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Wamkelekile, Welkom
Wamkelekile, Welkom
Young visionary transforms personal struggles into a thriving artistic endeavour
At the age of 19, Zolani Balekwa turned his personal challenges into a powerful source of inspiration, establishing his own production house, Activism Productions. As a product of the University of Cape Town's (UCT) community engagement video training programme, Stepping Stone , Balekwa’s journey in the arts is a testament to resilience and passion.
27 Jun 2024
Media release
Study uses animal-born sensors, machine learning to reveal chinstrap penguin prey captures
A new study led by researchers at the University of Cape Town (UCT) linked animal-born video and movement sensor data with machine learning algorithms, to reveal how chinstrap penguins catch their prey. This will enable scientists to monitor prey consumption by these penguins, which will provide information that can help to inform conservation strategies.
26 Jun 2024
Media release
Open access ‘Contested Karoo’ book seeks to better understand the arid zone that covers almost a third of the country
The University of Cape Town (UCT) Press recently launched an open access book titled "Contested Karoo: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Change and Continuity in South Africa's Drylands". The volume was edited by UCT’s Professor Timm Hoffman and Stellenbosch University’s Professor Cherryl Walker.
24 Jun 2024
Media release
Decomposing pig bodies could help identify human remains – new study finds
The identification of unknown human remains is a significant and ongoing challenge in South Africa, worsened by the country’s high murder rate. The rate of decomposition is significantly influenced by vertebrate scavenging, which, if not considered, can impede the accurate estimation of the post-mortem interval.
20 Jun 2024
Media release
UCT academics scoop prestigious prize in The Trinity Challenge on antimicrobial resistance
The University of Cape Town (UCT) academics have won a prestigious £500 000 prize in the Trinity Challenge on antimicrobial resistance. The AMRoots team from UCT secured the third prize, which they will use to implement their groundbreaking research on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in small-scale farming communities.
13 Jun 2024
Media release
UCT oceanographer awarded US$9.5 million to spearhead climate change research on ocean systems
The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Associate Professor Sarah Fawcett will spearhead an effort to investigate oxygen and biogeochemical dynamics along the West African margin after being awarded US$9.5 million as part of the overall US$45 million pledged by the Ocean Biogeochemistry Virtual Institute ( OBVI ) to fund research over five years.
13 Jun 2024
Media release
Colourful plastics may lead to more microplastics – study finds
Plastics with bright colours such as red, blue and green degrade to form microplastics quicker than those with plainer colours, researchers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of Leicester have demonstrated.
10 Jun 2024
Media release
UCT’s lecture to discuss Africa’s surgical systems
Caesarean sections are the most widely performed surgery in the world. Yet African women are 50 times more likely to die from caesarean section complications than women in high-income countries. This is according to the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) academic Professor Salome Maswime.
29 Jun 2023
Heat-related health risks get AXA Research Chairs’ attention through Wellcome Trust initiative
The Wellcome Trust has provided funding to support research addressing heat-related health risks in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to past and current AXA Research Chairs based at the University of Cape Town (UCT) – Professor Mark New and Professor Lara Dugas, together with their collaborators.
29 Jun 2023
UCT leaps up 64 places in QS rankings to remain best university in Africa
T he University of Cape Town (UCT) has been ranked 173rd in the world by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2024 released on Wednesday, 28 June 2023. This is an impressive rise of 64 places compared to the previous year.
28 Jun 2023
Rethinking traditional approaches to tackling unemployment in South Africa
The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Econ3x3 in collaboration with the Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED), a programme that supports policymaking for inclusive growth and economic transformation in Southern Africa, is hosting a policy debate on unemployment this afternoon, Monday 26 June 2023 at the University of Pretoria.
26 Jun 2023
UCT’s H3D receives funding for research into optimising medicines in African populations
The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Holistic Drug Discovery and Development Centre, H3D, has received a donation of USD1.5 million from UCT alumnus and former chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola, Neville Isdell, to continue the work of the Neville Isdell Chair in African-centric Drug Discovery and Development established four years back at the institution.
26 Jun 2023
UCT to co-lead four Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence
The University of Cape Town (UCT) has been announced as co-lead of four of the 17 Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence (CoRE), conceptualised and led by the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and the Guild of Research-Intensive European Universities (Guild), launched to pioneer new approaches to equitable collaboration to address societal challenges through research driving scientific and societal impact.
20 Jun 2023
Study unpacks factors driving high TB incidence and mortality rates in men
Men experience higher rates of tuberculosis (TB) than women, and multiple factors influence this. In a new study published in the June issue of Scientific Reports journal, a team of researchers from the University of Cape Town’s Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research assessed how sex disparities in TB could be explained by sex differences in the distribution of factors including HIV, antiretroviral treatment (ART) uptake, smoking, heavy alcohol use, undernutrition, diabetes, social contact rates, health-seeking patterns, and treatment discontinuation, over the period 1990-2019.
15 Jun 2023
One in five South Africans lives with pain – UCT academic
“Ouch!” A common phrase everyone uses at some point to express pain. Whether you’ve just stubbed your toe, struggling to overcome a nasty migraine, or burned your finger as you removed your favourite dish from the oven – it’s always, “ouch!” But what is pain?
14 Jun 2023