This month the University of the Western Cape (UWC) formally approved the formation of the Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics (IMBM). Comprising more than 30 researchers and support staff, the institute is led by Professor Don Cowan of UWC’s department of biotechnology.
A Durban cosmologist, Dr Kavilan Moodley, has been awarded the prestigious Silver Jubilee Medal for 2007, by the South African Institute of Physics. The medal, awarded every two years to young researchers under the age of 35 years, was presented to Moodley at the opening event of the South African Institute of Physics’s 52nd annual conference, held last month at Wits University.
The percentage of women MBA students on campus at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) has been steadily increasing since the first intake of students in the year 2000. “Our MBA programme is currently approximately 40% female, which is a most gratifying statistic for us,” said Shireen Chengadu, director of MBA programmes at GIBS.
The first Confucius Institute for Business in South Africa, and on the African continent, will be established at the Tshwane University of Technology in the near future. Tshwane vice-chancellor Errol Tyobeka and the Chinese Deputy Minister of Education, Yuan Guiren, on behalf of the office of the Chinese Language Council International, signed a letter of cooperation intent in June.
A study aid DVD that is already being used very effectively by students at Stellenbosch University (SU) could make a national impact soon. The LearnWell4Life DVD addresses nine of the most topical study challenges experienced by senior school learners and university students across the world.
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/ 29 January 2007
A small group of scientists led by Dr Michelle van der Bank of the botany and biotechnology department at the University of Johannesburg has launched an ambitious project to collect all the plants of the Kruger National Park and use DNA sequencing and barcoding techniques to study this rich flora.