The Social Responsiveness Award was established in 2009. It recognises UCT academics who demonstrate how social engagement can enhance the teaching and learning process – one of the university’s priorities.
2018
Located within the Department of Pathology’s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine in UCT’s Faculty of Health Sciences, and with a field office in Worcester, the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) is a tuberculosis (TB) research group set up with the objective of developing better prevention strategies to curb the disease. The SATVI describes its mission as “conducting innovative and high-quality TB vaccine research in Africa to impact the global epidemic”. The group focuses on several different disciplines, including clinical sciences, epidemiology, immunology, infectious diseases, paediatrics, public health and systems biology.
SATVI’s portfolio of community engagement activities has made a substantial contribution to knowledge production about community engagement within TB research.
The Schools Improvement Initiative (SII) fosters partnerships, harnesses resources, improves schools and crucially, opens the doors to higher learning – thus embodying UCT’s commitment to social responsiveness.
Stuart Hendry, director of the commerce faculty's Development Unit for New Enterprise (DUNE) and co-founder of the Southern Africa Sustainable Development Initiative (SASDI), in recognition of SASDI's Starting Chance campaign. Starting Chance aims to transform 30 shack-based crèches into formal centres of excellence for early learning development.
Associate Professor Sophie Oldfield of the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science for building a research-teaching partnership with Gertrude Square and the Valhalla Park United Front Civic Organisation in Cape Town.
2013
Legal expert Prof Pierre de Vos for consistently providing both printed and electronic media with analysis, insight and explanation on both narrowly-focused constitutional law questions, as well as on broader socio-political questions.
2012
Associate Professor Mohamed Adhikari for his service to his alma mater, Harold Cressy High School, through a number of heritage projects.
The Environmental Evaluation Unit for the work it does to enhance the governance of complex human-ecological systems through collaborative interdisciplinary research across natural resource sectors, mostly in poor and marginalised communities.
2011
Associate Professor Ralph Hamann, (research director at the Graduate School of Business) for his work on the Southern Africa Food Lab (SAFL), which brings together different role players in the regional food system to find innovative solutions to food security problems.
Dr Sindiso Mnisi Weeks, Associate Professor Dee Smythe, and Aninka Claassens of the Rural Women's Action Research Project. This project, run by the Law, Race and Gender Research Unit (LRG) in the law faculty, supports rural people (especially women) who live under systems of customary law and traditional governance
2010
Dr Hanna Andrea Röther – Principal Research Officer in the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health Research
2009
Dr Lillian Artz – founder and director of the Gender, Health and Justice Research Unit.
Dr Ailsa Holloway – director of the Disaster Mitigation for Sustainable Livelihood Programme, which generates new knowledge in the emerging field of disaster management science.
Professor Diane McIntyre, of the School of Public Health and Family Medicine, for her decades of contributions to national policy on health finance.
