Located on the slopes of Devil’s Peak in Cape Town, the University of Cape Town is a leading, research-intensive university in South Africa and on the continent, known for its academic excellence and pioneering scholarship. The university is home to a third of South Africa’s A-rated researchers (acknowledged by the Department of Science and Technology as international leaders in their field) and a fifth of the country’s national research chairs. UCT encourages students and staff to use their expertise to speed up social change and economic development across the country and continent, while pursuing the highest standards of excellence in academic knowledge and research: developing African solutions to African challenges that are also shared by developing nations around the world.
UCT, like the city of Cape Town, has a vibrant, cosmopolitan community drawn from all corners of South Africa. It also attracts students and staff from more than 100 countries in Africa and the rest of the world. The university has strong partnerships and networks with leading African and other international institutions - helping to enrich the academic, social and cultural diversity of the campus as well as to extend the reach of UCT’s academic work.
The students’ movement has stretched South Africans in personal, professional, powerful and provocative ways. Have academics been stretched enough to reflect deeply on the status quo at universities?
World Health Organisation director-general Margaret Chan at the launch of a new global campaign against antibiotic resistance.
Reuters/Pierre Albouy
More than 700,000 people die each year from antibiotic-resistant infections. The World Health Organisation is trying to end the age of ignorance to protect this global common good.
A farmer sitting on a water tank he uses to supply his livestock.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
Universities were widely criticised for turning to the courts during a series of student protests in South Africa. So why did they do it, and did the interdict process work?
Pied crow numbers are growing because of powerlines and climate change. This growth is distressing to some.
Peter Ryan
As South Africa’s students call for free university tuition, it’s worth asking whether higher education would be free in a truly just society.
Thousands of students from the University of the Witwatersrand demonstrate during protests against fee increases which have spread to other major universities in the country.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Much research has been focused on finding a non-invasive way to measure pressure in the brain, which is an important part of accurately diagnosing neurosurgical conditions.
A Colorado Springs officer with a body-worn camera. There is growing support to introduce the technology in South Africa.
Reuters/Rick Wilking
Police brutality is an ongoing problem in South Africa. Police-worn body cameras may help reduce such incidents by improving accountability. They may also contribute to the safety of officers.
Understanding how evolution affects behaviour can help address societal problems.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
Evolution also does not claim humans evolved from primates. Neither does it say non-human primates, including monkeys, baboons, chimpanzees and gorillas, will evolve into humans with time.
Projects are underway to address sustainable energy transitions in cities like Uganda’s Kasese.
James Akena/Reuters
It may seem that in Africa, oral culture has the upper hand over literacy. But this is not the case.
Opter pour des énergies modestes en carbone, à l’instar du solaire, devrait permettre à l’Afrique de ne pas aggraver l’impact du réchauffement climatique planétaire.
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Geese droppings on golf courses are a source of great irritation for golfers . They are now calling for the birds to be properly managed.
Thomas Piketty argues that education is a big equaliser in a highly unequal society like South Africa. But it must be good quality education.
Reuters/Rogan Ward
Twenty years ago, Brazil and South Africa were in a similar position when it comes to inequality. Brazil has made significant progress in addressing this, but South Africa hasn’t.
Researchers at the University of Cape Town trying to understand the mutation in the gene that causes night blindness, loss of peripheral vision and eventual blindness.
Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Stem cell research underway in South Africa is the first step to understanding how mutations cause a retinal disease and whether repairing the defect in the cell may reverse the disease process.
Low carbon choices such as solar power are essential for the African continent, if it intends to stop the harmful global warming effects.
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Professor of medicine and deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town