Obz Square has been a project of many milestones, each celebrated with due pomp and ceremony. The latest celebration, on 3 April, was to mark the residence's official opening, which of course happened earlier this year. Now settled in, the students and staff are reaping the rewards of this labour of love, and they love it. Read more ...

"The Arch", better know as Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, was awarded the Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Leadership in Africa at the December graduation. Tutu is only the second recipient of the award, becoming the first awardee since former president Thabo Mbeki received it in 2004. Read more ...

A 27.8% increase in fundraising in 2011 has set a new one-year fundraising record of R 226.7 million, this in the wake of the global economic downturn. The record, says vice-chancellor Dr Max Price, is a reflection of the university’s sterling academic leadership, alumni leaders and strong support from its many benefactors. Read more ...

A novel lotion, DryBath, has won its inventor, UCT student Ludwick Marishane, top honours in the Global Student Entrepreneurship Award, contested by students from more than 42 countries. The Limpopo-born, third-year commerce student came to UCT through an Allan Gray Orbis Scholarship after his business acumen was identified while still at high school. Read more ...

December's recipients of honorary doctorates are no strangers to UCT. Human rights and Black Sash veteran Mary Burton, is a familiar face on campus, whether serving on UCT Council or attending or speaking at a university meeting. In turn, Dr David Potter, celebrated for his achievements as an inventor and entrepreneur, is a well-known supporter of postgraduates through the David and Elaine Potter Fellowships, which he and his wife established through their David and Elaine Potter Foundation. Read more ...

The Prince of Wales graced UCT’s Jameson Hall on 31 October last year, ahead of COP17 in Durban. He delivered an address on sustainability and harnessing natural resources to a packed Jameson Hall. In this hall hangs a portrait of his great-uncle who in 1918, as Prince Edward, became UCT's first Chancellor. It is also where his grandmother, the late Queen Mother, received an honorary doctorate in 1947. Read more ...

Kopano Residence hosted an alumni dinner on 24 September in honour of its former warden and former UCT vice-chancellor Dr Stuart Saunders. Part of Saunders' 80th birthday celebrations this year, the event brought back a number of former residents, including registrar Hugh Amoore, who was the Master of Ceremonies, and former Chair of Council Geoff Budlender, the guest speaker. Read more ...

When members of the UCT community joined the Right 2 Know campaign's march to Parliament on Saturday 17 September to protest the passing of the Protection of State Information Bill in the National Assembly, they put their weight behind a broad groundswell in civic society. Altought the march has been hailed as a victory, a decision on the Bill is not yet final. Read more ...

Unlike the UCT vice-chancellor, Dr Max Price, Sir Sydney Kentridge never mentioned the Protection of Information Bill by name. He was loath to comment on something he hadn't read and wasn't familiar with, Kentridge explained after delivering the 12th Annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture at UCT on 12 September. Read more ...

Undergraduate Konke Mazwai's work with a Lavender Hill crèche probably best illustrates the ambitions of the UCT Knowledge Co-op. A fourth-year student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, it was Mazwai who was asked to help a crèche in the high-crime, working-class community of Lavender Hill identify suitable material - and a design - for a fence. Read more ...

The USA Patriot Act remains a thorn in the side of activists and academics in the US. This according to Professor Nadine Strossen of the New York Law School in the US, who delivered her 2011 TB Davie Memorial Lecture, titled Post-9/11Threats to Academic Freedom, at UCT on 4 August. Read more ...

Mail & Guardian's Book of South African Women is a celebration of the achievements of women in South African society. (Or, in the words of M&G editor-in-chief, Nic Dawes, "to discover and represent people who are doing transformative work".) Read more ...

In his Vice-Chancellor's Open Lecture, titled The knowledge revolution and the university of tomorrow, and delivered at UCT on 25 July, Serageldin described a world that is far removed from the one in which the Ancient Library of Alexandria flourished - the high-tech, ultra-modern reincarnation of which, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, he now directs. Read more ...

A bursary fund for master's studies in green architecture, sustainable design for urban areas, engineering or science focusing on sustainable technologies was launched at UCT recently. Named the Simon Nicks Sustainability Scholarship and aimed at mainly black students, the award will contribute R20 000 to the students' postgraduate studies. Read more ...