Academics from across the institution recently gathered at the Bellville campus for the Open Access Publishing Workshop.

The host of speakers included Prof Ahmed Bawa, Universities South Africa (USAf) Chief Executive Officer, Glenn Truran, Director of the South African National Library and Information Consortium, CPUT’s Prof Tandi Matsha, NRF SARChI Research Chair in Cardiometabolic Health and CPUT Libraries Director, Dr Elisha Chiware.

Bawa said there is a “very unequal” access to scholarly journals and information databases across the system. The vice-chancellors who serve on the board of Usaf had raised concern about this.

He said there was a whole range of opportunities in the international and the local context.

These included Open Access journals as well as a model of “pay to publish” with global open access and copyright residing with the authors.

In a statement earlier this year The Board of Directors of USAf announced that it had decided to take a stand as South Africa’s university system, on Open Access 2020 (OA2020).
“OA2020 is a global initiative advocating for the abandonment of the current system of paying twice for scholarly journals, in favour of a model that advocates for once-off payment to publish and enjoy unrestricted access thereafter, across the globe. Vice-chancellors noted that South Africa must throw its muscle behind this global campaign and capitalise on the support coming out of Germany, China and the University of California to break ties with publishing houses which continued to insist on scholars paying to have their work published and again to access those journals at a later stage,” the statement read. 

Prof Marshall Sheldon, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships, said CPUT has agreed with the national position and “going forward it’s going to be a challenge for us to see if existing (CPUT) policies align with the new views that are being expressed”. She thanked Chiware and Research Director, Prof Dina Burger, for the engagement.

Written by Ilse Fredericks

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Prof Oluwafemi Oguntibeju in the Department of Biomedical Sciences has maintained his C3 National Research Foundation (NRF) rating.

Oguntibeju’s rating application outcome was confirmed recently by the NRF in an email to the university, and the new rating will be valid from January 2018.

While he was expecting an improved rating, he says he’s happy about having maintained his previous rating.

He says the rating will put him in good stead for additional funding for his research on diabetes and medicinal plants.

“I secured an NRF grant last year to support postgraduate students who are mainly South African.”

He adds that the quality of his research has improved and that he is grateful for the grant that made all of it possible.

“CPUT is proving to build positively on its NRF-rated researcher cohort every year, we deliberately choose to celebrate every new rating that our researchers obtain simply because it is directly aligned with CPUT’s vision, its institutional strategy, and in particular, its RTI Blueprint 2020 in which we commit, amongst others, to build a reputation for research and innovation,” says Prof Dina Burger, Director: Research.

“Every NRF-rated researcher is a significant contribution to our increasing reputation for research and innovation and, in so doing, we are gradually becoming an institution that will contribute to the development agendas of South Africa, Africa and beyond.”

Written by Kwanele Butana
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Delegates at the recent International Conference on Business and Management Dynamics deliberated on how digital technology can be used to sustain economies.

The two-day conference was hosted by CPUT’s Faculty of Business and Management Sciences this week under the theme: Sustainable economies in the information economy.

Prof Ron Weber, Emeritus Professor at Monash University and one of the conference’s keynote speakers, said he saw the invitation as an opportunity to discuss the issue of sustainability of the information economy.

Weber suggested some strategies for designing good digital resources, decoupling of subsystems and the developing of resilient subsystems to enable them to deal with perverse outcomes.

He encouraged designers to use more renewable energy to power digital resources, design more energy-efficient resources and build digital assets with renewable resources.

He called for an increased use of IT standards as well as the recruitment of more highly trained IT workforce.

Dr Michael Twum-Darko, the conference’s Convener, said the conference was a product of years of planning as the CPUT’s Graduate Centre for Management is in the process of reinventing their journal which was last published in 2009.

“The advent of digital technology makes it difficult to manage the economy in the old way in which we did before,” added Twum-Darko.

Prof Dina Burger, CPUT’s Director of Research, congratulated the organizing team with the excellent choice of the conference’s theme and the world-class keynote speakers.

“At CPUT we are dedicating ourselves to the careers of our academics to assist them to become frontrunners in the generation of high impact research solutions to industries,” said Burger.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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Students from various faculties presented their research at the recent Postgraduate Conference.

Held for the first time since 2014, the conference saw Masters and Doctoral candidates deliver presentations and present posters on a range of subjects. Topics ranged from the use of electro-spun copper oxide nanofibres for non-enzymatic glucose detection to preliminary findings in a survey of old materials used in heritage buildings in the Mother City. The Food Science and Technology students made quite the impact with five Masters students presenting a mixture of research into the potential uses of Bambara groundnut.

Acting director of the Centre for Postgraduate Studies, Prof Dina Burger, said while organising the event they did not have to cajole anyone into presenting their work, but were met by great enthusiasm.

“The importance of a conference such as this is multi-fold. It gives students an opportunity to communicate their science to a broader constituency and in so doing exposes them to feedback and critical engagement. They need this skills in the workplace and in life,” said Burger.

Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnership, Prof Marshall Sheldon, pointed out that 6.2% of the university’s current student enrolment are postgraduate students, an increase from 5.5% of 2014.

“We want to increase postgraduate enrolment by the year 2025 and we anticipate the numbers could double. That should increase our research output in terms of articles, conferences attended and papers delivered,” said Sheldon.

She acknowledged that challenges facing current postgraduate students are different to what she experienced as a student but expressed her belief that the university’s support units were up to the task of helping students and their supervisors to achieve their goals.

At the end of the day Merlisa Kemp won best poster for her work on Ultrasound investigation of risk factors for extracranial vascular pathology in patients with Multiple Sclerosis.

Best presentation went to Mohamed Rahman (A performance and energy evaluation of a dye drawn forward osmoses (F) system for the textile industry). Bwandakassy Cedrick Elenga Baningobera’s presentation (Implementation of an IEC 61850 standard-based harmonic blocking scheme for a power transformer) won him second best presentation and Sarah Kasangana Kapinga (CO3O4/TIO2 heterojunction for heterogeneous activation of peroxymonosulfate for treatment of textile wastewater) won third best presentation.

PICTURE CAPTION: GROUP SHOT: Postgraduate students recently presented their current research at a conference held at Saretec.

Written by Theresa Smith
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CPUT will be hosting a virtual symposium titled: Never let a Crisis go to Waste: CPUT Research, Innovation, Teaching and Learning in the Age of Covid-19 on 15 September.

The symposium will focus on the following themes: 

• Health and Wellness Issues
• Research, Technology Innovation and Product Development During Covid-19
• Operational Efficiencies and Effectiveness in a Crisis- Lessons Learned
• New Approaches to Teaching and Learning
• Leadership and Governance in a Crisis
• My Lockdown Story - Experiences of Resilience and Hope During Covid-19 at CPUT

Research Director, Prof Dina Burger, said that since the outbreak of Covid-19, CPUT has done exceptionally well in deploying a number of excellent institutional initiatives to fight the disease. 

“The whole institution was confronted with a series of challenges covering all aspects of the academic and administrative support project.  The institution had to find new ways of working in a very short space of time which permeated throughout every department and section of the institution.  No single staff member or student or stakeholder has been left untouched.” 

She said each staff member and student are having their own unique lived experience as a result of Covid-19, with all the anxieties and uncertainties that are associated with this pandemic. 

“This landmark symposium creates an open space for all to share with each other research being done regarding the disease, research in progress about the disease and also planned research projects focusing on Covid-19.  It is envisaged that through sharing our research that we can promote ‘oneness’ across the institution as an illustration that Covid-19 also has the potential not only to bring about smartness amongst us, but it has potential to bring about ‘oneness’ amongst us as a CPUT community,” Burger added.

 All staff members who are interested and have done the research, or who are in the process of finalising their research, are invited to participate in this symposium by submitting their abstracts to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 16 August 2021. The word count should not exceed 250 words and abstracts should be submitted in Arial 12 format.  A review panel will adjudicate the abstracts and will inform staff members by 30 August 2021 on the outcome of your abstract/s.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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No single event captures the incredible breadth of intramural and extramural research as effectively as the annual CPUT Research Festival 2024.

The jam-packed event stretched over four days, The first day of the 2024 Institutional Research Festival kicked off with a welcome address by Vice-Chancellor Prof Chris Nhlapo in which he encouraged the continued support for the focus areas:

• The environment, climate change and sustainability
• Bioeconomy and biotechnology
• Space Science, Engineering and Technology
• Smart energy
• Human, Health and Social dynamics
• Digital society

Day one of the festival also focused on integrating work-focused research and the world of business and served as a platform to showcase and celebrate research achievements across various disciplines. The keynote speech was provided by Dr Sharman Wickham from the Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC). Dr Abeda Dawood Division Manager of Research Capacity Development (RCD) at the South African Medical Research Council made a presentation on RCD grants, such as self-initiated research grants, scholarships, and other research capacity development programmes at SAMRC.

Prof Dina Burger: Director: Directorate Research Development, said: “This is also the first time in South Africa that a Research Festival of this magnitude has taken place and as CPUT we should be proud that we have pioneered such an important opportunity to come together and celebrate the dedicated hard work of so many research work that has taken place with the singular aim to improve the lives of our communities through quintuple helix partnerships.”

In what used to be a Research Day, Burger said their scope of research has grown in leaps and bounds to such an extent that “it is actually impossible to just focus on our research achievements in one day”. “This is where we developed the concept of a research festival where we can place a magnifying glass on the full scope of our research endeavours inclusive of research integrity and ethics of our research and our postgraduate achievements.”

She said through their CHEC partnership they are doing highly impactful research that is taken up by society for the benefit of society. “There are also a number of evidence-based research projects undertaken as a result of the support given by CHEC. The possibility to also celebrate the extent to which we undertake mode 2 and 3 research with quintuple helix partners aligns well with our Vision 2030 especially when there is a growing body of evidence of transdisciplinary research taking place across the institution.”

Burger said the first Research Festival has also allowed multiple internal and external stakeholders and CHEC partners to exhibit the research that they do collaboratively and has offered an opportunity for academic researchers, captains of industry, sister university academic researchers, and higher education leaders as well as local and provincial government leaders to come together for one week to further explore opportunities and deepen the commitment to undertake collaborative research and innovation impacting the society.

“I am of the opinion that we have achieved our goal... What is most important for me is that an important ecosystem has joined hands and has come together to find mutual opportunities to undertake more research and generate more innovations for the betterment of society and solving the challenges that we are confronted with.”

The last day of the conference included several individual paper presentations with themed colloquia centred around Research Focus Area 1: Bioeconomy and Biotechnology and Research Focus Area 3: Smart Energy.

The day also included a reflection session and certificate ceremony for participants of the Sisonke Supervision Mentoring Programme.

The day’s highlights included the awarding of certificates and awards to National Research Foundation-rated researchers as well as for research excellence.

Burger said: “We feel proud of this achievement, but we also do not wish to take credit for the success of the festival by ourselves, as credit should go to the staff, we worked tirelessly to make the festival possible, our CHEC partners, our academic staff, our phenomenal postgraduate students and our industry and broader community stakeholders. We also need to reflect more on how to improve the scale and reach of the next Research Festival and the mode of delivery.”

She added: “We ultimately think that this festival has the potential to include our myriads of African partners as well as our growing network of international partners.”

It is abundantly clear that the CPUT executive and management’s hearts are geared towards the development of the marginalised persons to reach their full potential.

These are the words of the Managing Director: Fisheries Economic Development Research Advisory and Training Institute (FEDRATI), Dr Mark Botha. Speaking at the formal launch of the FEDRATI and CPUT strategic partnership at Granger Bay Campus, Botha said: “Today, my dream is being realised thanks to industry as represented by Brimstone and Sea Harvest; and academia, as represented by Cape Peninsula University of Technology. That is, the advancement of the fisheries sector through a strategic collaboration between academia and industry.”

The new strategic partnership agreement concluded between FEDRATI and CPUT is expected to boost the South African Oceans Economy and, in particular, the Small-Scale Fisheries Economy. This partnership is supported by South African Fisheries Development Fund. FEDRATI initiated the partnership and provides a vehicle for industry (currently Brimstone Investment Corporation and Sea Harvest Corporation) to interact with academia, in this case CPUT, to foster synergistic institutional relations. “In doing so, the fisheries economy is being advanced, and academia are able to provide industry responsible and learning programmes,” he said.

To date FEDRATI has awarded bursaries to postgraduate students in excess of R2 million for fisheries and allied sectors research. Botha, who has been actively involved in the fisheries sector, particularly the small-scale fisheries sector) for 22 years, said over the years several challenges facing the sector have been identified. These include the lack of resources, training, and research to meet the sector’s economic developmental needs.

Through his PhD research, he conceptualised the need for a single delivery institute for the fisheries sector to address and consolidate all developmental challenges in a holistic manner. “Such an institute ought to focus on: research (Commercial and Academic), education and training, and business advisory services (coaching and mentoring).”

Botha had presented the collaboration concept to CPUT with backing from industry who instantly bought into the concept. With the assistance of the former and current Research Chairs of CPUT’s Oceans Economy – Centre for Sustainable Oceans, Prof Ken Findlay and Dr Conrad Sparks and the executive management at CPUT, the concept morphed into an institutional strategic partnership between CPUT and FEDRATI. “Furthermore, what makes this partnership unique is that it falls directly under the office of the deputy vice-chancellor. The FEDRATI-CPUT partnership fosters both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research, training and advisory services.

“Our primary aim is to stimulate fisheries economic development through an institutional partnership between [the] industry and higher education – a first for South Africa.”

In his opening remarks, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology Innovation, and Partnerships, Dr David Phaho, recognised the presence and contributions of executives from Sea Harvest, Mary-Lou Harry, the COO, Konrad Geldenhuys, Botha as well as executives from Brimstone Investment Corporation under the leadership of Dr Fred Robertson. Phaho said: “Our relationship with the private sector will become even more important. In line with our strategic Vision, V2030, we have identified our relationship with Quintuple Helix partners, government, industry, society, and the environment as key to our long-term sustainability as an institution of higher learning.”

He continued: “Central to that is our commitment to focus on research activities which have a tangible impact on society as well as focusing on skills development which are aligned to the needs of the industry. CPUT is deeply appreciative of the overwhelming support of FEDRATI) through its funders for our postgraduate bursary programme and its mutually beneficial partnership with our Centre for Sustainable Oceans.”

Phaho also said the executive management would extend an invitation to the partners in FEDRATI to outline their plans to collaborate with companies in the fisheries and related sectors to ensure that “the broader society benefits sustainably from the bounty provided by our oceans”. Reflecting on the event, Botha said: “I was deeply moved by the support from both industry (Brimstone and Sea Harvest) and CPUT.

Acting Chair: Centre for Sustainable Oceans, Dr Conrad Sparks said the CPUT's role is to conduct research and projects that link fishing industries with societal needs and that the launch event was a “huge success and the start of a very fruitful engagement between CPUT and FEDRATI. “The partnership will strengthen opportunities for CPUT (via the centre for Sustainable Oceans) to build on its strategic plan V2030, in particular Focus Areas 2, 6 and 7 within the fisheries (and related) sectors.”

Director of the Research Development Directorate, Prof Dina Burger said they have a pride to be part of the launch as it was a testimony of a dream that so many role-players have had. Burger thanked all the dignitaries representing the respective stakeholders for the opportunity to co-partner and journey with them and for the collective efforts to support CPUT research as well as the students.

She said at the event, FEDRATI and CPUT solidified their partnership for many years to come. In Burger emphasised the importance of a compact between CPUT and communities and explained that the research and projects that they would ideally prefer to be involved with should originate from the community and should be carefully co-planned and created between the community and CPUT researchers and should ultimately find its way back to the community where it originated from.

“At CPUT we are committed to undertake relevant research for the benefit of society and to be taken up by society. I encourage the Interim Chair, Dr Sparks, to engage with the communities present from the West Coast to jointly decide on the most pressing issues of concern that they believe we should research.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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CPUT recently hosted business and industry partners for a productive engagement, which also served as a platform to launch the Institutional Industry Advisory Forum.

The Forum will seek to advise on job market trends, as they relate to work-integrated learning, future-proof curricula, research and innovation.

The event, held at the Cape Town Hotel School on the Granger Bay campus, provided valuable opportunities for networking while some of the cutting-edge research conducted at CPUT was also showcased.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Chris Nhlapo said cooperation in research development and innovation between universities and industries plays a fundamental role in the economic development of any country.

“Industry benefits from state-of-the-art laboratories and technology from academia, while higher education institutions learn about business reality and market needs.”

Prof Dina Burger, Director: Research Development, said the event was a significant day and milestone on the calendar for the CPUT community.

Burger said one of the university’s focus areas is smart engagement and strong links with quintuple helix partners.

“A partnership between us will take us far, and today we will solidify our commitment to partnerships in launching the institutional industry forum.”

The keynote speaker was PRASA acting regional manager, Raymond Maseko, who said PRASA was the beneficiary of a partnership with CPUT. He outlined the important role CPUT students had played in the recovery of PRASA’s rail network.

Maseko said that when the train service resumed after the hard lockdown in 2020, PRASA had to recover much of its network, which had been destroyed during the lockdown.

“Because we were planning now to recover the service, we increased our intake from CPUT in 2021 to about 36 students from the electrical engineering school, from mechanical engineering and also we took some operations management students.” Some of the students worked as project managers.

He said 21 of these students were now permanent PRASA employees.

“We have recovered all of the stations with the people that we have been working with, from industry, of course other contractors, but specifically from people that we have sourced from partnering with CPUT.”

Prof Lalini Reddy, Director of the Centre for Community Engagement and Work-Integrated Learning (WIL), said it had been an honour for the Centre to co-host the event.

“In launching the Institutional Industry Advisory Forum, we commit to offering our future-proof curricula in preparing them for the future world of work.”

Prof Rishidaw Balkaran, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Learning and Teaching, said the idea was to ensure that CPUT made learning relevant for our students but there were also benefits for industry, including from the cutting-edge research conducted at the institution.

David Haarhoff, Project Lead, Community Engagement and WIL, said events of this nature aligned with the institution’s vision of being an inclusive university that constantly strives to collaborate and innovate with industry partners.

“The focal point of the event was essentially to recognise the dedication and efforts of industry partners in affording our students opportunities to develop professionally. I am extremely happy with the engagement and networking of industry partners who also recognise the university’s research efforts and provide current trends within industry which align to the curriculum.”

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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