Delegates were welcomed by Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships, Dr Chris Nhlapo, who highlighted, among other developments, the establishment of the Centre for Postgraduate Studies on the Bellville and Cape Town Campuses.Prof Liz van Aswegen of the Research Directorate also stressed that CPUT’s research output has increased over the last three years in terms of the Department of Higher Education and Training’s publication subsidy allocations. External funding has also increased, with funding exceeding R1 million sourced by six researchers.Guest speaker Dr Edith Madela-Mntla from the Medical Research Council congratulated CPUT for creating an environment conducive to research, but also warned that universities were facing the danger of becoming diploma factories, with fewer students progressing to post-graduate studies. Dr Thandi Mgwebi, from the National Research Foundation (NRF) outlined some of the financial deterrents facing budding academics from advancing in their research, but also indicated how the NRF helps institutions of higher learning with research and funding.Outstanding CPUT researchers were honoured at the event, with a platinum award given to Prof Daniel Makinde for research publication, and Prof Raynitchka Tzoneva for postgraduate supervision. Both professors hail from the Engineering Faculty.Prof Stephanie Burton from the Biocatalysis and Technical Biology Research Group was also honoured with a platinum award, while Prof Robert van Zyl, also from the Engineering Faculty, scooped a diamond award for the generation of external funding in excess of R1 million. Researchers in various other categories (publications, successful postgraduate supervision and sourcing of external funding) were presented with gold, silver and bronze awards. Postgraduate students, supervisors, and researchers also received awards for the best research posters.
Other highlights of the day included a presentation by Prof Kamilla Swart from the Faculty of Business who investigated the Fifa 2010 World CupTM initiatives in the Eden District Municipality, their impacts and whether planning initiatives were integrated or not. The findings of Prof Swart’s research will be valuable for the future planning and hosting of sport mega-events in South Africa. Prof Rainer Haldenwang from the Engineering Faculty delivered a presentation titled ‘Everything Flows’, while Prof Jeanine Marnewick of the Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences spoke about the potent health benefits of South Africa’s wonder-plant Rooibos.Dr Nhlapho summed up the sterling advances made by CPUT in the research sphere by saying that CPUT’s scholarship is recognised as one that has touched the academic lives of many young scholars. This through research and study support from the university research fund and innovation fund. “Our strategies and policies are aimed at encouraging research productivity by rewarding quality research output.”By Andiswa Dantile

Written by CPUT News
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The Research Directorate at CPUT celebrated research excellence at its annual Research Day on 4 December 2009. The event, which included an awards ceremony and poster exhibition, attracted a number of respected academics from both CPUT and other institutions of higher learning.

While praising the high quality research that has been produced by our researchers, many speakers voiced concerns about the decline of research output in South Africa and suggested ways that universities could confront this decline.

Prof Bongani Mayosi, Head of the Medicine Department at the University of Cape Town, stated that one can’t be an academic without being a researcher. Looking at our country’s share of publications, Prof Mayosi said in 1993 South Africa was above Argentina, Greece, New Zealand and Turkey, but those countries overtook South Africa during the period 1995 to 2000.

“We have not been reproducing ourselves. We have not been training new scientists. In 1990, 6% of the researchers who published were under 30 years and 2% were over 60 years,” he said.

Prof Mayosi, who was recently awarded the Order of Mapungubwe by President Jacob Zuma, said the reasons for this were related to lack of a national planning strategy, lack of infrastructure and lack of well-trained people. “You’ve got to build laboratories; you can’t rely on hospital facilities for research because these are meant for the delivery of a service. He said in a report to be released in January that they are calling for a national strategy.

While training as a cardiologist, Prof Mayosi decided to be “a doctor who can solve problems”. He published three papers during his studies. He said there was a point in his career when he published about 15 papers per annum. “People think once they get their PhDs they’re done and can now get a good job; that’s only the beginning. There are no shortcuts to building good researchers. It takes 10 to 15 years to make your mark,” he said.

Dr Chris Nhlapo, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships, said that at CPUT should not only be “at the heart of technology in Africa”, but that we should strive to be the heart of technology in the world.

“Some people say we are actually teachers and not researchers, we need to change that. We need to have at least two A-rated researchers come 2011. We need a more extensive, broad based approach to innovation,” he said.

Marlon Parker, a researcher at the Faculty of Informatics and Design, spoke about reconstructing communities through research and innovation, thereby alluding to his research which involved gangsters. Parker said, “We took the worst of the worst. If they can transform, everybody could transform. We taught them and they in turn taught the community. They taught people who used to fear them”.

Other speakers during the day included Sibongile Sowazi of the National Research Foundation, Prof Robert van Zyl of the French South African Institute of Technology, and Dr Sharhidd Taliep and Prof Simeon Davies of the Business Faculty, who delivered a speech on ‘The power of sport research to change the world’.

At the end of the day, prizes were awarded to researchers who performed well and projects that generated funds in excess of a million rand.

• Click here to view a list of award winners.
• Click here to view a list of poster winners.

By Thami Nkwanyane

Written by CPUT News
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The Centre for Postgraduate Studies (CPGS) has joined forces with the Research Directorate for a series of online workshops aimed at helping postgraduate students on their journey to graduation.

The workshops are facilitated by experts and the hope is that it will contribute to Masters and Doctoral students developing the skills and competencies required to successfully complete their studies.

Workshops for supervisors, co-supervisors and post-doctoral fellows are also available.

Dr Patricia Smit, Manager: Capacity Development, said the first few workshops were well attended. She said postgraduate students often have very busy schedules as many are employed full-time and therefore workshops are repeated during the year to allow as many students as possible to attend.

Wendal Koopman from CPGS, who is also a workshop facilitator, said participants had indicated that the workshops were helpful and that they were grateful for the support.

The list of workshops includes: Proposal Writing, Research Methods, The use of online library resources and reference tools, Research methods, Data Collection and Analysis, Fieldwork in practice and Writing for Publication. 

Smit encouraged postgraduate students to make use of the workshops and said the Research Directorate and CPGS welcomed recommendations and feedback from participants.

For more information on the workshops please send an email to Hlengiwe Nzama on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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