Young scholars honoured

Rising stars: Prof Danie Visser (far left) and Advocate Geoff Budlender (far right) with Claude Leon winners (from second from left) Dr Ake Faqereng, Dr Adam West, Dr Tirivanhu Chinyoka and Dr William Hornell

Four up-and-coming UCT scholars received some positive affirmation when they were presented with the university's Claude Leon Foundation Merit Awards for Young Lecturers.

At a ceremony in August, Professor Danie Visser, deputy vice-chancellor responsible for research, and Advocate Geoff Budlender, a trustee of the Claude Leon Foundation, formally presented the awards to the winners - Dr Tirivanhu Chinyoka of the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Dr Ake Fagereng of the Department of Geological Sciences, Dr William Horsnell of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, and Dr Adam West of the Department of Botany.

The recipients each received R50 000.

The annual awards, in their second year, were established to recognise and assist the work of young academics (younger than 41), and are available to young lecturers in the science, engineering and medical science (excluding clinical research) fields.

The aim is to nurture and strengthen the next generation of scholars by helping them increase the rate of their work published in peer-reviewed journals, leading to promotion opportunities for excellent candidates to senior lecturer and associate professor positions.