VC’s Open Lecture by Professor Irene Tracey

Dear colleagues and students

It gives me great pleasure to invite you to the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Vice-Chancellor’s (VC) Open Lecture, to be delivered by Professor Irene Tracey on Thursday, 5 March 2026 at 18:00 SAST in the New Lecture Theatre on upper campus.

Professor Tracey, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, leads one of the world’s foremost universities. In this lecture, she will share how Oxford University has built and continues to strengthen Europe’s leading innovation ecosystem, grounded in research excellence. She will reflect on Oxford’s journey, the challenges it has faced and the new initiatives under way to deepen its impact.

She will also speak to the importance of partnership. Oxford’s model rests on close collaboration with government, industry and local communities to align research strength with economic growth and shared prosperity. These insights resonate with our own ambitions at UCT as we strengthen our research profile and expand our contribution to society.

The role of universities in advancing society is reflected in the words of Albert Einstein, who observed, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing”. That spirit of inquiry sits at the heart of any strong innovation ecosystem. When institutions protect curiosity, support rigorous research and create pathways to application, they convert ideas into solutions that serve the public good.

Professor Tracey became vice-chancellor of Oxford in January 2023. She previously served as Warden of Merton College and held the Nuffield Chair in Anaesthetic Sciences for 12 years. A distinguished neuroscientist, she has spent more than three decades leading interdisciplinary research into acute and chronic pain using advanced neuroimaging. Her work spans basic discovery through to clinical application, including pioneering research on anaesthesia-induced altered states of consciousness and the development of individualised biomarkers for use in the operating theatre.

Her academic path includes a postdoctoral period at Harvard Medical School’s MGH-NMR Imaging Centre (now Martinos), followed by a return to Oxford as a founding member of the Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain. She later led what is now the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, one of Europe’s largest clinical neuroscience departments.

Professor Tracey has received wide recognition for her scientific and academic leadership. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2022 for services to medical research and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2023. She is also a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and has received numerous international awards and honorary degrees.

Under her leadership, Oxford has continued to deliver strong global research and innovation performance. With more than 30 000 students and 17 000 staff, the university provides a compelling example of how scale, excellence and strategic partnerships can drive sustained impact.

Following the lecture, I will join Professor Tracey in conversation with a high-profile panel of global university leaders:

• Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
• Professor David Dreyer Lassen, Rector of the University of Copenhagen

Together, we will reflect on how leading institutions across different contexts strengthen research excellence, build innovation capacity and work with their societies to advance growth and opportunity. The perspectives shared will offer valuable insight as we consider UCT’s role within South Africa, the continent and the broader global higher education landscape.

This open lecture forms part of our commitment to fostering dialogue on the future of universities. It is an opportunity for staff, students and the broader UCT community to engage directly with leaders who confront similar questions around funding, public accountability, talent development, knowledge transfer and impact.

Your presence and participation will enrich the discussion and help shape how we think about UCT’s next phase of development.

Please do note that seats are limited.

• RSVP to attend.

I look forward to welcoming you to what promises to be a thoughtful and forward-looking evening.

Sincerely

Professor Mosa Moshabela
Vice-Chancellor

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• From the UCT Executive
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