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VC visits world’s largest experiment

14 January 2019 | Story Supplied. Photo Supplied. Read time 2 min.
VC Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng is dwarfed by some of the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments at CERN in Switzerland.
VC Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng is dwarfed by some of the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments at CERN in Switzerland.

University of Cape Town (UCT) Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng is currently on a trip to Switzerland where she is visiting the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), home to the world’s largest and most complicated scientific instruments.

UCT has a long-standing relationship with CERN via the UCT-CERN Research Centre, and Phakeng said during her visit that it was “a great honour and pleasure to be here, and to be involved in CERN”.

 “The greatest achievement is the contribution to human capital development. We are concerned for the future, and when we see our young scholars at CERN it gives us hope.”

One of the instruments at CERN, the Large Hadron Collider – which accelerates particles to almost the speed of light and crashes them into one another so that scientists can study the results – is not currently operational. It was shut down last month for two years of maintenance and upgrades to the circuit.

UCT scientists are among the South African scientists contributing to the new hardware, its installation and testing.

While at the facility, Phakeng – accompanied by UCT researchers and alumni, some of whom flew in from the United Kingdom – will visit the ATLAS and ALICE experiments. UCT researchers are involved in both experiments, which aim to improve understanding of the nature of the universe.

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December graduation


The 2018 December graduation season features six ceremonies, including the official robing of Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng.


 

Full ceremony recordings



 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Creative works and book awards


UCT recognises and celebrates major creative works and outstanding books produced by members of staff at the university.

Twin cities connect struggle and liberation sites Associate Professor Svea Josephy received a Creative Works Award for her solo exhibition, Satellite Cities, at today’s graduation. It is one of three such awards. 13 Dec 2018
Symphony of elements wins Creative Works Award Professor Hendrik Hofmeyr, of the South African College of Music, receives a Creative Works Award at today’s graduation for his composition Second Symphony – The Elements. 13 Dec 2018
Creative Works Award for Womb of Fire Dr Sara Matchett’s Creative Works Award winner, Womb of Fire, addresses how centuries of violence in South Africa continue to play out on women’s bodies. 13 Dec 2018
UCT Book Award for classics scholar Professor David Wardle’s work Suetonius: Life of Augustus has won him the 2018 UCT Book Award. 13 Dec 2018
 

Inspired to achieve


Read about some of our remarkable students who are graduating this season.

Four doctors, two families make it a double It’s not often that two sets of brothers who are close friends graduate from the same two faculties – and each with the title of doctor. 14 Dec 2018
Commitment, passion and dogged determination Due to graduate with a PhD in Medical Biochemistry, Kehilwe Nakedi reflects on her academic journey and the pleasure of seeing things finally fall into place. 12 Dec 2018
UCT remedies a past injustice The story of Raymond Suttner receiving his LLM from UCT almost half a century after withdrawing his thesis from examination has captured imaginations around the country. 11 Dec 2018
Unspeakable tragedy yields master’s degree When Mabuyi Mhlanga’s young daughter died in a car accident two years ago, she channelled her grief into addressing the issue of road safety around schools. 11 Dec 2018
‘I want to reach the places my father did not’ Tafadzwa Mushonga will be the first PhD graduate from the Centre for Environmental Humanities South, forging ahead from where her father left off. 10 Dec 2018
A passion for education From a young age, masterʼs graduand Sonwabo Ngcelwane has seen education as the key to rising above one’s circumstances – no matter how challenging. 10 Dec 2018
Never too late to overcome the odds PhD candidate Witness Kozanayi relied on his determination, the support and sacrifice of others, and a fascination for his homeland to fuel his academic success. 07 Dec 2018
Growing pesticide, lead threat to vultures Vultures play a vital housekeeping role in the wild, but like many African raptors they’re threatened by pesticide and heavy metal poisoning, says PhD candidate Beckie Garbett. 07 Dec 2018
 

Golden memories


Members of the University of Cape Town’s class of 1968 will reunite to celebrate their Golden Graduation this week. Madi Gray, a veteran of the nine-day Bremner sit-in of 1968, will be among those UCT alumni celebrating this milestone.

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