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UCT neuroscience centre provides platform to understand the developing brain The University of Cape Town (UCT) recently launched a new high-tech neuroscience centre that will provide a long-term platform to better understand the developing brain, and improve the diagnosis and treatment of acute brain conditions. The centre will also expand neuroscience research and training across Africa, with the ultimate aim of making a positive difference in the lives of children. 05 Aug 2026 Media release

UCT in partnership to launch All-Africa Rankings Initiative The University of Cape Town (UCT) and Applied Higher Education (AppliedHE) have partnered to launch the All-Africa Rankings Initiative, a continental collaboration that will bring together universities and higher education stakeholders to co-create an African-informed framework for recognising institutional excellence. 05 Aug 2026 Media release

Three quarters of the world could face drought impacts by 2050 – UCT lecture warns Most of the time, the poorest and the most vulnerable suffer the most from water scarcity, University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Professor Djiby Thiam, director of the Water and Production Economics Research Unit at the Faculty of Commerce, said during his recent inaugural lecture. 05 Aug 2026 Media release

UCT doctoral study reframes South Africa’s spaza shop debate A doctoral study by University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Lwazi Ncoliwe has reframed the long-running public debate on township spaza shops. Rather than treating the sector as a story of foreign takeover or state failure, the study argues that what distinguishes business survival is not the owner’s nationality, but the presence or absence of trust among owners, between owners and customers, and between traders and institutions meant to support them. 05 Aug 2026 Media release

UCT professor explores crypto and the future of taxation University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Professor Shaun Parsons, professor of taxation and head of the tax section in the College of Accounting , will present his inaugural lecture, "Technology and challenges to tax norms in the 21st Century: Crypto-assets and beyond", on Thursday, 13 August 2026 at 17:00 SAST in the Mafeje Room, Bremner Building, lower campus. 05 Aug 2026 Media release

UCT study finds prenatal stress may alter brain networks that regulate children’s emotions By the time a child celebrates their third birthday, the foundations of emotional regulation are already being laid deep within the brain. A new University of Cape Town (UCT) study published in Brain Research Bulletin suggests that those foundations may even be influenced before birth. 04 Aug 2026 Media release

Water under or over the bridge? UCT lecture to unpack trade-offs in climate adaptation Using water, particularly drought and flooding, as a lens, University of Cape Town (UCT) Professor Gina Ziervogel will examine how climate adaptation is shaped by governance, competing development priorities, power and capacity during her inaugural lecture on Wednesday, 12 August 2026 at 18:00 SAST in Lecture Theatre 1, Neville Alexander Building, lower campus. 04 Aug 2026 Media release

UCT and WCG strengthen partnership to drive innovation and public sector excellence The University of Cape Town (UCT) and the Western Cape Government (WCG) have reaffirmed their long-standing partnership through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will deepen collaboration in research, innovation, skills development and public sector capacity building. 03 Aug 2026 Media release

Gold’s “safe haven” reputation quietly broke down after COVID-19, UCT study finds A University of Cape Town (UCT) Department of Finance and Tax study into the behaviour of financial markets during instability has found that gold, long considered the ultimate “safe haven” asset, lost much of its shining reputation after the COVID-19 pandemic, while unglamorous agricultural commodities like corn and wheat became meaningfully better portfolio diversifiers. 03 Aug 2026 Media release

UCT professor explores the hidden power of apps in everyday life University of Cape Town (UCT) Professor Tanja Bosch used their inaugural lecture to explore how digital platforms shape everyday life, arguing that apps influence far more than communication by organising how people think, feel and connect. 03 Aug 2026 Media release

Climate change is redrawing the malaria map in Africa, study finds Malaria is the deadliest climate-sensitive infectious disease. Yet, researchers and public health officials have debated how climate change has shaped its spread. A new Nature study by an international team, including the University of Cape Town (UCT), resolved this debate, providing the most comprehensive assessment to date. 03 Aug 2026 Media release

UCT researchers unlock butterfly lily's genetic secret The inner genetic secrets of how the flowers of butterfly lilies break left-right symmetry have been revealed for the first time in a paper published in the prestigious journal Science. An international team of scientists, including researchers and students from the University of Cape Town (UCT), has answered this century-old evolutionary curiosity, noted by an English naturalist and biologist Charles Darwin, nine days before his death, in a letter addressed to a professor of natural science at Tabor College, James E. Todd, in America. 31 Jul 2026 Media release

Asymptomatic TB: A hidden challenge for TB control Asymptomatic TB is common and biologically more complex than previously understood, with implications for tuberculosis (TB) treatment and care strategies. This is according to University of Cape Town (UCT) researchers, who have published new findings in the journal Nature Communications that challenge current approaches to TB detection and control in South Africa. 29 Jul 2026 Media release

Husband and wife duo delivers UCT’s first-ever joint inaugural lecture The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) first-ever dual inaugural lecture by Professors Joel Dave and his wife and colleague, Nicola Wearne was a celebration of their wins as clinician scholars – serving patients at one of the largest tertiary hospitals in the country, teaching and learning from their students and mentors while immersing themselves in the ongoing research that shaped their careers in academia. 29 Jul 2026 Media release

UCT academic to represent SA at World Tennis Masters Championships A University of Cape Town (UCT) academic, Dr Zamambo Mkhize, has been selected to represent South Africa at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Masters Tour World Championships in Lisbon, Portugal, where she will compete against some of the world's top Masters players in August 2026. 28 Jul 2026 Media release

Browner skua territories recorded on Marion Island – but their coastward shift puzzles scientists More than three decades after South Africa celebrated the successful eradication of feral cats from Marion Island, the gradual recovery of native burrowing petrels might have been expected to support an increase in brown skua breeding territories inland. 28 Jul 2026 Media release

New global dataset maps coastal World Heritage Sites under threat from rising seas From the Sydney Opera House to the ancient marshlands of southern Iraq, thousands of the world's most treasured heritage sites sit close enough to the coast to face growing exposure to flooding and erosion as sea levels rise. Until now, no publicly available dataset existed to show, at a global scale and in fine spatial detail, exactly where these sites are and how far their boundaries extend. 27 Jul 2026 Media release

Projected 70% of population growth by 2025 to occur in the Global South, raising water security challenges By 2050, 60% of global economic growth and 70% of global population growth are expected to occur in the Global South, with Africa playing a significant role in driving these changes. 23 Jul 2026 Media release

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