Research & innovation

UCT aspires to become a premier academic meeting point between South Africa, the rest of Africa and the world. Taking advantage of expanding global networks and our distinct vantage point in Africa, we are committed , through innovative research and scholarship, to grapple with the key issues of our natural and social worlds. We are committed both to protecting and encouraging 'curiosity-driven research' and research that has a real impact on our communities and environment.

African countries are stuck on the free movement of people. How to break the logjam Four years after its ratification, only a handful of relatively small African states have fully ratified the Free Persons protocol, which is meant to ensure the free movement of people, capital goods and services. 19 Jan 2022 Republished

African countries are stuck on the free movement of people. How to break the logjam

Four years after its ratification, only a handful of relatively small African states have fully ratified the Free Persons protocol, which is meant to ensure the free movement of people, capital goods and services. 19 Jan 2022 Republished

SALDRU releases preliminary COVID-19 Vaccine Survey results

The COVID-19 Vaccine Survey, an initiative of the Southern Africa Labour Development Research Unit at UCT, has revealed several interesting findings. 21 Dec 2021 - 6 min read

War of words: Salazar’s work on ISIS rhetoric wins UCT Book Award

Philippe-Joseph Salazar, Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric, has won the 2021 UCT Book Award for his work, Words are Weapons: Inside ISIS’s Rhetoric of Terror. 20 Dec 2021 - 5 min read

Public–private collaboration crucial to Africa’s development 15 Dec 2021

On thin ice: Open Data and interdisciplinary collaboration 15 Dec 2021

PhD spotlights rise of lawfare in SA and implications for judiciary 13 Dec 2021

ACDI’s Nicholas Simpson joins UNESCO meeting on climate change 13 Dec 2021

Peace in Somalia: PhD thesis endorses positive features of federal system 13 Dec 2021

UCT researchers among most cited in the world 10 Dec 2021

Amend laws to help civil society challenge poor governance in SOEs 08 Dec 2021

Long-term neuropsychological outcomes in severe COVID-19 06 Dec 2021

Greenovate top spots for UCT students 03 Dec 2021

Destigmatise SA’s multibillion-rand cannabis sector to achieve economic growth 02 Dec 2021

UCT scientists recognised in prestigious L’Oreal-UNESCO programmes 01 Dec 2021

South Africa isn’t doing enough to provide HIV prevention treatment for mothers: why it needs to 01 Dec 2021 Republished

Scientific Leadership Prize for Graeme Meintjes Professor Graeme Meintjes of UCT’s Department of Medicine has been awarded two prestigious awards honouring his work on HIV and TB in Africa. 01 Dec 2021

New platform raises awareness on the plight of migrant women Women and Migration is a collaborative storytelling project about the journeys migrant women take, and what happens once they reach their destination. 26 Nov 2021

UCT researchers win big at NRF Awards Five University of Cape Town researchers have been recognised for their outstanding work during this year’s NRF Awards. 25 Nov 2021

UCT leads in training aspiring African neurologists Dr Lawrence Tucker, the head of the Division of Neurology at UCT and Groote Schuur Hospital, says neuroscience is severely under-represented among young African physicians. 19 Nov 2021

National Order for UCT’s Lynette Denny Cervical cancer researcher Professor Lynette Denny will receive the Order of the Baobab (Silver) from President Cyril Ramaphosa on 18 November. 19 Nov 2021

A botanical journey through time Professor Timm Hoffman, who started the southern African citizen science repeat photography project, rePhotoSA, has been working with historical photographs of landscapes since he was a postdoctoral researcher in 1989. 17 Nov 2021

Kathy Michell appointed to IFMA’s Research Advisory Committee UCT’s Associate Professor Kathy Michell will serve on the International Facility Management Association’s new Research Advisory Committee. 17 Nov 2021

Africa has the capacity and scientists to develop its own vaccines Scientific collaboration across Africa now makes it possible to develop, produce and distribute its own vaccines, write UCT’s Prof Sue Harrison and Dr Linda Mtwisha. 16 Nov 2021 Republished

Grant to boost bioimaging in Africa The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has awarded funding to two groups at UCT to expand access to and expertise in bioimaging and microscopy across Africa. 15 Nov 2021

UCT’s Rebecca Ackermann appointed to prestigious journal Professor Rebecca Ackermann has been appointed to the editorial board of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, the world’s first and longest-running scientific journal. 15 Nov 2021

Health Sciences PhD student awarded Google Fellowship UCT’s Dennis Dogbey is the only African recipient in the Human-Computer Interactions subfield this year. 12 Nov 2021

Grants give African data science a boost Three members of the IDM have been awarded NIH grants for projects in the field of data science applied in health research in Africa. 12 Nov 2021

New findings about prehistoric flying animal life UCT palaeobiologist Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan was part of a study that revealed new information about gigantic pterosaurs in prehistoric skies. 11 Nov 2021

UCT’s clinical & health in top 100 UCT placed among the top 100 universities globally for clinical and health in the 2022 Times Higher Education Rankings by subject. 11 Nov 2021

‘Alarming precedent’ – Liesbeek River under siege again Current development at the River Club on floodplains of the lower Liesbeek River suggests that very little has been learnt from a history of abuse. 10 Nov 2021

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