Media releases
2012
Second quarter
Editor-in-chief of Science magazine to speak on Science and World's Future at UCT - 14 May
Bruce Alberts, editor-in-chief of Science magazine and professor emeritus of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California in San Francisco, will speak on Science and the World's Future on Wednesday, 23 May 2012, at 13h00 in Lecture Theatre 3, Kramer Law Building, in the first Vice-Chancellor's Open Lecture for 2012 at the University of Cape Town.
UCT professor to talk about the epistemic significance of disagreement - 14 May
In his inaugural lecture titled Disagreement: its Epistemic Significance on 16 May, the University of Cape Town's Professor Benhard Weiss will tackle the question of how people should modify their views when they discover that other enquirers have arrived at different opinions.
Drier winters could be end for Cape fynbos, UCT researcher warns - 11 May
Geological evidence from as far back as 1800 years ago indicates that as the planet warms due to build-ups of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, winter rainfall in the Cape is likely to become scarcer as well.
Africans to fill gap in curing malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease - 7 May
Professor Kelly Chibale of UCT Drug Discovery and Development Centre to speak on Drug Discovery in Africa: Challenges, Status and Opportunities: 8 May 2012, 16h00, LT3 PD Hahn, Upper Campus.
Finding a good wine is a bit like kissing lots of dressed up frogs, says Dr David Priilaid of the University of Cape Town. Currently convenor of the Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship in UCT’s School of Management Studies, Priilaid has developed an algorithm that cuts through all the labels, snobbery and guesswork and can help wine lovers pick up good quality wines at very good prices.
UCT students celebrate Africa month - 4 May
As the University of Cape Town prepares for its annual Africa Day celebrations – which have been expanded to a full month of events over May – the student community is also getting involved with the Student Representative Council (SRC) and various student societies participating in a number of exciting events.
UCT’s Jammie Shuttle service returns to normal after strike ends - 26 April
The University of Cape Town's free transportation service, the Jammie Shuttle, has resumed its normal timetable after drivers employed by Sibanye ended their wildcat strike early this afternoon. The drivers have returned to work and all Jammie Shuttle routes are operating normally.
Wildcat strike by Sibanya drivers will affect thousands of UCT students - 25 April
The University of Cape Town's free transportation service, the Jammie Shuttle, has been suspended today because drivers have embarked on a wildcat strike. The university was informed only this morning of the strike.
UCT's renamed College of Accounting puts transformation, public sector high on agenda - 19 April
The Department of Accounting at the University of Cape Town has changed its name to reflect a fresh focus on transformation within the accounting profession, improving the quality of its graduates, and playing a more active role in improving public sector accounting, among other things.
2012 UCT Maths Competition breaks records: 8312 entries from 153 schools - 12 April
A record entry of 8312 participants from a record number of 153 Western Cape schools will converge on the University of Cape Town Upper Campus on the evening of Monday, 16 April. After registration, they will move into 63 different venues across the campus to write the contest papers.
Dinosaur bones debunk migratory myth - UCT researcher - 10 April
Duck-billed dinosaurs were once dubbed the "happy wanderers" of the North Pole, but a new study suggests they were not migratory at all and preferred to stay closer to home. The evidence is in their bones, according to a team of dinosaur palaeontologists from the University of Cape Town and the US.
NRF awards P-ratings to three young researchers at UCT - 3 April
Three researchers at the University of Cape Town have been awarded P-ratings by the National Research Foundation (NRF). P-ratings honour young scholars who demonstrate the potential to become future leaders in their respective fields. Only four P-ratings were awarded for the country as a whole in this cycle.
UCT to host Africa's first International Mathematical Olympiad - 2 April
The University of Cape Town will host the 2014 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in July 2014. The IMO is the world championship of mathematics, launched in in Romania in 1959.
First quarter
Prestigious award for UCT's champion of drug discovery - 20 March
University of Cape Town professor Kelly Chibale was presented the 2011 Alan Pifer Research Award on 15 March 2012, in recognition of his establishment of the H3-D Drug Discovery and Development Centre - the first centre of its kind in Africa, which runs under Professor Chibale's direction.
UCT to honour pioneers in arts, economics, science, law and medicine - 29 February
This year, the University of Cape Town will award honorary degrees to a selection of experts chosen not only for what each has contributed to his or her respective areas of expertise, but to society as a whole. This year’s honorands are:Allan Gray; Marlene Dumas; Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones; Nicholas Haysom; David Sanders; and Jonathan Ellis.
UCT helps rural people fight law that could promote abuse of power by tribal leaders - 8 February
The Law, Race and Gender Unit (LRG) at the University of Cape Town is working with the Legal Resources Centre and local community-based organisations to ensure that people living in rural villages will have an opportunity to speak out against the proposed passage of the controversial Traditional Courts Bill, which is considered unconstitutional by legal experts. View video.
New master's programme to build mental health care capacity in Africa - 2 February
The Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health (CPMH), a joint initiative between the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University (SU), has launched Africa’s first postgraduate training programme in public mental health, to help build capacity in mental health care in Africa.
UCT mechanical engineers invent device to grow bone and tissue in upper jaw - 27 January
Two University of Cape Town engineers and a surgeon have adapted simple mechanical engineering principles to develop groundbreaking maxillo-facial surgery. The team uses a plate-guided distractor (basically a hose clamp made to work as a crawler on a track) to grow new bone in the upper jaw of patients who had large surgical defects following on ablation of tumour or trauma. View video.
UCT medical professor joins global fellowship on occupational health - 26 January
University of Cape Town Professor Mohamed Jeebhay has been elected as a fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini. The Collegium is an international scientific society, founded in 1982, that examines critical issues in occupational and environmental medicine with a view towards action to prevent disease and promote health.
Book by UCT academic explores universities' role in wider society - 24 January
Universities are taking on the function of economic development in addition to their traditional double mission of teaching and basic research, according to a new book by Professor David Cooper, a sociologist at the University of Cape Town. The University in Development, launched in November 2011 by HSRC Press, analyses the complex relationship between universities and the rapidly changing world they operate in.
New applications mark UCT as centre of 'nanovation' - 24 January
The NanoSciences Innovation Centre at the University of Cape Town and the centre's spin-out company, PST Sensors, have recently introduced joint developments in thermal imaging and sensor imaging technology that can increase efficiency and safety in a number of industries, including food and pharmaceutical packaging, retail, transport and logistics, aerospace and automotive engineering, healthcare, marketing and advertising.