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Wamkelekile, Welkom
Wamkelekile, Welkom
UCT academics named amongst the cream of South African “Science Oscars”
Twelve University of Cape Town (UCT) academics have been selected as finalists in multiple categories in the 2022/2023 NSTF-South32 Awards – testament to their groundbreaking work in the fields of science, engineering and technology (SET) nationally and abroad.
29 May 2023
UCT, Department of Social Development to launch ASSIST app
The University of Cape Town (UCT), in partnership with the Department of Social Development (DSD), will launch the pilot of a web app – the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Tool (ASSIST) – at Groote Schuur Hospital on Monday, 29 May 2023.
29 May 2023
New research on Sutherland Nine remains digs deeper into their lives, deaths
Newly published research by a multidisciplinary research team from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and other partner institutions has dug deeper into and revealed insights into the lives of the Sutherland Nine, who were donated unethically to UCT in the 1920s.
25 May 2023
UCT study finds that Cradle of Humankind site is much younger than thought
New evidence shows that South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind site, pegged at four million years old, is much younger than was previously thought. This brings the narrative of its antiquity into question. The finding follows multidisciplinary investigations at Bolt’s Cave at this World Heritage Site, which has been dated to 2.27-1.70 million years old, almost two million years younger than previous research had assumed.
17 May 2023
A red flag for ecosystem health: Study finds metal contamination in caracals blood
A new study by researchers at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa (iCWild) has revealed that caracals are exposed to multiple metal pollutants, including heavy metals and metalloids.
17 May 2023
Australian and SA scientists unravel growth patterns of giant wombat-like animals from ancient Australian rainforests
Fifteen million years ago, giant wombat-like animals lived in the canopy of lowland Australian rainforests. These huge herbivorous marsupials, called Nimbadon lavarackorum, weighed about 70kg.
16 May 2023
UCT retains top spot in Africa on CWUR rankings
The University of Cape Town (UCT) remains the best university in Africa and has been ranked at 267th position, up three places from last year, by the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) in their 2023 Global 2000 list, which was published on 15 May 2023.
15 May 2023
UCT tuberculosis researcher elected Fellow of the Royal Society
The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Professor Valerie Mizrahi is among the 80 outstanding researchers, innovators and communicators from around the world who have been elected as the newest Fellows of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences and the oldest science academy in continuous existence.
10 May 2023
UCT opera star to sing at King Charles III's coronation
She has the voice of an angel, and it will grace the coronation of a king and his queen in Westminster Abbey on 6 May. University of Cape Town (UCT) alumnus Pretty Yende’s story is a triumph of talent over adversity – and the transformation of the Eurocentric, elitist world of opera.
03 May 2023
Update on UCT’s recovery from April 2021 fire
After suffering a disastrous blow when the Table Mountain fire raged on campus and caused catastrophic damage to property in this month two years ago, the University of Cape Town (UCT) has provided an update on the Jagger Library restoration process and on other affected buildings.
28 Apr 2023
UCT climate scientist bags prestigious Frontiers Planet Prize
Professor Mark New, director of the University of Cape Town’s African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI), along with ACDI researchers Petra Holden, Piotr Wolski, Romaric C. Odoulami, Joyce Kimutai, Tiro Nkemelang and Kamoru A. Lawal, and collaborating researcher Alana Rebello from the Agricultural Research Council, has been awarded the prestigious Frontiers Planet Prize for their research on nature-based solutions (NbS) and climate change.
26 Apr 2023
UCT researchers part of new global research consortium to optimise antimicrobial use in humans
Researchers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) are part of a research consortium made up of teams from institutions in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America that are coming together to form the Centres for Antimicrobial Optimisation Network (CAMO-Net).
25 Apr 2023
Commemorating the Jagger Library fire: UCT, DStv launch ‘Stories from the Ashes’ project
Who can forget Sunday, 18 April 2021? It was a day of unspeakable tragedy as University of Cape Town (UCT) staff, students and the rest of Cape Town watched as a runaway wildfire gutted large parts of campus, including the beloved and historic Jagger Library.
20 Apr 2023
UCT researcher involved in paper that rewrites the history of horse domestication in North America
When a large international group of archaeological researchers were looking for the strontium isotope data, they required to link the ancient North American horse to the land, and they contacted the University of Cape Town (UCT). Combining DNA sequencing with radiogenic isotope analysis and indigenous knowledge, a paper recently published in Science rewrites the history of horse domestication in North America.
17 Apr 2023
New UCT-led consortium to tackle malaria drug resistance in South-East Africa
The University of Cape Town (UCT) has announced the launch of the Mitigating Antimalarial Resistance Consortium in Southern and East Africa (MARC SE-Africa), which will tackle the growing crisis of drug resistant malaria. Over the next four years, MARC SE-Africa will receive almost 4.2 million euros from the European Union’s research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe.
14 Apr 2023
UCT, DStv to launch project on second anniversary of the April 2021 fire
On 18 April 2021, the University of Cape Town (UCT) lost its leading collection of African stories housed in the Jagger Library. Two years later, UCT has partnered with DStv to launch the Stories from the Ashes project, which will retell some of those lost stories and write new ones.
12 Apr 2023
UCT funding to support cost-effective manufacturing of pharmaceuticals in South Africa
The manufacturing and availability of medicines in sub-Saharan Africa will receive a major boost with the injection of R13 million to the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Holistic Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D).
11 Apr 2023