The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, also known as Wits University, is a leading, internationally-ranked, research-intensive university located in Johannesburg, South Africa, the economic heartland of Africa. Committed to academic and research excellence and social justice, Wits generates high level scarce skills for a globally competitive world, while addressing local social and economic development. At the forefront of a changing society, Wits is a social leader, dedicated to advancing the public good.
Wits is known for its work in deep level mining, science, health sciences, accountancy, law, governance, and the humanities, amongst others. It houses five faculties which comprise 34 schools. Wits offers approximately 3 600 courses to about 32 500 full-time students, of whom about a third are postgraduate and 55% are female. Almost 65% of all doctoral candidates and about half of all enrolments are in the Science, Engineering and Technology fields. Wits has developed about 130 000 graduates in its 93 years of existence. It has a proud record in that about 87% of all publications are in accredited international journals.
South Africa, whose constitution protects gay rights, is well positioned to defend the continent’s LGBTI citizens. But it is reluctant to take positions at odds with the majority of African states.
Modern vocational programmes must prepare students for complex work which demands a skills and knowledge mix that is different but not necessarily easier than school subjects.
Censorship may not be the answer, but there needs to be acknowledgement of the challenges involved in the disruption of media that the internet is wreaking across the planet and in people’s homes.
The late Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko and political philosophers Frantz Fanon and Achille Mbembe top the list of writers who get routinely abducted by discerning pirates of the book world.
The much-awaited report into the Marikana Massacre of 2012 is finally out. A new book tells how the miners’ struggles went on to influence labour relations across industries in South Africa.
The misguided belief that banks create money out of nothing has generated public anger with organisations and individuals calling for an overhaul of the system and an end to money creation by banks.
What if instead of dismissing wrong answers as a sign of failure, maths teachers tried to understand how their pupils came to that answer and then guided them in the right direction?
Drawing on models that have proved hugely successful in major cities around the world, Wits University is creating a large and ambitious Digital Innovation Zone.
South Africa’s cervical cancer strategy has not yielded great results. Despite this, the country has still not opted for an alternative screening methods.
Chronic environmental noise, like cars zooming past or airplanes overhead, can make children struggle with reading comprehension and affect their memory.
As the African Development Bank Group changes leadership, Africa’s multilateral financier must chart a new course, including raising the contribution and voice of Africans in the institution.
Southern African countries do not face water scarcity and do not need to build joint water projects. But they do need talk to each other to avoid misunderstandings.
Bruce Rubidge, University of the Witwatersrand and Mike Day, University of the Witwatersrand
The Karoo provides not only a historical record of biological change over a period of Earth’s history but also a means to test theories of evolutionary processes over long periods of time.
Associate Professor in the SAMRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science - PRICELESS SA (Priority Cost Effective Lessons in Systems Strengthening South Africa), University of the Witwatersrand