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Wamkelekile, Welkom
Wamkelekile, Welkom
Law reform needed to aid conservation and land reform, according to new UCT research
An array of broad legislative reforms can bridge the divide between South Africa's conservation and land reform imperatives, by improving the use of communally conserved areas and the management of the country's dwindling natural commons. This is according to Alexander Paterson, a PhD graduand in Public Law at the University of Cape Town.
13 Dec 2011
UCT researcher seeks to boost tourism industry
A candidate for a PhD in Commercial Law at the University of Cape Town has proposed ways to make the tourism industry in South Africa more competitive and innovative through the protection of intellectual property. Caroline Ncube's thesis, >i>Intellectual property protection for e-commerce business methods in South Africa: Envisioning an equitable model for SMEs in the tourism industry, examines how intellectual property law should protect e-commerce business methods to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in tourism, one of South Africa's immediate priority sectors, are not disadvantaged.
13 Dec 2011
UCT PhD research provides insights into mood disorders
Three doctoral graduands at the University of Cape Town will receive their degrees at December graduation for their respective research into the relationship between psychopathology and substance use - especially cannabis; mood disorders; the positive effects of feeling guilty; and the impact of early trauma on the brain's natural painkiller system.
13 Dec 2011
UCT researcher develops self-regulating vacuum dressing for wounds
University of Cape Town doctoral student Dr Nicolas Kairinos' thesis, The biomechanics of negative-pressure wound therapy, finds that, contrary to common perception, negative-pressure wound dressings do not reduce tissue pressure but increase it, resulting in accelerated wound healing.
13 Dec 2011
New UCT research dips into water management issues
Three graduands at the University of Cape Town will receive their doctoral degrees this month for their research into water management. In their respective theses they compare water use by indigenous trees with that of alien species; consider how low-flow events affect rivers; and examine the use of algae as water quality indicators in KwaZulu-Natal rivers.
13 Dec 2011
Taxation can slow global warming behaviour - UCT research
Concerns about the political and economic consequences of carbon taxation are not necessarily justified, and such taxes can provide a cost-effective means of changing human behaviour and encouraging technological improvements in the use of fossil fuels, according to Nadia Kamm, a PhD graduand in Public Law at the University of Cape Town.
13 Dec 2011
UCT researcher demonstrates better formula for maths education
University of Cape Town doctoral student Margaret Long's thesis, Mathematical, cognitive and didactic elements of the multiplicative conceptual field investigated within a Rasch assessment and measurement framework, shows how mathematics teachers can instantly improve the performance of their learners by clustering them according to test performance. She demonstrates the usefulness of such methods for Grades 7 to 9, but shows that the framework can extend in principle to all school grade levels.
13 Dec 2011
UCT researchers put the university under the lens
Three PhD candidates at the University of Cape Town have focused their respective research theses on the university environment -- with one thesis focusing on the University of Rhodesia from 1945 to 1980. Their conclusions can apply to other organisations as well, especially those dealing with transformation and institutional change.
13 Dec 2011
UCT to confer honorary degree on David Potter today
Inventor, entrepreneur and a philanthropist Dr David Potter will receive an honorary doctorate in Engineering Science today, 13 December, at 15h00, at the University of Cape Town. In 1980, he founded the software company Psion, which later introduced the world's first handheld computer and the term "netbook" to the industry.
13 Dec 2011
Space satellites help UCT researcher dive into study of southern African ocean currents
Marjolaine Rouault's PhD thesis, Agulhas current variability determined from space: a multi-sensor approach, used complex earth observation techniques to study the major ocean currents around southern Africa.
13 Dec 2011
UCT research makes case for protecting contract workers
There is a growing trend among South African firms to contract work out to miners, truck drivers, construction workers and clothing machinists, and to treat these contract workers as self-employed rather than staff workers under labour law. Many of these "self-employed" workers in turn employ others to help them complete a job. Research by Pamhidzai Bamu, a PhD graduand in Commercial Law at the University of Cape Town, broadly considers the development of this informal and precarious work in a global context.
12 Dec 2011
98% pass rate for UCT's MBChB grads
The graduating class of the MBChB degree programme for 2011 at the University of Cape Town has achieved a pass rate of 97.7 percent - including Vuyane Mhlomi from Khayelitsha, a township in Cape Town, who is graduating third in his class with an average in 2011 of 76.6 percent in his final year of study for the medical degree.
12 Dec 2011
Tutu unable to attend UCT grad ceremony today
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu will not be attending the graduation ceremony this morning at the University of Cape Town, as he has not been released from hospital following a medical procedure over the weekend. UCT has no further details about his condition.
12 Dec 2011
UCT research aims to smooth finance hurdles for SMMEs
New research out of the University of Cape Town offers guidelines for improving bank creditworthiness assessment processes for financing the small, medium and micro-enterprise (SMME) sector, which has been identified as a critical growth area for the country's economy.
12 Dec 2011