Research Chairs appointed
TOP RESEARCHERS: Internationally recognized Professors Wentzel Gelderblom, Yusuf Sayed and Roger Mason are CPUT’s research chair holders
Wednesday, 05 March 2014
Research and innovation activities at CPUT have received a welcome boost with the appointment of the institution’s first research chair holders.
Professors Yusuf Sayed, Wentzel Gelderblom, and Roger Mason are the trio who will be pushing research activities at the institution.
Sayed has been appointed as the South African Research Chair in Teacher Education, Gelderblom holds the Chair in Biomedical and Microbial Biotechnology, while Mason is the Chair in Wholesale and Retail Leadership.
The chairs are a huge feat for CPUT, with the goal of each to increase research publication units and develop research capacity.
Sayed, a renowned education policy specialist, will drive research in focused areas in the education sector that will contribute to knowledge about teacher education and will provide important insights into how education quality in South Africa can be improved.
Multi-disciplinary research into solving relevant health problems in South Africa associated with food, water safety, nutrition and chemoprevention through integrated research in biotechnology, will be at the top of Gelderblom’s agenda.
Gelderblom says the chair will also contribute to the development of scarce skills areas such as biocatalysis and nanobiotechnology that will play key roles in the realisation of South Africa’s bio-economy strategy.
Launched last week, the Wholesale and Retail Leadership Chair, which is the only one of its kind in Africa, will help CPUT contribute to the development and growth of the wholesale and retail sector.
Mason, who was formerly based at the Durban University of Technology, says five contract research projects covering SMME retailing, E-Business, retail activities into Africa, retailing and the National Development Plan, and employment equity are already underway.
Written by Candes Keating
Email: keatingc@cput.ac.za
Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.
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