorological research has extended into the subdiscipline of biometeorology and health, exploring climate change impacts on malaria, and the role of climate in COVID-19 transmission, the latter as a member of the COVID-19 Environmental Reference Group, formed under the auspices of the DSI.
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Emma Charlene Lubaale
Emma Charlene Lubaale is an associate professor at the Faculty of Law of Rhodes University. She obtained her LLM and LLD degrees from the University of Pretoria in December 2011 and December 2015 respectively. Prior to joining Rhodes University’s Law Faculty, she taught and researched law at the University of Pretoria and the University of Venda. She is a Y-rated researcher by the National Research Foundation (NRF). In January 2020, she was appointed by the NRF to serve on the NRF Standing Panel for the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) from 2020 to 2023. She has served as a law reviewer for publishers including Springer Nature, Routledge, Palgrave Macmillan, the Pretoria University Law Press, the Journal of Sexual Aggression, Speculum Juris, De Jure, South African Crime Quarterly and Journal of Law, Society and Development. Her current research interests are in criminal law from a domestic perspective, international criminal law, evidence, women and children’s rights.
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Rose Hayeshi
Rose Hayeshi (PhD) is an Associate Professor at the DST/NWU Preclinical Drug Development Platform, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa. She holds a PhD in Biochemistry with experience in the field of pharmaceutical sciences gained through training and research positions held in Zimbabwe, Sweden, The Netherlands and South Africa. Fifty percent of her time is spent on research and academic responsibilities as an Associate Professor. The other fifty percent is spent as Study Director for preclinical testing in compliance with OECD Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) guidelines. Her research interests are in preclinical testing for drug development as well as in drug metabolism and drug transport.
Prior to joining the North-West University, she worked as a Senior Researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). In 2014, she was nominated for the Emerging Research Award at the CSIR Materials Science and Manufacturing Excellence Awards and in 2011, she received the award for the Most Valuable Contribution in the CSIR Polymers and Composites.
Rose is a fellow of the Africa Science Leadership Programme and alumnus of the DAAD Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies Programme. She is also co-founder and co-director of “Contemporary Africans Mentoring”, a not for profit programme for young African Women.
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Sahal Yacoob
Dr Sahal Yacoob is an experimental particle physicist. He is currently part of the ATLAS collaboration which discovered the Higgs Boson in 2010 and continues to explore the energy frontier. He is passionate about expanding access to knowledge, resources, and the scientific method while developing an active particle physics group in South Africa. Dr Yacoob is the first South African representative of the international particle physics outreach group (IPPOG).
Dr Yacoob is a former SAYAS Co-Chair and has served on the Executive Committee for three terms.
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Munyaradzi Christopher Marufu
Dr Munyaradzi Christopher Marufu is a veterinary parasitologist who obtained a BVSc degree (2006) from the University of Zimbabwe, an MSc degree (2009) with distinction from the University of Fort Hare and a PhD degree (2014) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. After working at academic and government institutions for about 12 years, he was appointed as a Senior Lecturer and Veterinary Parasitologist in the Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases (University of Pretoria) in 2019. Dr Marufu is involved in teaching of undergraduate Veterinary Science and Veterinary Nursing courses in Helminthology, ticks and tick-borne diseases, and the supervision of graduate students. In addition, he has been guest lecturing, moderating honours courses and externally examining theses for several universities in South Africa. Dr Marufu’s research focuses on finding sustainable solutions to animal health challenges caused by parasites in different animal production systems. He is a National Research Foundation Y2 (Young Promising) rated scientist. To date, Dr Marufu has supervised/co-supervised 5 MSc and 1 PhD student to completion and currently supervises/co-supervises 6 MSc and 4 PhD students.
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Sphiwe Emmanuel Mhlongo
Sphiwe Emmanuel Mhlongo is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Science, Engineering, and Agriculture of the University of Venda (UNIVEN). He joined academia in 2009 through the lecturer support program of the Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA). Over the years, he taught several modules in mining and environmental geology and contributed to the successful supervision of 10 MSc students. He is currently co-promoting 3 Ph.D. candidates. His research interest is on sustainable mining, mine closure and rehabilitation, and environmental geology. He has co-authored numerous papers published in scholarly journals and peer-reviewed conference proceedings. Most of his published work is on the characterization of abandoned mine sites and developing tools for prioritization and management of rehabilitation of abandoned mines. He was the Co-chairperson of the organizing committee of the First International Conference in Sustainable Management of Natural Resources held in Polokwane in 2018. He served as a reviewer for several national and international scholarly journals. He strongly believes in using research to solve the problems faced by rural communities. Because of this, he participates in several community engagement projects aimed at developing rural communities.
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Cletos Mapiye
Dr Cletos Mapiye obtained his BSc Agriculture (Hons) (2002) and MSc Animal Science (2004) degrees with merit from the University of Zimbabwe and a PhD degree in Animal Science (2010) from the University of Fort Hare. Dr Mapiye’s pre-doctoral career involved stints as a Pasture and Ruminant Research Scientist (2003-2005) at Grasslands Research Station (Ministry of Agriculture, Zimbabwe) and Animal Science Lecturer (2005-2007) at Bindura University of Science Education, Zimbabwe. His post-doctoral career includes his services as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Animal Production at the National University of Rwanda (2010-2011) and Post-doctoral Fellow in the Meat Lipid Lab at Lacombe Research Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (2011-2013). In November 2013, Dr Mapiye was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Animal Science at Stellenbosch University. He contributes to teaching of undergraduate courses in Meat Science and Beef Production, and supervision of graduate students. In addition, he has been guest lecturing and externally examining thesis for many universities in Southern Africa.
Dr Mapiye’s research program focuses on finding sustainable ways of manipulating meat quality and lipid composition to improve meat eating quality, shelf-life and healthfulness. He is a National Research Foundation Y2 (Young Promising) rated scientist with over 80 refereed scientific publications, 5 invited papers and over 45 conference proceedings papers/abstracts. To date, Cletos has supervised/co-supervised 5 MSc and currently supervises/co-supervises 5 MSc and 4 PhD students.
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Natisha Dukhi
Dr Dukhi is a Senior Research Specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa. She has spent over a decade working as a Medical Scientist, specializing in Human Anatomy, Physiology, Pathophysiology and Nutrition at various universities in SA. Since 2009, she has been involved with community health and NGOs, and served as an online mentor for the Triune Uganda 2009 Global Project for Pharmacy and Social Science students from countries in Africa, America, Europe and Asia. In 2016, she graduated with a PhD in Public Health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She is an eclectic behavioral scientist, with various interdisciplinary research focuses. Her areas of expertise include Nutrition, Maternal, Adolescent and Child Health, health promotion and non-communicable diseases, with special interest in mHealth, Artificial Intelligence, and Gender-based violence. She serves as a PI, co-PI and Project Director on various interdisciplinary survey. Her scientific experience and collaborations have led to various interdisciplinary publications, book chapters and conference proceedings. She is on the Executive Board of Directors for the Public Health Association of South Africa (PHASA), and an Affiliate Member of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), Fellow and President of the African ChangeMakers South African chapter, a Fellow of the Southern Africa Science Leadership Programme (S-ASLP), among others. She is a reviewer for various national and international journals. In 2018, she was a BRICS Young Scientist awardee, and a recipient of the Gro Brundtland Award for outstanding work in the field of public health and sustainable development.
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Alicia Phulukdaree
I am a NRF (Y2) rated researcher & lecturer in Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Pretoria. I obtained my PhD in April 2013 prior to which I obtained my Honours degree (Cum Laude) and Master’s degree (Summa Cum Laude). I am a member of South African Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Physiology Society of South Africa and European Respiratory Society. I was awarded a self-initiated scholarship from the Professional Providence Society (2012) and the National Health Laboratory Service Research Trust grant (2013). During my studies I was actively involved in teaching, collaborations and student training. I lectured medical, dentistry and BSc students and co-ordinated modules for Honours course for Medical Biochemistry. My role on the manuscripts and conference proceedings which I have co-authored include conceptualising projects, conducting molecular based experiments and writing papers for publication. My leadership roles at UP includes chairperson for muscle physiology in the first medical block and course co-ordinator for a 2nd year module in 2016. I am a reviewer for high impact factor ISI-rated journals and served as a panel member for the review of NRF funding applications. To date I have authored and co-authored 31 publications in peer-review journals. My H-index is 9 with 256 citations and a ResearchGate score of 27.31. I believe that academia provides the perfect platform for both teaching and research and it should be used to provide similar opportunities to all students especially those from less fortunate backgrounds which I can personally relate to.
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Matseliso Mokhele
Matseliso Mokhele is a Research Associate Professor in the faculty of Education at the University of Fort Hare. Her research interests lie in the area of Teacher Education, in particular on what has become a large industry in South Africa, the provision of professional development and support to primary and secondary school teachers. Professor Mokhele’s research star has continued to rise from her humble beginnings as a Research Assistant at the University of Pretoria, a Research Officer at the ETDP-SETA, a Research Manager at the HSRC, a Senior Lecturer at the University of South Africa and now a Research Associate Professor at the University of Fort Hare. Mokhele has presented numerous papers at local and international conferences and she has published over 15 articles in South African and international scholarly journals. She was invited to the following international universities as a visiting scholar; Michigan State University, USA; Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; University of Zimbabwe, Kenyatta University, Kenya and Polytechnic of Namibia. She is a recipient of multiple academic awards including the coveted National Research Foundation (NRF) Y2 rating, travel award from the prestigious American Educational Research Association (AERA) and Resilience in Research Award for UNISA women in Research. She also received an award from the Department of Science and Technology as a Distinguished Young Woman Scientist in Social Sciences for her outstanding contribution to building South Africa’s scientific and research knowledge base. Mokhele completed doctorate degree in education at the University of South Africa in 2011.
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Rory Pilossof
Dr Rory Pilossof is senior lecturer at the University of Free State, in the Department of Economics. This appointment contributes to my profile as a scholar and is recognition of the multidisciplinary elements of my work. In 2017 I was awarded an Advanced Newton Fellowship for a three-year research project into labour and labour migration in southern Africa and a visiting research fellowship at the University of Kent, UK.
He enrolled at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2003, where he earned support via the Charles Struben Scholarship, an Ernest Oppenheimer Trust Bursary, and Beit Trust Emergency Support. In 2007 he began his PhD at the University of Sheffield on white farming discourse and identity, funded by the highly competitive Overseas Research Studentship. His research there was supported by the Royal Historical Society Research Funding, the Excellence Exchange Scheme, and the Petrie Watson Exhibition.
After his PhD he undertook a postdoctoral position at the University of Pretoria (UP), where he turned his thesis into a monograph, The Unbearable Whiteness of Being: Farmers’ Voices From Zimbabwe, (2012) published with the University of Cape Town Press and Weaver Press in Zimbabwe.
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David Bilchitz
David Bilchitz is a Professor of Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Law at the University of Johannesburg and Director of the South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law (SAIFAC). He is also Secretary-General of the International Association of Constitutional Law from June 2014 until 2018. David has a BA (Hons) LLB cum laude from Wits University. He graduated with an MPhil in Philosophy from St John’s College, University of Cambridge in 2001 and with a PhD in law from the same university in 2004. David worked as law clerk to Deputy Judge-President (then) Langa of the South African Constitutional Court in 2000. His book on ‘Poverty and Fundamental Rights: the Justification and Enforcement of Socio-Economic Rights’ was published by Oxford University Press in February 2007. He also has two co-edited books, one of which – titled ‘Human Rights Obligations for Business: Beyond the Corporate Responsibility to Respect?’ – was published by Cambridge University Press and launched at the United Nations library. As at 31 December 2014, he has published ten book chapters, and over 30 journal articles. He is also on the editorial boards of several prestigious journals. Prof. Bilchitz’s academic work focuses on the critical role that law plays in protecting vulnerable within constitutional democracies: his focus is on the field of fundamental rights and, in particular, the content of socio-economic rights, the obligations of business in relation to fundamental rights, the tension between religious freedom and equality, and the rights of animals.
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Thobela Nkukwana
Dr. Thobela Nkukwana is Lecturer: Monogastric Nutrition at the University of Pretoria. Her research interests are on promoting transparency and traceability towards safer production of poultry meat and eggs.
Dr. Thobela Nkukwana obtained her BSc degree (Animal Science Production) at the University of the North, Turfloop (now Limpopo). She then embarked on her MSc degree in Poultry Science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, supervised by the world renowned and A-rated poultry scientist Prof. Rob Gous. As a student,she has worked as a Research Assistant at Ukulinga, UKZN. After obtaining her MSc, she worked as an Animal Nutritionist at NuTecSA (Pty) in Pietermaritzburg. She has also worked as a lecturer at the University of Fort Hare, a career move spanning nine years.
It was during her tenure at UFH that she embarked on her doctoral studies as part of the NRF capacity building initiative under the PhD track. The PhD was done in collaboration with the University of Stellenbosch. Dr Nkukwana progressed through the University ranks and held the post of Head of Department (Poultry Science) and also served as a member of Senate, Institutional Forum and Council for three years. She has published widely in international, peer reviewed journals, and one of her papers is currently ranked fourth amongst the Top 25 Hottest Articles in the Livestock Science Journal.
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Mmaki Jantjies
Mmaki Jantjies is an Associate Professor in Information Systems at the University of the Western Cape. Prof Jantjies has served as a Head of department at two South African universities. She holds a PhD in Computer Science and has supervised to completion Masters and PhD students. She teaches and also supervises research students in the UWC department of Information Systems.
Her research focuses on technology for development, having conducted studies on mobile systems design and adoption in education, health and small businesses. She has been recognised for her study on developing multilingual mobile learning applications to support STEM education in South African multilingual schools. Prof Jantjies continues to publish in local and international academic journals and conferences. She is passionate about science communication and has published her work in public platforms such as Popular Mechanics, Fast Company and CNBC.
Prof Jantjies has served as the South African delegate representative to W20 in 2017 and 2018. She is a member of local and international research committees which include the Equals research group. Prof Jantjies has been awarded different fellowships such as the Aspen New Voices in Development fellowship. She has been recognised as one of the 50 people who globally help make the Internet a better place by Mozilla Foundation, Mail and Guardian leading young South Africans under 35 years and many other local and international awards.
Prof Jantjies working with UN Women and Mozilla foundation started technology clubs for girls, boys and co-education clubs which are after school clubs where children from disadvantaged communities come to learn about the basics of digital literacy, software development as well as Internet security, working with UWC students from various universities who teach on the programmes. She further founded a non-profit organization Peo Ya Phetogo that teaches teachers digital literacy skills to impact them with children across schools.
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Leyla Tavernaro-Haidarian
Dr. Leyla Tavernaro-Haidarian, Ph.D., is a senior research associate at the University of Johannesburg, a leadership development consultant for UNSSC and an education specialist for UNODC. Leyla regularly lectures and keynotes at fora such as TEDx, the US State Department, and NATO Building Integrity. Her areas of expertise include communication, gender, ethics and governance. She is also a published writer with a particular interest in the normative moral theory of Ubuntu. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Deliberative Democracy and is a member of the International Association of Media and Communication Research as well as the South African Young Academy of Science. For the Austrian Baha’i Community, she manages the social discourse portfolio of its Office of Public Affairs.
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Moshawe Jack Madito
Dr. M.J Madito is the Senior Lecturer in the Institute for Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability (iNanoWS) at the University of South Africa. Dr Madito after obtaining his PhD degree (2016) at the University of Pretoria he worked at the same university as a part-time lecturer, laboratory assistant/technician and postdoctoral research fellow (2016-2018), focusing mainly on graphene and graphene-based nanocomposites for high-electrochemical performance supercapacitors. Thereafter, he moved to the materials research department at iThemba LABS (2019-2020) where he worked as the postdoctoral research fellow (National Research Foundation (NRF) Professional Development Programme), focusing on the development and testing of a multi-functional chamber for Ion Beam Analysis at iThemba LABS (and ion irradiation-induced effects on the structure of nuclear materials). Dr Madito’s research interests are generally in the synthesis/modification, and characterization of nanomaterials for science innovation and technology. Dr M.J Madito is Y rated by NRF. He has published over 60 papers since 2015 in international peer-reviewed journals. His Google Scholar Citations since 2016 is over 1000 with an H index of 24 and i10-index of 42. He is a member of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE), a member of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS), and an associate member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK (AMRSC). He is a reviewer for various international journals, books, and conference proceedings in the field of nanomaterials and energy storage. He is actively involved in National Science Week (NSW), students EXPO and college Open days, including supervising, teaching, and training postgraduate students.
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Olanrewaju Oladimeji
Olanrewaju Oladimeji is an epidemiologist at the Department of Public Health, Walter Sisulu University. He is an NRF-Y1 rated researcher and a visiting scholar at the Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA. He graduated with a medical degree from the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and subsequently completed his master’s degree in epidemiology and medical statistics from the same institution. He obtained a PhD in Public Health Medicine from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He later received a prestigious Fogarty Global Health award from the Fogarty International Center/National Institute of Health for his postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/148771. He was involved in the implementation of national TB and HIV surveys in sub-Saharan Africa countries. He has published several articles in DHET-accredited journals, and the impact of his research is reflected in many high-profile citations (Google Scholar: 16,526 and Web of Science: 15, 548). His current h-index is 28, and his i10-index is 41 (Google Scholar). He serves as an academic editor for PLOS One and associate editor for Biomedical Central. He has affiliations with several universities, where he supervises postgraduate students and serves in various academic committees. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), a Fellow of the African Scientific Institute (ASI), a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the American Thoracic Society (ATS).
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Sarah Fawcett
Dr Sarah Fawcett is a Lecturer in the Department of Oceanography at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She received her undergraduate Honours degree from Harvard University in 2006 and her Ph.D. from Princeton University in 2012. Dr. Fawcett’s research is focused on understanding the complex relationships between biogeochemical fluxes and primary productivity in the ocean on a variety of scales, with implications for past, present, and future climate, ecosystem structure and function, ocean fertility, and global biogeochemical cycles. Her principle tool is precise and novel measurements of the stable isotopes of nitrogen, and she is currently developing a marine isotope laboratory at UCT that will be the first of its kind in Africa. Dr. Fawcett works on questions of global relevance, such as the role of the Southern Ocean in past and present climate, as well as of local importance, such as water quality and ecosystem health in False Bay. In 2017, she was awarded an NRF P-rating, which recognizes that she is “likely to become a future international leader in [her] field, on the basis of exceptional potential demonstrated in research performance and output during [her] early career”. In 2017, she received the South African Network for Coastal and Oceanic Research (SANCOR) Young Researchers Award and a Claude Leon Merit Award for Early-Career Researchers, and was named one of the Mail and Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans. In 2018, she was a recipient of the UCT College of Fellows Young Researcher Award.
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Fanelwa Ajayi-Ngece
A/Prof Fanelwa Ajayi-Ngece is one of the SAYAS Co-Chairs and is a senior lecturer at the Chemistry Department and a research leader at the Enzyme Sensor Laboratory, SensorLab at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). She teaches Physical Chemistry at second, third year and honours level and is involved in postgraduate research supervisions. A/Prof Ajayi-Ngece has been at UWC for the past 15 years during which she completed both her undergraduate and postgraduate studies, and later her PhD in 2011. She specializes in the development of HIV and TB treatment drug metabolism sensors and the synthesis of various green method synthesized conducting polymeric and metallic nanomaterials and finding biological applications for them. Ajayi-Ngece has recently been a Visiting Professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia Campus in the USA and the University of Cergy Pontoise in France. She is also an advisory board member of Cambridge Scholars Publishing, a board member of Team Buntu Africa, and a member of ISE, SACI and WASET.
A/Prof Ajayi-Ngece is the founder of AmaQawe ngeMfundo a non-profit organization aimed at providing on-site STEM experiments for learners in marginalized communities. She is also the co-founder of KasiMaths a scalable low cost mathematic HUB for learners in marginalized communities established after she and her team won first prize at the prestigious TechWomen Programme in Silicon Valley. She has recently been named one of South Africa’s Inspiring Fifty Women in STEM in South Africa. She is passionate about STEM education and considers herself an educational activist and motivational speaker dealing with various STEM educational topics.
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Mzukisi Njotini
Prof Mzukisi Njotini is an Associate Professor in the Department of Private Law, Faculty of Law, University of Johannesburg. Before joining the University of Johannesburg, he joined was Director: School of Law and Professor in the Department of Mercantile Law at the University of Limpopo. Prof Njotini’ research interests are in the fields of Cyber Law, Law and Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Prof Njotini has published extensively and is the author of a number of journal articles and cases notes in high-impact journals. Prof Njotini post-doctoral research with the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, Oxford University. Currently, he is a Committee Member for the Review of Applications Submitted in the CPRR, CSUR & Y-Rated Programmes for the National Research Foundation (NRF).
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Kanshukan Rajaratnam
Kanshukan is Director: School for Data Science and Computational Thinking at Stellenbosch University.
He was formerly Deputy Dean of Transformation and Strategic Projects in the Faculty of Commerce at the University of Cape Town. Part of this was to lead the Curriculum Change in the context of Commerce at UCT. He was also an Associate Professor of Finance at the Department of Finance and Tax, UCT. His doctoral study was completed at the Department of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Virginia. His research interests include decision making in consumer lending, credit union models, systemic risk in the banking sector and impact of regulations on financial institutions. His work has been published in the Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of the Operational Research Society and Annals of Operations Research.
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Tricia Naicker
Prof Tricia Naicker is an associate professor and the current Director at the Catalysis and Peptide Research Unit at University of KwaZulu Natal. She specialises in method development within the synthesis of biologically important intermediates/drugs within the field of antibacterials. Naicker is also the current editor in chief for the South African Journal of Chemistry and serves as an exco member for Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World South African National Chapter.
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Tozama Qwebani-Ogunleye
Dr Tozama Qwebani-Ogunleye is currently the Project Manager at the Vaal University of Technology in a start up company called Dihlare Pty Ltd. The company provides the ideal vehicle to authenticate traditional medicines in order to ultimately produce them for community consumption. In addition to her leadership role at Dihlare, she heads a research group where she supervises the next generation of scientists, funded through her National Research Foundation (NRF) Thuthuka Post-PhD track research grant. Dr Qwebani-Ogunleye is an advocate for science and has delivered many science talks, some on invitation, at high schools and other platforms. She was a member of the NRF Role Modelling Campaign aimed at encouraging high school learners to pursue studies in the STEMI fields and create awareness about the importance of PhDs to knowledge creation and social-economic factors.
Her notable contribution to science has resulted in several accolades awarded to her, including the 2011 DST Young Women in Science Award from the Department of Science and Technology and TATA Africa. In 2016 she was the Mail and Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans in 2018 she is the recipient of the TechWomen Fellowship. This is an Initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It is a platform for emerging women leaders in STEMI and the award encompasses a one month working visit to the San Francisco’s Silicon Valley. This is then followed by a one week program in Washington DC, where the awardee participates in discussions, forums and cultural events. The discussions normally rotate around Women in Science and Leadership
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Nosiphiwe Ngwala
Dr Nosiphiwe “Nosi” Ngqwala is currently a lecturer at Rhodes University in the faculty of Pharmacy. As a young academic she is interested in contributing in the intellectual pool of the country as a result after her PhD she decided to become a lecture and a researcher working with the Environmental health and biotechnology research group (EHBRG) where she supervises Masters and Honors students. Although she is from Mount Frere Eastern Cape, she has a deep-rooted love for South Africa and passionate about the society, which have motivated her to be a part of the solutions to the economic, environmental and social problems affecting South Africa. Her desire to make a difference led her to be the founder and a co-coordinator of two NPOs: Siyakhana youth development, which focuses on youth development in rural areas in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal Provinces. The second is Children of the soil (COTS), focusing on working with schools to address climate change issues in Grahamstown. She is also a vice chairperson of Young Water Professionals (YWP) in the Eastern Cape “Programme is focused on bringing people working in or interested in the water sector together in a meaningful way” and an active member of the Activate Innovation Leadership Program, a national network of young leaders equipped to drive change for the public good across South Africa.
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Pradeep Kumar
Pradeep Kumar, PhD, is an internationally trained pharmacist, and Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics at the Wits’ Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, and at the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP). Pradeep’s doctoral thesis was focused on engineering neural devices for spinal cord injury interventions and was awarded the Most Prestigious PhD Degree Award for his research. In addition, he has established a first-in-the-world computational analysis and programming algorithm for the design of drug delivery devices and polymeric architectures. For the advancement of his discipline, Pradeep was awarded the prestigious Claude Leon Foundation Merit Award (2018), ASRT Young African Researcher Award (2018), and an AGNES’ Junior Researcher Grant funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2018). In 2018, A/Prof Kumar received the SPER Young Scientist Award at PST2018, Bangkok. Pradeep has proudly presented his research at reputed international conferences across the globe (USA, France, Spain, Australia, Denmark, Canada, Thailand, and India) and is the recipient of Elsevier’s NanoToday (2011) and International Society of Developmental Neuroscience (2012) Awards. Pradeep, an inventor on 4 granted and 11 filed patents, received Wits Innovators Forum’s First-time (2013), Prolific (2014) and International (2016) Inventor Awards for his contributions to innovation in pharmaceuticals (such as a paediatric wafer). A/Prof Kumar has contributed to over 185 high-impact publications, 4 editorials, 2 edited books, 30 book chapters and 110 scientific presentations (H-index: 25). A/Prof Kumar has graduated 7 PhD students and currently supervising 6 doctoral projects. Recently, he featured among the 2018 Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans (Category: Science and Technology).
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Joanna Vearey
Jo Vearey is an Associate Professor with the African Centre for Migration & Society, University of the Witwatersrand. Her research interests focus on urban health, public health, migration and health, the social determinants of health, HIV, informal settlements, sex work, and local level responses. In 2014, Jo received a Friedel Sellschop Award from the University of the Witwatersrand for outstanding young researchers and was awarded a British Council Researcher Links Travel Award to spend time at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
She has served on the SAYAS Executive Committee.
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Makondelele Makatu
Prof Makondelele Makatu is one of the SAYAS Co-Chairs. She is a Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Venda (UNIVEN). She obtained her doctoral degree from the University of Pretoria (UP). Prior to that, she had received her education at UNIVEN, University of South Africa (UNISA) and University of Maastricht, the Netherlands. In her quest for new and innovative ideas to deploy in her academic work, Prof Makatu applied for and received a EUROSA scholarship which enabled her to spend a month at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. She completed the Teaching Advancement at Universities (TAU) fellowship programme, offered by the University of Johannesburg. Prof Makatu is one of the 2016 Africa Science Leadership (ASLP) fellows and a full member of the Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD). Over the years, she participated in many academic and community development initiatives, capacity building and mentoring activities. She particularly notes her involvement in the household vulnerability to food and water insecurity project from 2013-2014, which the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) and Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) funded and was implemented in Thulamela Municipality of Limpopo Province by the Institute for Rural Development at UNIVEN. As the frontline field coordinator of the project, it opened many doors for her to learn directly about household vulnerability, common coping strategies and understanding the causes through the lenses of children, youth, adults and community leaders. Apart from this work, her other research projects have focused on widows’ bereavement and related rituals, siblings of mentally retarded children, coping with special health care needs, parental support towards adolescents’ pregnancy and adolescents and financial stress in the family. Currently she is coordinating a project focusing on developing responsible citizens amongst in-school youth for the benefit of the society. Prof Makatu has successfully supervised and co-supervised eight Masters and three PhD students. Furthermore, she serves as an external examiner for Psychology Masters dissertations of students registered at various universities in South Africa. An author and co-author of peer-reviewed and accredited journal articles. Prof Makatu believes her star in the academic arena will continue to rise.
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Aletta Millen
Prof Aletta Millen completed her BSc Sport Science degree, Honours in Biokinetics and MSc degree at Stellenbosch University where she received the Rector’s Medal for academic excellence. She completed her PhD in cardiovascular physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). Aletta recently completed her MBA degree, with distinction, at the WIts. Prof Millen is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Physiology at Wits. She is a part of a team of researchers in the Cardiovascular Pathophysiology and Genomics Research Unit (CPGRU), which carries out research to increase the understanding of the mechanisms of cardiovascular disease. Within the CPGRU, Prof Millen has developed her own research niche where she drives two independent research thrusts. Firstly, her research is elucidating the contribution and mechanisms of inflammation to subclinical cardiovascular disease. She is also passionate about the prevention and management of chronic diseases in South Africa through lifestyle, hence her second area of research, builds on her early experience with exercise physiology and focuses on the use of exercise in the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease risk and target organ damage in obesity, diabetes and also in states of inflammation. Prof Millen has graduated 2 PhD and 11 MSc students, and she has published more than 35 papers in internationally accredited journals. She has received several competitive grants for her research and was named among the Mail & Guardian top 200 Young South Africans.
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Nhlanhla Mpofu
Prof Nhlanhla Mpofu is the Director for Teaching, Learning and Programme Development and a Senior Lecturer at Sol Plaatje University. Nhlanhla received her PhD (Humanities Education) from the University of Pretoria. Her research interests are in the area of knowing sciences positioned within the socio-cultural and cognitive perspectives. Through her research focus, Nhlanhla seeks to gain a strategic, epistemological and pragmatic understanding of the nuanced discourse of knowing how to teach. Her research and professional perspectives are drawn from multi-paradigmatic trajectories that seek to locate teaching knowledge in the empowering epistemic metaphors embedded in context, reflection, problem solving, critical thinking, experiential and transformative spaces. Following her research foci, Nhlanhla, is at the moment the principal investigator of two research grants.
Nhlanhla serves as a grant reviewer and moderator for the National Research Foundation (NRF) and a programme evaluator for the Council for Higher Education (CHE). She is a reviewer for a number of local and international journals and conferences. She also works with a number of local and international universities as a thesis and dissertation examiner. Nhlanhla is a recipient of several awards that include the Kresge Foundation DREAM Institute on Student Success Travel Grant; The World Bank Margaret McNamara Scholarship; Golden Key International recognition and recently returned from the United States of America on a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Monnye Mabelebele
Prof Monnye Mabelebele is an Agricultural Scientist, with more than 9 years’ experience in lecturing at the tertiary level. She has PhD in Animal Science from the University of New England in Australia, MSc and BSc from the University of Limpopo. She was a postdoctoral fellow at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. Currently, she is working with the University of South Africa as an Associate Professor in the Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, lecturing modules, supervising postgraduate students, and involved in several community-based projects. Prof Mabelebele is a sub-editor of the South African Journal of Animal Science, a 2020 recipient of the Unisa’s Emerging Women in Research Prize for Excellence in Research. She is also an NRF-Y rated researcher. She has contributed chapters/series in books, has over thirty (30) articles in internationally accredited journals, presented at several local and international conferences. She has successfully supervised 2 Masters and 1 Doctoral student to competition and currently supervising 13 MD’s. She is currently serving as external reviewer/examiner for NRF and WRC funding applications, masters’ dissertations, and PhD theses for tertiary institutions in South Africa. She is a member of several international bodies both nationally and international including the South African Association of Women graduates.
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Sudesh Sivarasu
Sudesh Sivarasu Ph.D is an associate professor of biomedical engineering from the department of human biology in the faculty of health sciences of University of Cape Town (UCT). He is a qualified electronics and instrumentation engineer with masters and PhD in Biomedical Engineering from VIT University, India. His research focuses on developing appropriate health technologies with a special focus on its suitability and translation towards low resourced settings. He is the head of medical devices research group and orthopaedic biomechanics research groups at UCT.
A/Prof Sivarasu has supervised 4 Ph.D’s and 22 Masters students to completion and presently supervising 4 Ph.D’s and 9 Masters students. His research has been successfully funded by several national and international funding agencies including the NRF, MRC, SHIP, DTI, DST, TIA, USAID, DST-India & UCT.
A/Prof Sivarasu also conceptualized the multi-award winning FrugalBiodesign™, a unique medical device innovation methodology. A/Prof Sivarasu is a serial MedTech innovator with over 19 patent application families, including 45 patent applications and 10 granted patents from USA, UK, South Africa and India. He also has over 75 peer reviewed publications and is associated with 2 MedTech start-up companies from his inventions. A/Prof Sivarasu is the recipient of UCT Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s award for achievement in Innovation in September 2017, DST’s Innovation Bridge Award in 2017 and NSTF-South 32, TW Khambule award for Emerging Researcher in 2016 in addition to other 16 MedTech awards across 4 continents. He was elected as a member of the Global Young Academy (GYA) in 2019.
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Tatenda Dalu
Dr Tatenda Dalu is a Lecturer at the University of Mpumalanga where he has the opportunity to interact with young upcoming scientists every day, and mentoring their scientific research development. Furthermore, he is STIAS Iso Lomso and TWAS Young Affiliate Fellow. He studied his BSc (2008) and MSc (2012) in Aquatic Ecology at the University of Zimbabwe before moving to Rhodes University for his PhD (2015) and Postdoctoral studies (2015–2017). To date, he has had 140 articles accepted peer-reviewed journal articles, 2 book chapters and has supervised 13 MSc and 1 PhD students to completion. He was made a Research Associate with the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity due to his exceptional professional involvement and contributions to South Africa aquatic ecology research. Tatenda is an individual who values constant growth, personal development and embraces new challenges. He excels in team settings, learning much whilst also contributing towards team effort. His value for people, and personal and work ethic as well his knowledge and skills make him an exceptional research scientist. His research philosophy is centred on research excellence rather than specifically addressing fundamental or applied research, with the ultimate goal of bridging the gap between the two in the bigger picture. Furthermore, it is his opinion that collaboration is vital for the adequate development of an excellent career in research. Collaborations enable better quality work and facilitate the timely output of research.
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Philani Moyo
Prof Philani Moyo is Director of the Fort Hare Institute for Social and Economic Research (FHISER) at the University of Fort Hare. He holds a PhD in Social Sciences (Politics and International Studies) (University of Leeds, UK), an MA in Human and Sustainable Development (University of Leeds, UK), another MA in Social Policy and Development Studies (University of Fort Hare, South Africa) and a BA Honours (University of Zimbabwe).
Prof Moyo has been an academic at the University of Fort Hare since 2009. Before joining the University of Fort Hare, he held a teaching assistantship position at the University of Leeds (UK) as well as a teaching and research position at the University of Zimbabwe. He has published extensively on food security, climate change, rural and urban livelihoods and devolution of power. He has also done research consultancy work for international NGOs such as Hivos International, the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Social Development and local governments that include Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality in East London, South Africa. Prof Moyo sits on the Editorial Boards of a number of journals some of which are the Review of African Political Economy and Governance in Africa. He has served as a previous SAYAS Co-Chair.
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Karen Cloete
Dr Karen Cloete is currently employed as a postdoctoral researcher at the iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences, National Research Foundation, where her research is focused on the biological applications of ion beam techniques. She has authored and co-authored a number of international journal publications in multidisciplinary fields and has also provided editorial assistance for various academic manuscripts and a treatment guideline. She has convened and lectured a module on writing and publishing scientific papers for MSc (MedSci) in Clinical Epidemiology students, taught a course to microbiology honours students on fungal genomic DNA extraction, and has also organized and presented workshops on research supervision and project management, academic writing, publishing, and presentation to postgraduate registrars, clinical consultants, and senior scientists. Her research has been highlighted in popular media and she has also been the recipient of various scholarships and grants. She has served on several committees, as a reviewer for international journals, as a consultant for the Language Centre of Stellenbosch University, and as a scientist for commercial companies. She strongly believes in the power of science to affect positive change and is currently designing new studies on evaluating elemental profiles in human scalp hair related to disease pathology using ion beam analysis techniques.
Dr Cloete has served as a former SAYAS Co-Chair.
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Benita Olivier
Benita Olivier is a professor in the field of musculoskeletal physiotherapy in the Physiotherapy Department of the University of the Witwatersrand. She is an avid researcher with a high level of research productivity. She has a special interest in the prevention of sports injuries, with a focus on human movement analysis. Benita is the Director of the Wits Sport and Health (WiSH) Research Group, a recognised research entity in the University of the Witwatersrand. She established the Wits Physiotherapy Movement Analysis Laboratory in 2010 and has molded it into a lab that advocates research excellence. In 2013, she completed her PhD in the area of cricket fast bowling injury prevention and in 2019, she graduated, with distinction, with a second masters in Movement Analysis. Her contribution to scholarship and academic citizenship is visible in many spheres including publication and postgraduate supervision. She is a National Research Foundation Y-rated researcher and her passion for research and creating impact, what she often refers to as “changing the world”, has been recognised through awards such as the Department of Science and Innovation-SARIMA Early Career Excellence Research Management Award and the Johannesburg Women in Sports Confederation President’s Award in 2020. She was second runner up in the Department of Science and Technology’s Distinguished Young Woman in Science award in 2018. As a mother of three young boys, she aspires to live a balanced life, with a strong sense of integrity and a drive to positively contribute to the lives of others.
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Keagan Pokpas
Dr Keagan Pokpas joined the University of Western Cape (UWC), Department of Chemistry and SensorLab research group as electroanalytical chemistry and sensor technology lecturer and researcher in 2018. Having completed his M.Sc. in Nanoscience (2014) and later his Ph.D. in Electroanalytical chemistry from UWC (2017), Dr Pokpas has shown himself to be a committed researcher with a passion for developing low-cost and affordable early detection diagnostics and environmental monitoring sensor technologies to meet the needs of rural and impoverished areas on the African continent who have molded him into the person he is today. At present, Keagan’s research interests involve the fabrication of conductive graphene-based sensing platforms designed from low-cost substrates, paper-based microfluidics and electrocatalytic nanocomposites for metal-analysis and anti-breast cancer drug determination and have culminated in peer-reviewed journal publications and international collaborations. Most recently, he has expanded his interest to rheological studies of various samples. This passion for research has led him to be awarded a coveted African-German Network of Excellence in Science (AGNES), Young Researcher Award in 2019. Dr Pokpas has been a visiting researcher at the University of Missouri, USA, Ulm University, Germany and CSIR, Pretoria. He is a member of the ISE, SACI, and ElectrochemSA and a reviewer for scientific journals, “South African Journal of Science”, “Analytical Letters” and “Sensors”.
He is actively involved in chemistry tutoring for struggling underprivileged students, media and recruitment in the form of open days and school visits to promote STEM research and community engagement through fundraising for non-profit AmaQawe ngeMfundo. Dr. Pokpas’ passion project is the development of an “Adopt-a-chemist” platform to fund school fees for underprivileged students in the Western Cape as part of an initiative to encourage students to pursue not only higher education but entrepreneurship and trade schools with a STEM focus.
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Lungiswa Nkonki
Lungiswa Nkonki is a Senior Lecturer at Stellenbosch University. She convenes at teaches Economic Evaluation in Healthcare to post graduate students. In January 2014, the Competition Commission of South Africa appointed her as a panellist for the Private healthcare market enquiry (http://www.compcom.co.za/healthcare-enquiry). She completed her PhD in Health Economics at the University of Bergen in 2012. Her doctoral dissertation title was: “Health systems challenges in South Africa: Effective and equitable delivery of interventions to improve infant feeding and reduce mother to child transmission of HIV”. Her research interests include economic evaluation of healthcare programmes, measuring inequality in health outcomes, and understanding the determinants of attrition/retention of lay health workers. She has also worked as a specialist scientist at the Medical Research Council. She is a National Research Foundation (South Africa) rated scientist.
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Shazrene Mohamed
Dr. Shazrene Mohamed is a computational astrophysicist working at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). She completed her undergraduate studies in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Mathematics at Harvard University and obtained her PhD in Astrophysics from Oxford University. After two years as an Argelander Fellow in Bonn, Germany, she moved to Cape Town where she is currently an NRF Research Career Advancement (RCA) fellow. She is a Rhodes Scholar, a NRF P-rated researcher and recipient of the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP) Silver Jubilee Medal. Her research primarily focuses on supercomputer simulations of evolved stars to investigate how they interact with their surroundings and with each other, particularly, how mass is transferred from one star to another. These systems are important as they are thought to be the progenitors of novae and supernovae explosions.
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Michelle Lochner
Dr Lochner has a PhD from the University of Cape Town. She is a Senior Lecturer with a joint position between the University of the Western Cape and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (formerly SKA South Africa). Her focus is on cosmology and trying to get the best out of combining optical and radio telescopes like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, in Chile, as well as the Square Kilometre Array and its precursor, MeerKAT, in South Africa. She works on developing new statistical techniques and using machine learning to tackle the masses of data we are dealing with in astronomy, currently focusing on the use of anomaly detection for scientific discovery. After obtaining her B.Sc. from Rhodes University, Dr. Lochner pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Cape Town and completed her PhD in 2014. She then took up a two-year postdoctoral position at University College London, UK, focusing on machine learning techniques in cosmology. She returned to South Africa in 2016 as a researcher at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences before taking up her current position at UWC. Dr. Lochner is a South African Principal Investigator for the Rubin Observatory, an NRF P-rated researcher and has published over 24 peer-reviewed papers and technical reports. She is also the founder and director of an international mentoring programme for women and gender minorities in physics called the Supernova Foundation.
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Fulufhelo Nemavhola
Fulufhelo Nemavhola is currently an associate professor and head of department in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of South Africa. Fulufhelo was born in the Phadzima Dzumbathoho village in the Limpopo province of South Africa. In addition to being a registered professional engineer (PrEng) with the Engineering Council of South Africa, Fulufhelo is also a chartered engineer (CEng) registered with the Engineering Council of the United Kingdom (ECUK). Fulufhelo graduated with Bachelor of Science (Mechanical Engineering) and Master of Science (Mechanical Engineering) degrees at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He held various positions, including those of senior engineer and design engineer in private and parastatal companies before joining the academia. Fulufhelo’s interest in academic research then steered him to pursue a doctorate from the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery of the University of Cape Town in December 2010. The PhD degree was studied under the supervision of Prof Thomas Franz, Prof Neil Davies and Dr Laura Dubuis. His research looked into the remodelling heart post myocardial infarction. His research focus is in the areas of mechanobiology, soft tissue mechanics, computational biomechanics and engineering education in open distance e-learning (ODeL). Fulufhelo is involved extensively in research, having authored, co-authored and presented a number of papers in both national and international fora. Fulufhelo has his heart set on the development of rural villages using technology. As such, Fulufhelo is currently involved in various programmes with the aim of developing poor or underprivileged communities.
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Naomi Nkealah
Naomi Nkealah is a lecturer of English in the Division of Languages, Literacies and Literatures in the School of Education at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. She obtained her PhD in African Literature from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2011 and has since lectured at the University of Limpopo, University of South Africa and now University of the Witwatersrand. Her research specializes in the re-theorisation of African feminisms for contemporary African women and the exploration of representations of gender violence and women’s empowerment in African women’s literature. She has published widely on these subjects in South African journals, including English in Africa, English Academy Review, South African Theatre Journal and Journal of Literary Studies; international journals such as Research in African Literatures and ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature; as well as in edited books such as Globalization, Media and Popular Culture in Nigeria (Lagos: Bahiti & Dalila Publishers, 2016), Style in African Literature: Essays on Literary Stylistics and Narrative Styles (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2012) and Performing Gender in Arabic/African Theater: Between Cultures, Between Gender (Amsterdam: Intercultural Theatre Series No 4, 2009). She currently holds an NRF rating in the category of Y1, positioning her as a leading emerging researcher in her field with great potential to becoming an internationally established scholar. As an academic, she presents papers at national and international conferences, supervises postgraduate students, reviews articles for journals and books for publishers, and examines theses and dissertations for various universities. In addition, she is the chief editor of Imbizo: International Journal of African Literary and Comparative Studies published by Unisa Press. She has won several awards, including the Most Resourceful Staff Member Award from the University of Limpopo (2013), the Golden Key Membership Award from the Golden Key Society (2012), and the DAAD Scholarship for Young Academics and Scientists (2009).
In August 2016 she received the Distinguished Young Woman Scientist Award – Humanities and Social Sciences Category – at the Women in Science Awards 2016 run by the Department of Science and Technology.
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Amy Slogrove
Amy Slogrove is a paediatrician and PhD epidemiologist in the position of Associate Professor at Stellenbosch University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in the Department of Paediatrics & Child Health and Research Lead for the Ukwanda Centre for Rural Health based at the rural Worcester Campus of Stellenbosch University. Her research program centers around pregnancy and early life exposures and their impact on infant, child and adolescent outcomes with a particular focus on HIV and antiretroviral drug exposure in utero. She is currently a Fellow of the South African Young Academy of Science and holds competitive funding from the Fogarty International Centre and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the US National Institutes of Health as well as the International AIDS Society. Recently Amy has lead the writing of a WHO and UNICEF policy brief on Nurturing Care for Children Affected by HIV, is providing expert input to the WHO on guidelines for children who are HIV exposed as well as clinical trials in pregnant women living with HIV. Amy provides a weekly specialist child health service for a structurally disadvantaged community in the rural Western Cape and is a strong advocate for local clinical and epidemiologic research skills capacitation amongst early career researchers.
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Yanxia Sun
Prof. Yanxia Sun got her DTech in Electrical Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa and PhD in Computer Science, University Paris-EST, France in 2012. She has 9 years teaching and research experience. Currently she is serving as an Associate Professor and Head of Department: Electrical and Electronic Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg. She has lectured seven courses in the universities. Currently she is supervising six PhD students and two MTech/MEng students. Yanxia Sun is doing research in Particle Swarm Optimization, Neural Network, Nonlinear Dynamics, Control Systems, and Renewable Energy. She published 42 papers including 14 ISI master indexed journal papers. She was awarded NRF rating Y2 (2015-2020) and obtained the NRF incentive grant. She is an IEEE member and reviewer for several international journals and conferences. She was the principal investigator/co-principle investigator of four research Grants.
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Joshua Edokpayi
Dr. Edokpayi Joshua possesses a doctoral degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Venda, South Africa. He served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the prestigious Water and Health Project in Limpopo sponsored by Fogarty International (NIH, USA) and Centre for Global Health at the University of Virginia, USA. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Earth Sciences. Dr Edokpayi has graduated over 6 Master’s students and currently supervising quite a number of masters and doctoral candidates. He has published extensively in accredited Journals and has been involved in the peer review of several manuscripts in numerous journals. He is also involved in collaborative research projects with colleagues from Duquesne University, Ressenlaer Polytechnic and the University of Virginia, United States of America. Dr Edokpayi has served as an external examiner to several universities in South Africa and currently holds a Y2 rating from the National Research Foundation of South Africa.
Dr Edokpayi has been involved in several projects that empower the community among which are University of Venda High School Enhancement Project, Water and Health in Limpopo Project and Warwick in Africa Projects. He is currently the academic leader of Mini-Habitable Planet Workshop (Mini-HPW) which is under the Applied Centre for Climate Change and Earth Systems Science (ACCESS) in the University of Venda. His research interests include: Water Resource Management, Environmental Monitoring and Management, Applied Chemical Sciences, Environmental Engineering and Public Health. Dr Edokpayi has been involved in several internally and externally funded projects.
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Oladapo Adeyemi Aremu
A/Prof Oladapo Adeyemi Aremu is a Senior Lecturer at DST Centre of Excellence in Indigenous Knowledge Systems, North West University (Mafikeng Campus), where he teaches undergraduate modules in indigenous Science and Technology. He obtained his MSc (Ethnobotany cum lauda, 2010) and PhD (Botany, 2012) degrees from UKZN. His research focuses on the documentation, bioactivity testing and safety evaluation of South African medicinal plants. Adeyemi also has interest on the application of low-cost and indigenous approaches for enhancing the productivity and conservation of plants with medicinal and nutritional values. He is an highly-motivated and dedicated emerging scientist with a track record of academic excellence. He has authored/co-authored 70 peer-reviewed articles (985 citations, h-index of 14 and i10-index of 25 – Google Scholar, 20/08/24). Adeyemi has successfully mentored/co-supervised 9 Honours and one MSc (cum laude) students and currently supervising more than 10 postgraduate students. He is an editorial board member for South African Journal of Botany and regularly reviews manuscripts/proposals for more than 10 ISI-rated international journals, national and international funding organisation. In recognition of his academic achievement and contribution to science in South Africa, Adeyemi was awarded the National Research Foundation (NRF) Y2-rating in 2016. He is also a recipient of NRF Knowledge Interchange and Collaboration Travel Grant (April, 2016), selected as a participant in the High-level Capacity Strengthening Internship Programme in Systems Thinking for Emerging Researcher (August, 2016) and the Claude Leon Fellowship (2013-2014). He is actively involved in various community engagement activities in KwaZulu-Natal and North West Provinces.
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Lembe Magwaza
Lembe Magwaza is an Associate Professor in the School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He has more than 15 years of research experience and eight years of lecturing at institutions of higher learning, seven of which were with the University of KwaZulu-Natal. His research interests are in Postharvest Biology and Technology, which involves developing methods and protocols for preserving fruits and vegetable quality and reducing losses from harvest until these products reach the consumers’ table. His research includes characterisation, improving quality and quality of food products from farm to fork. It also includes identifying appropriate genotypes that can withstand the inevitable changes in climate. His secondary interest is in Plant Physiology, in an attempt to understand the mechanisms of how food crop plants respond to the environment. Due to the complexity of the issues involved, his main belief is in establishing and sustaining collaborations to develop sustainable agricultural practices and influence policies in this field. Magwaza is a Y-rated researcher by the National Research Foundation. He has published more than 85 articles in peer-reviewed journals, five book chapters and presented more than 20 papers in international conferences. Magwaza has supervised and graduated eight PhDs, twelve MSc and six Honours students. In 2018 and again in 2019, Magwaza was presented with the awards for being in the Top 10 Young Published Researcher at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. In 2019, he was also presented with the Top 30 Most Published Researcher Award by the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
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Samson Khene
Dr Samson Khene is a Senior Lecture in Physical Chemistry at Rhode University. His main field of research has been in the synthesis and spectroscopic characterisation of phthalocyanine complexes for their possible application as photosensitisers in photodynamic therapy (PDT), electrocatalysis and nonlinear optical (NLO) material. He has published research papers in international Journals (with impact factors ranging from 1.4 to 13) and 1 book chapter. He hold a NRF Y rating and has an h-index of 13 (Scopus), a HOPE fellow, Africa Science Leadership Program (ASLP) fellow and member of the Board of African Network for Electroanalytical Chemistry (ANEC). He has been selected to attend 9th HOPE meeting with Noble prize Laureates in Japan (2017) and Africa Science Leadership program (2017). He has been invited to be a speaker at the Electrochemical Society (ECS) in Seattle (USA) May 2018. Dr Khene has served as an external examiner for PhD and MSc research thesis, a journal editor, a reviewer for journals, conferences and NRF funding proposals. He is a co-organiser of “General Session” symposia at the 70th international Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) 2019, to be held in Durban (It is the first of its kind in Africa).
Dr khene is a co-founder of the Rhodes Science Dialogues (RSD) and Science Village Hubs (SVH) (under ASLP initiative). The initiative arose from a deep concern of creating a more scientifically literate African society. He believes that a scientifically illiterate society is a disempowered society, which does not fully possess the capacity to engage with and understand natural and social phenomenon. The “Science Village Hubs” is composed of individual from different African Countries, namely South Africa, Ghana, Sudan, Ethiopia and Nigeria.
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Moses Basitere
Dr Moses Basitere is a currently a Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of the Extended Curriculum Program at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Chemical Engineering Department. In addition to his leadership role, he is a research lead for poultry slaughterhouse wastewater (PSW) research unit under Bioresource Engineering Research Group. He also has a keen interest in Engineering Education Research with a special focus on integration of emerging technologies to enhance the teaching and learning of Mathematics and Physics. Dr Basitere has displayed commendable potential as a researcher; he has published several articles in accredited journals, book chapters and conference proceedings. He has supervised a number of Masters’ students to completion and is currently supervising several Masters and Doctoral students.
His notable contribution to science has resulted in several accolades awarded to him, including the Faculty of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award, Knowledge Interchangeable and Collaboration grant from the National Research Foundation (NRF) and NRF Thuthuka Funding PhD track. This year Dr Basitere is one of the recipients of the NRF Thuthuka Post PhD Track grant.
Dr Basitere is an advocate for science and his dedication and contribution to community development through mentoring and creating an awareness of science is commendable. He has set-up Saturday and Winter classes to teach Technical Mathematics and Technical Science supporting learners studying at Technical Schools around the CPUT to gain university entrance to Engineering fields.
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Chris L. de Wet
Chris L. de Wet completed his studies at UJ (then RAU) and the University of Pretoria. He is currently Associate Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Studies in the Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies, at UNISA. He is an international expert on ancient Greek and Roman slavery and labour exploitation, and has published two monographs on the topic. His first book, Preaching Bondage: John Chrysostom and the Discourse of Slavery in Early Christianity was published in 2015 with the University of California Press, Berkeley. His second monograph entitled, The Unbound God: Slavery and the Formation of Early Christian Thought appeared in 2017 with Routledge. His next research project deals with ancient Greek and Roman medicine and medical discourse and practice related to gender, ageing, and disability. He is also part of an international research team working on religious conflict and violence, which holds a R5-million grant with the Australian Research Council. He has also authored 55 academic articles and book chapters. He is the current president of the New Testament Society of Southern Africa and also editor of the accredited academic periodical, the Journal of Early Christian History. He is part of the editorial team of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Households in the Ancient World, and executive editor of the forthcoming 2-volume Routledge Handbook of Slavery in the Biblical World. He has given guest lectures and keynote addresses at Oxford University, University of Helsinki, University of California, Australian Catholic University, University of Montreal and University of Ottawa. He holds an NRF Y1 rating.
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Sarah Skeen
Sarah Skeen is Associate Professor in Global Health and Co-Director of the Institute for Life Course Health Research at Stellenbosch University. Her research focuses on three areas of child and adolescent mental health and development, namely early childhood development, children and families affected by HIV/AIDS, and adolescent mental health. She has extensive experience in developing, implementing, and evaluating community-based interventions and has worked across a range of East and Southern African countries in partnership with funders, governments, non-governmental organisations and other institutions. Her current work focuses on evidence synthesis of interventions for adolescent health and well-being, and on the development and evaluation of parenting interventions for early and middle childhood. She is also currently a consultant to WHO and UNICEF in adolescent mental health and development.
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Nomusa Makhubu
Nomusa Makhubu is an associate professor in Art History and deputy dean of transformation in Humanities at the University of Cape Town. She was the recipient of the ABSA L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award in 2006 and the Prix du Studio National des Arts Contemporain, Le Fresnoy in 2014. She received the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) African Humanities Program fellowship award and was an African Studies Association (ASA) Presidential fellow in 2016. In 2017, she was also a UCT-Harvard Mandela fellow at the Hutchins Centre for African and African American Research, Harvard University. Recognising the need for mentorship and collaborative practice in socially responsive arts, she founded the Creative Knowledge Resources project. She co-edited a Third Text Special Issue: ‘The Art of Change’ (2013) and co-curated with Nkule Mabaso the international exhibition, Fantastic, in 2015 and The stronger we become in 2019 at the 58th Venice Biennale in Italy
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Vhahangwele Masindi
Dr Vhahangwele Masindi is a Research Scientist at Magalies Water where he manages the Research and Development portfolio. He is also a research fellow at the University of South Africa (2016 to date), University of Edinburgh (2018 to date), and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) (2020 to date), as well as a part-time lecturer at the University of Venda (2018 to date). Before joining Magalies Water, he was a principal research scientist at CSIR.
His research initiatives focus on drinking water purification, wastewater treatment, minerals recovery from wastewater, water process optimization and troubleshooting, wastewater beneficiation and valorization, and eco-friendly technologies development. His key area of interest is circular economy, green technology and sustainability towards water resource management. Moreover, his long-term goals include ensuring sustainable development and food security.
His contribution to science has gained him numerous accolades such as the CSIR-Built Environment Emerging Researcher Award, the CSIR Emerging Researcher Award, and the TW Kambule-National Science and Technology forum (NSTF) Emerging Researcher Award. He was a nominee and finalist in Murray & Roberts emerging researchers, NSFT, and Standard Bank rising star awards. He is also a recipient of numerous national and international research grants.
Dr Masindi is registered as a Professional Natural Scientist. He also serves as the editor and editorial board member of various prestigious international journals. His accolades include 2 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patents, 50 journal publications, 20 conference proceedings, and 5 book chapters. His H-score in 20 with >1000 citations in 4 years (2016-2020).
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David Lokhat
Prof David Lokhat is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He serves as the Academic Leader for the Discipline of Chemical Engineering and is the head of the Reactor Technology Research Group. His research interests are in catalysis and chemical reaction engineering, specifically process intensification in reactor technology with a focus on the development and application of advanced materials for more efficient and environmentally benign reaction and separation systems. He was a previous recipient of the South African Institution of Chemical Engineers (SAIChE) Innovation award and is a Royal Academy of Engineering Leaders in Innovation Fellow. He also serves as President of SAIChE, an editor for the South African Journal of Chemical Engineering and is a rated scientist with the National Research Foundation of South Africa.
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Marizvikuru Mwale
I am a Y2 rated researcher, certified Natural Scientist and Senior Lecturer in the Institute for Rural Development at the University of Venda. I Hold BSc. Honours degree (1999) and MSc (2004), both in Animal Science from the University of Zimbabwe. I attained a PhD in Animal Science at the University of Fort Hare in 2010. Upon completion of my doctoral studies I joined the University of Venda on a postdoctoral fellowship up to 2012. During this period I was honoured with an Excellence in Research Award by the university. In 2013 I took up a postdoctoral fellowship at North West University (NWU). While at NWU I was nominated to attend the 16th International Summer School in Japan in my capacity as one of the outstanding postdoctoral research fellows in the Faculty of Agriculture Science and Technology.
My professional work experience includes roles as an academic at four higher institutions of learning in Zimbabwe and South Africa. I have supervised to completion 6 Honours, 5 Masters and 1 PhD students. Currently I am supervising 6 Masters and 6 PhD students. My research interests are in ethno-veterinary control of livestock diseases, food security and animal production. I have published 39 papers in refereed journals and 2 in refereed conference proceedings and recently received an award for an Active Researcher from the University of Venda. I am a member of various scientific associations and serve as a reviewer and panel member for NRF. Furthermore, I am a reviewer and sub-editor of the South African Journal of Animal Science and a reviewer of other couple of refereed journals.
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Reza Malekian
Prof Reza Malekian is an Associate Professor and head of Advanced Sensor Networks Research Group in the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering at the University of Pretoria (UP). Before joining UP, he was with the University of “St. Paul the Apostle” in Macedonia.
Prof. Malekian’s research is focused on Internet of Things, Sensors and smart cities. He is particularly interested in design and developments of industrial applications in the area of E-health, intelligent transportation systems, mine safety, water management, and agriculture.
He is registered as a chartered engineer with the Engineering Council of the UK, a rated researcher with the NRF, a senior member of the IEEE, and a Fellow of the British Computer Society.
Prof. Malekian was a guest professor or visiting professor in many international universities such as University of Porto (Portugal), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium), Aarhus University (Denmark), University of Maribor (Slovenia), Vilnius University (Lithuania), and University of St. Paul the Apostle (Macedonia) in the past two years.
From 2013-2016, he was a management committee member of “Autonomous Control for a Reliable Internet of Services (ACROSS)”, European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST).
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Thashree Marimuthu
Prof Thashree Marimuthu is a NRF Y rated researcher and Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology at the University of the Witwatersrand. Thashree completed undergraduate degrees in Pure and Applied Chemistry (BSc, BSc Hons, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006), a doctorate degree in Chemistry (MSc upgraded to PhD, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2012), and core team member of the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP) Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand. Prof Marimuthu’s current research is focussed on the molecular engineering of precise systems for therapeutic applications in the health care industry, with demonstrated expertise in the fields of homogenous catalysis, biopolymers, metal-ligand bio-actives, and inorganic and organic biomaterials. She is a recognised mentor, who draws upon modern pedagogy and innovative teaching and learning practices for the instruction and supervision of undergraduate and post-graduate students.
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Hlumani Ndlovu
Dr Hlumani Ndlovu is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Town in the Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences. His research is focused on using cutting-edge technology to identify the molecular factors that drive inflammation and tissue pathology. His work focuses specifically on tuberculosis and liver-related diseases. He is a NRF Y-rated scientist. He was awarded the NSTF TW-Kambule Emerging Researcher award in 2019.
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Natasha Ross
Dr Natasha Ross undertook her undergraduate studies at the University of the Western Cape where she obtained her BSc Chemical Science degree in March, 2008. Her first introduction to research was in 2008 when she developed a nanocomposite biosensor for determining the metabolic profile of anti-retroviral drugs in human serum as her BSc Hons project. For attainment of a Master of Science degree awarded in 2010, she constructed a novel nanocomposite immunosensor for anti-transglutaminase antibody detection, which was a biomarker for coeliac disease (Analytical Letters, 11 (2011) 1956-1966, Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymer, 1-11 (2013), doi:10.1177/0883911512472277 and Biomedical Applications of Nanostructured materials, Macmillan Publishers India Limited (2010) 269-264). Dr Ross’s PhD degree (awarded in 2013) focussed on the synthesis of modified nanostructured manganese oxide (MnO) cathode materials for the improvement of the stability and energy storage capacity of Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) (Electrochimica Acta, 101 (2013) 86–92, Electrochimica Acta, 128 (2014), 178-183 and Journal of Nanomaterials, 613124 (2015), 6). She has presented her research at various international and national conferences. She is a Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry and a recipient of the University of Michigan (UM)-African Presidential Scholarship for 2015/16 for research exchange visit to the UM Energy Institute. She also teaches grade 11 physical science to learners from previously disadvantaged backgrounds and is one of the academic staff members of SensorLab where she is involved in sensors and energy materials research, as well as in postgraduate co-supervisor.
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Dustin van der Haar
Dustin van der Haar is an Associate Professor in the Academy of Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Johannesburg. He is also a member of the British Computer Society and the South African Institute for Computer Scientists and Information Technologists (SAICSIT). He obtained his PhD degree in 2014 on using physiological signals such as ECG and EEG for authentication, before which he completed his masters on face recognition-based monitoring in video conferencing. His teaching and research interests include biometrics, computer vision and machine learning, and he has collaborated with colleagues at multiple universities. So far, Dustin has published 28 journal articles and 18 peer-reviewed conference proceedings both nationally and internationally in applied artificial intelligence within the cybersecurity, digital forensics, sports, medicine and lifestyle domains. He has managed to secure three scholarships from Telkom, two NRF grants (Thuthuka and KIC) and has received best paper awards at five international conferences. The vision of his research intends on empowering users by bridging the gap of interaction between people and technology in their daily lifestyle using pattern recognition. Current key projects include creating methods for face anti-spoofing in face recognition systems, director success prediction, automated erythrocyte counts in fish blood smears, sports player pose analysis (such as ballet and cricket) in video footage, deriving food nutrition from photos and threat and violence detection in video surveillance.
You can find out more at http://dustin.vanderhaar.co.za
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Munyaradzi Christopher Marufu
Dr Munyaradzi Christopher Marufu is a veterinary parasitologist who obtained a BVSc degree (2006) from the University of Zimbabwe, an MSc degree (2009) with distinction from the University of Fort Hare and a PhD degree (2014) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. After working at academic and government institutions for about 12 years, he was appointed as a Senior Lecturer and Veterinary Parasitologist in the Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases (University of Pretoria) in 2019. Dr Marufu is involved in teaching of undergraduate Veterinary Science and Veterinary Nursing courses in Helminthology, ticks and tick-borne diseases, and the supervision of graduate students. In addition, he has been guest lecturing, moderating honours courses and externally examining theses for several universities in South Africa. Dr Marufu’s research focuses on finding sustainable solutions to animal health challenges caused by parasites in different animal production systems. He is a National Research Foundation Y2 (Young Promising) rated scientist. To date, Dr Marufu has supervised/co-supervised 5 MSc and 1 PhD student to completion and currently supervises/co-supervises 6 MSc and 4 PhD students.
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Nnamdi Nwulu
Professor Nnamdi Nwulu is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and the Director of the Centre for Cyber Physical Food, Energy & Water Systems (CCP-FEWS) at the University of Johannesburg. His research interests have focused on the application of digital technologies, mathematical optimization techniques and machine learning algorithms in food, energy and water systems. This research focus has produced three (3) books and over fifty (50) indexed journal publications. Prof Nwulu has also successfully supervised six (6) PhD students and six (6) masters’ students and he also won the 2020 UJ Vice Chancellors most promising young researcher award. He was also a 2020/2021 TW Kambule-NSTF-South32 Award finalist in the category of Emerging Researcher. Prof. Nwulu is a Professional Engineer registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (SMIEEE), a Senior Member of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SMSAIEE) and a Y-rated Researcher by the National Research Foundation of South Africa. Prof. Nwulu is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Digital Food Energy and Water Systems (JD-FEWS), Associate Editor of the IET Renewable Power Generation (IET-RPG) and the African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development (AJSTID).
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Kapil Gupta
Prof. Kapil Gupta is working as Associate Professor in the Dept. of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Technology at the University of Johannesburg. He obtained Ph.D. in mechanical engineering with specialization in Advanced Manufacturing. He has ten years of professional experience in academic and research fields. Advanced machining processes, sustainable manufacturing, green machining, precision engineering, gear technology, and industry 4.0 are the areas of his interest. He is leading advanced materials processing and manufacturing research group at the University of Johannesburg. He is a Y-rated researcher by National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa and registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) as a Professional Engineering Technologist. He has authored and edited twenty international books on hybrid machining, advanced gear manufacturing, micro and precision manufacturing, spark erosion machining, and sustainable manufacturing. He has also authored more than seventy-five international journal and conference articles. He is actively serving on the editorial boards of five international journals and technical committees of many international conferences. He has supervised eight masters and two doctoral students, and three postdocs. He is working on some international projects in collaboration with local and global partners. Prof. Kapil Gupta is regularly solicited by international institutes, associations, and universities for expert talks and keynote speeches. He is also working on engineering education 4.0 and UN’s sustainable development goals.
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Tjaart Krüger
Prof. Tjaart Krüger is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Pretoria. He obtained his PhD (cum laude) in 2011 at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and after a postdoctoral fellowship at the same university he returned to South Africa in 2013 to establish his own research group in molecular biophysics. He is passionate about multidisciplinary research and his own research allows him to work at the confluence of physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, statistics, and even information technology and engineering. His main research interest is to resolve the molecular details of energy transfer and regulation in the light-harvesting pigment-protein complexes of photosynthetic organisms and to control those processes using shaped light and metallic nanoparticles. To this end, he designs and builds specialised laser spectroscopy instruments.
He has published 40 scientific papers, many of which are in very high impact journals, 2 book chapters, an advanced textbook on optical spectroscopy, and several popular science articles. He has an extensive international collaborative network, which includes one of the 2014 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry. For his research outputs, Prof. Krüger has received several awards, including a fellowship from the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (2015), an NRF Y1 rating (2016), the University of Pretoria’s Exceptional Young Researcher’s Award (2018) and the Royal Academy of South Africa’s Meiring Naude Medal (2019). Since 2014 he has been the chair of the South African Biophysics Initiative. As the father of four children he loves to spend time with his family.
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Roula Inglesi-Lotz
Prof Roula Inglesi-Lotz is a Professor in the Department of Economics, University of Pretoria. She is also the first president of the South African Association for Energy Economics (SAAEE), which was established in 2018 and is comprised of esteemed energy experts in the country. Her research focuses primarily on the interlinkages between energy and the socioeconomic conditions by looking at the impact of changes in demand, pricing structures and the overall energy transition to and from the macroeconomy. She teaches Research Methodology and Econometrics at Honours level and Energy Economics at Masters level (a module that she designed and presented for the first time in the Department of Economics, University of Pretoria in 2015).
She is a member of the South African Young Academy of Sciences (SAYAS) (served as a co-chair in 2020) and a member of the Global Young Academy (GYA) (served as a co-leader of the Women in Science group in 2019/2020). Prof Inglesi-Lotz was named the Distinguished Young Woman Researcher in the Humanities and Social Sciences category of the 2017 DST Women in Science Awards. She is an NRF Y-1 rated researcher. She was selected and participated in the 2019 cohort of the Africa Science Leadership Programme (ASLP) in Future Africa, through which she promotes the need for a polyphony in science communication. She is also affiliated with Future Africa, University of Pretoria.
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