2020/2021 Annual Research & Innovation Report by University of the Western Cape

ANNUAL REPORT 2020/2021

RISE Research & Innovation for Society through Excellence

TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................2 SECTION B: The UWC At A Glance ........................ 12 SECTION C: Directors And Their Contribution ...14 SECTION D: Supporting Research Across the Spectrum (UCDG) ................................34 SECTION E: Focused Research At The UWC ......42 SECTION F: Outstanding Achievements...............60

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY We have come to the end of our 2016-2020 IOP. Achievements for the university across the years in the area of research and innovation has been significant. I will use the opportunity to reflect on the IOP period and specific outputs during 2020 are reflected in the report. In 2016, as a collective with the Deputy Deans of Research the then first DVC: Research and Innovation, Prof. Frans Swanepoel introduced the research strategy 2016-2020. Figure 1 illustrates the Research Strategy that guided the implementation plan of interventions for outcomes over the next 5 years. A: ESTABLISHING THE UWC AS A LEADING UNIVERSITY The Institution strives to become known for producing research that has local relevance and global impact. During the initial part of my term, the central question I challenged the university community to grapple with was: “How do we make research count?” I focused on developing a culture in which we moved from describing research outcomes in terms of challenges, toward effective knowledge translation that indicated or contributed to relevant solutions. Similarly, I challenged the research community to develop an intentional awareness of and engagement with the link between our research foci, underlying values and that for which we want to be renowned. This will help the outside world relate to our autonomous position and value our contribution through our research and postgraduate offering. Developing a model that allows all stakeholders to take ownership, including our researchers, our administrators and the communities we wish to impact upon, became a key sub-strategy towards a contextually sensitive and relevant public image and a strong, attractive research focus and contribution (Pages 44-61 COVID research and SDG Research). This capacity building approach was applied at all levels to ensure that we identified, established, developed and strengthened emerging niche areas. By extension, this meant that capacitation of established researchers and emerging researchers was critically important (Page 34-43). The UWC developed strong niche areas in each faculty that Deans review in their annual reports. Faculties identified research hubs and focus areas that were supported to become niche areas as part of the strategic vision of the respective Deans supported by the Deputy Deans of Research. Similarly, the strategic application for SARCHi Chairs and subsequent appointments helped to solidify the research productivity of the university. Through my office the Faculties and Research Chairs are supported to maintain and develop the niche areas and we are continuing to support our established researchers and research centres was key to the success of the university.

Position UWC as one of the leading research universities in South Africa with local relevance, regional impact and global recognition

Research focus areas with sustained reputation for innovation, relevance, research/teaching linkages

Critical mass of contented, inspiring research leaders & mentors that are well supported by research services

Well-prepared corps of next-generation researchers through supportive approaches to postgraduate training & early career staff development

Increase in research that contributes to focus areas & matters of real significance at the highest levels of competence

Flexible, efficient governance & management systems that value continuous improvement, accountability, & fast decision making

Growth in technological and social innovations contributing to development

Establish an enabling environment within which cutting-edge research and knowledge transfer can be effectively and efficiently supported and nurtured, including a leading library Develop productive relationships and partnerships locally, in Africa and globally that enable a substantial place in the knowledge economy and add value through knowledge transfer. Ensure financial sustainability and diversified funding sources

Figure 1: UWC Research Strategy 2016-2020

Some achievements include: 1. Renewal of the Inter-university Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA) partnership between the University of Cape Town, the University of Pretoria, and University of the Western Cape. The overarching goal of IDIA is to build capacity and expertise within the South African university partners in the following areas: i) data-intensive research to enable global leadership on MeerKAT large survey science projects, ii) large projects on other Square Kilometre Array (SKA) pathfinder telescopes, iii) leading to leadership on the SKA phase 1 Key Science programmes, and iv) University leadership in the South African SKA regional science centre. Through this partnership and focus area we secured several SARCHI chairs who work in the field of Astrophysics (Prof. Roy Maartens), Cosmology with Multi-wavelength data (Prof. Mario Santos) and the UCT-UWC-SKA South African Chair in Radio Astronomy (Prof. Russ Taylor). 2. In 2018 we signed the agreement for the GAMKA project with the NRF, Ithemba Labs, WITS, University of Zululand and Stellenbosch University. The GAMKA gamma ray spectrometer project aims to contribute to cutting edge research and the development of human capital in the field of nuclear research. This project was funded to the value of R30 000 000 by the NRF strategic equipment fund and the principal investigator for us was Prof. Nico Orce. This project has been successfully implemented. 3. We also secured a grant with the Andrew Mellon foundation: Turning the tide (20202024) with other South African institutions for the value of US $834,000. The project aims to strengthen the academic pipeline in the Humanities at the UWC, through support for

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

masters and doctoral scholarships, post-doctoral fellowships and the career advancement of promising academic staff at associate lecturer and lecturer levels. As the PI for the project I work closely with the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and our grants manager (Dr N Badsha) on this project.

University Rankings A key initiative was to assess the position of the UWC as a research institution in the rankings for various disciplines. The strategy entailed evaluating what was happening on the ground and devising methods to support faculties to reach their potential in the rankings of disciplines. These strategies yielded results, especially in disciplines that were not ranked favourably before. Some of the key successes are reflected in the 2020 Times Higher Education Rankings as overall output for the university. The success of these rankings reflects the overall achievements of most of, if not all faculties at UWC. The figure indicates the introduction of disciplines such as psychology and education. The Law faculty has demonstrated its strengths and was recognised in the Research Recognition Awards as the leading faculty at the UWC for 2019/2020.

Rankings by subject Psychology

501

Law

201

Life Sciences

601

Medical and Health Sciences

818

Education

251 354

Social Sciences and Public Health

401

Physical Sciences

485 501 156 154

Space Science/Astronomy

540

Clinical Medicine

400

Arts and Humanities

300 0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

■ Best Global Universities ■ University Rankings by Academic Performance ■ Times Higher Education

Figure 2: Rankings by subject

Building the next generation of researchers The DHET annually releases a report on all universities on their research active academics. In 2015, a report by Mouton (2015) reported that 5 academics carried the research output at the UWC and identified the risk for sustainability. In 2018 a more favourable picture was reported. The report indicated that 10% of the research output was produced by 12 individuals and the next 10% by a further 22 individuals. The analysis also shows that slightly more than 200 academics produced half of all the publications in the review period. Thus, the initial scenario reported in 2015 has changed dramatically and the research productivity has increased and is being produced from a larger base. As we align to the NDP to build the next generation of researchers we have to build the pipeline from postgraduate students to leading researchers. In addition, we secured additional funding

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

through state-funded instruments such as the UCDG, HDI and USDP, as well as non-state funded instruments such as, Erasmus Mundus. The principle intention for this funding was to support successful completion of postgraduate degrees in minimum time, as well as, to develop well-rounded academics. The programmes aimed to guide and develop postgraduate students (Workstudy Programme), to develop staff to complete their PhDs (USDP, ADAPTT), to develop more research active academics (Developing the research scholar programme) and to guide established female researchers towards increased research activities and promotion (BAAP and Black female researchers programme).

Transforming the leading researcher’s agenda SARCHI chairs at the UWC is an important component of driving research. The main goal of the Research Chairs initiative from the National Research Foundation is to strengthen and improve the research and innovation capacity of public universities for produce high-quality postgraduate students and research and innovation outputs. The number of SARCHi chairs were increased from 15 to 19 during the last 5 years. In addition to appointing new research chairs, we succeeded to secure the renewals of 5 SARCHis during the past three years that attests to the calibre of the researcher, the conduciveness of the university environment and the quality of the output. The following SARCHi Chairs were renewed: 1. Mathematics Education – Prof. Cyril Julie (Improved from Tier 2 to Tier 1) – (Page 66). 2. Health Systems Government – Prof. Helene Schneider (Improved from Tier 2 to Tier 1) – (Page 68). 3. Astronomy and Astrophysics – Prof. Roy Maartens. 4. Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies – Prof. Ben Cousins retired and was replaced with Prof. Ruth Hall in 2020. 5. Visual History and Theory – Prof. Patricia Hayes. The second achievement was the transformation of the profile of the SARCHI cohort. In particular the profile of women researchers was raised. Women now comprise the majority of the SARCHi cohort from the initial 5 females versus 10 males to 10 females and 9 males. This is key to the transformation agenda at the UWC.

Rated researchers Rated researchers contribute to the standing of the university as they are peer reviewed, both nationally and internationally. A strategic aim was to increase the number of rated researchers, retain the rating for those already rated and improve the rating within and between categories. The number of rated researchers have increased from 144 to 152. All rerating applications were successful and two improved in category C to B; one improved in category B to A and one in category Y to C, while one improved within category C2 to C1; one within category A2 to A1 and two within category C3 - C2. In the Y-rated category we focused on identifying the young researchers and assisted them to become rated. In 2017 we had 15 young rated researchers and in 2018 and 2019 we added an additional 2 new Y-rated researchers (n=4). In 2020 we added a young P-rated researcher which is a researcher who demonstrates research excellence and is younger than 35 years. These additional Y-rated researchers were 2 female and 2 male academics and of these 3 were black and 1 white female. This is evidence of the transformation agenda that is being addressed.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

TABLE 1: NRF RATING CATEGORIES CATEGORY DEFINITION A

Researchers who are unequivocally recognised by their peers as leading international scholars in their field for the high quality and impact of their recent research outputs.

Researchers who enjoy considerable international recognition by their peers for the high quality and impact of their recent research outputs.

Established researchers with a sustained recent record of productivity in the field who are recognised by their peers as having: • produced a body of quality work, the core of which has coherence and attests to ongoing engagement with the field •

demonstrated the ability to conceptualise problems and apply research methods to investigating them.

Young researchers (normally younger than 35 years of age**), who have held the doctorate or equivalent qualification for less than five years# at the time of application and who, on the basis of exceptional potential demonstrated in their published doctoral work and/or their research outputs in their early post-doctoral careers are considered likely to become future international leaders in their field.

Young researchers (40 years** or younger), who have held the doctorate or equivalent qualification for less than five years# at the time of application, and who are recognised as having the potential to establish themselves as researchers within a five-year period after evaluation, based on their performance and productivity of quality research outputs during their doctoral studies and/or early post-doctoral careers

Source: Quality Assurance Office

Postgraduate enrolment and support UWC prioritized the growth of postgraduate enrolment. The strategic goal of changing the student composition to a ratio of 70:30 undergraduates to postgraduates reflects the movement towards research intensity. The responsible growth of the postgraduate component towards this target resides with the DVC Research and Innovation portfolio. A strong pipeline of postgraduate students can strengthen the capacity of the university as a research institution. This section is addressed according to enrolment and financial support. The University set an ambitious target of 30% of students enrolled to be at the postgraduate level. This target is operationalised in specified enrolment targets over a five-year period. The enrolment targets were set collectively by the Deans, the Quality Assurance Office and Institutional Planning. This makes for a more challenging growth trajectory with steeper targets. The targets for the period 2017-2020 are reflected in the table below and disaggregated by degree level. TABLE 2: ENROLMENT TARGETS DEGREE

2017

Doctorate

2018

2019

2020

Target

Actual

Target

Actual

Target

Actual

Target

Actual

907

937

942

1037

987

1095

1050

1136

Masters

1900

1943

2018

2051

2160

2170

2320

2182

Honours and PGD

1915

1891

2095

1780

2305

1664

2450

1677

Source: Quality Assurance Office

Over the past 4 years we have been able to support postgraduate students with bursary funding TABLE 3: BURSARY AND SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT YEAR

TOTAL FUNDING (Internal and External)

NUMBER OF STUDENTS SUPPORTED

2017

R37 269 400.08

550

2018

R38 956 368.00

538

2019

R34 901 962.56

400

2020

R48 625 215.02

748

Source: Office of the DVC: Research and Innovation

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

B: EMERGING NICHES AND NICHE DEVELOPMENT As mentioned before, the further identification and exploration of research areas that could be developed into strong niches was a strategic priority. The HDI development grant provided a unique opportunity for the systematic identification and establishment of a research niche area (s) at the UWC for which it may be renowned. Through the HDI grant as a collective, deputy deans of research presented the key research strengths and areas of their respective faculties and a collective theme was decided upon: Global citizenship. During the past decade higher education’s interest in internationalization has intensified, and the concept of civic education or engagement has broadened from a national focus to a more global one. This expanded the concept that civic responsibility extends beyond national borders. The collective decision to adopt global citizenship as a cross-cutting theme for faculties was based on the following considerations: 1. Exploring global citizenship themes helps all stakeholders put the spotlight on why internationalisation is central to a quality education and emphasizes that internationalization is a means, not an end. 2. The benefits of encouraging students and staff to consider their responsibilities to their communities and to the world strengthens institutional commitment to serving society, enriches the institution, affirms its relevance and contributions to society, and benefits communities and the lives of their members. It also highlights the importance of making research count. 3. Thirdly, the concept of global citizenship creates conceptual and practical connections and thus allows for interdisciplinary research and teaching and learning As part of the global citizenship theme the university aimed to develop academics, students and academic support staff to become ethical and effective change agents regardless of their setting, discipline, stage of study or position. Within the HDI grant a number of research focus areas were identified for exploration and their feasibility to become niche areas at an institutional level. These emerging niches were integrated into the broader global citizenship theme to provide a coherent overarching framework that would contribute to the creation of a community of practice in the pursuit of developing these emerging niches. The figure below illustrates the conceptual relationship between the emerging niches and aspects of global citizenship. Leadership & Governance ENABLE & ADVANCE

CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT & ENGAGEMENT

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

UNDERSTANDING & DISCOVERY

Early Childhood development

E-research, Big data,

Diversity in Psychological Practice

(Science, EMS, CHS, Dentistry)

Neuroscience

E-logistics, Data Analytics

SUSTAINABILITY Social Development & Entrepreneurship Figure 3: HDI funded niche areas 7

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

Interdisciplinarity, partnerships and capacity development at various levels including pipeline development of postgraduates were guiding principles. Some achievements include: • One of the emerging niche areas, Early Childhood Development, was consolidated into a strong research niche. In this focus area, we were able to consolidate a number of efforts that culminated in the following: o Successful application for a NRF SARCHi chair in Development of Human Capabilities and Social Cohesion. Professor Nicolette Roman was appointed in 2018. At the time Prof. Roman was and still is the champion for the Early Childhood Development niche area. o Successful establishment of a Research Centre in the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences in 2020. The centre incorporates the former Child and Family Studies unit that was housed under Social Work. The unit is currently under the Directorship of Prof. Shazly Savahl, a leading researcher in the area. The unit also includes two lecturers, a NGAP and an administrator. Thus, resources were successfully pooled to establish a viable research centre. The centre also houses the very successful postgraduate programmes in Child and Family studies. o The staff in the centre were able to leverage external funding for project development, research and student support through a range of funding instruments. • Across the emerging niche areas, we supported 9 PhD students and 14 Masters’ students. Since 2018, we graduated 2 Masters’ students and 1 PhD, while 3 Masters’ students and 2 PhD students submitted for examination. Several are in the final stages of writing up. A substantial pipeline has been developed across these areas that further builds the resource and research base. • In addition, the following postgraduate programmes have emerged and are being developed: o Postgraduate Diploma in Early Childhood Development o Masters in Leadership and Community o Masters in Health Informatics • International partnerships and consortia have been established and grown. Funding proposals for additional funding have been submitted and this pattern will continue. • International recognition: The UWC was invited to participate in the SDG conference in Norway in 2020 as global citizenship is a key focus area of Goal 17 of the SDGs. I was invited to participate in a symposium as a discussant on global citizenship and how a higher education institution with limited resources could address the SDGs successfully. The team working across the emerging niches also hosted a symposium that reported on the use of Global Citizenship as a framework to develop research hubs and niches. The symposium was well received and the model employed received positive feedback. As a direct result of our presence on this platform, the UWC was invited by UNESO Africa to participate in a research challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa as a theme lead. We explored the impact of COVID-19 on global citizenship education in Sub-Saharan Africa and the results were presented in an Asian Pacific Closed meeting as an exemplar of what can be done. In addition, the team submitted 3 publications and have been invited to contribute to a book chapter focusing on global citizenship education. • Knowledge translation has been identified as a key aspect in sharing the important research that is being conducted, and thus in 2017 the Annual Research Week was introduced and 2020 saw the introduction of webinars on various research topics.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

An important project was the realignment of policy documents and committee standing orders to accurately reflect the differentiation of the DVC Research and Innovation portfolio. The realignment project was expanded to include the updating of policy documents to reflect current practices and changes in legislation. Examples of updated policies include: • Research policy • Postgraduate policy In the course of this realignment and updating process, we identified gaps which led to the drafting of new policies, strategies and protocols for the identified gaps. Some examples include the • Draft Innovation Strategy • Draft Postgraduate Recruitment Strategy • Draft Postgraduate Implementation Protocol • Draft Guideline for Postgraduate Financial Support.

C: TECHNOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL INNOVATIONS When we reflected on the research strategy that was developed in 2016, it was evident that the innovation aspect was lacking in the strategy. In 2017 the Director of TTO started to develop an innovation strategy. Linked to this, was the need to identify the roles of innovation across the university as they were located in different lines such as academic, finance and research. In addition, we realised that as we promote innovation the importance of commercialisation would be highlighted, and thus, the need to look seriously at this at The UWC. Finally, innovation without social innovation at the UWC would not be in line with our ethos and therefore, this was also introduced. C 1: Innovation Strategy The UWC Innovation Strategy for 2021-2025 will be guided by the UWC Institutional Operational Plan and UWC Research Strategy. The Innovation Strategy will build on the strengths and successes of the university, by positioning the UWC as an innovation- and entrepreneurship- focused institution, ensuring that our research, scholarship and teaching contribute to local needs, regional impact and global relevance. The strategy will thus aim to provide direction for solidifying opportunities for the UWC’s interdisciplinary research niche strengths, while building a vibrant innovation culture that sustains research excellence by helping to attract and support exceptionally talented students and staff whose insight and creativity is the engine of knowledge creation. C 2: Commercialisation at the UWC The UWC Innovations (Pty) Ltd (UWCI) was created as a commercialisation vehicle for UWC projects and UWC-owned Intellectual Property (IP). During 2020, at a strategic planning session with the board, a clear strategy was developed for the role of the UWCI and the contribution it would make. From this engagement a consolidated document has been developed that provides role clarifications which should ensure smooth running and governance of the UWCI going forward. C 3: Social Innovation Social Innovation was informed by the definition put forward by the Department of Science and Innovation for social innovation as being context-specific and aiming to empower beneficiaries by increasing their socio-political capabilities and access to resources (DST, White Paper 2019: ix).

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

Based on this understanding, the UWC entered into a multi-year partnership with Samsung. Over the next ten years this partnership is geared towards addressing some of the SDGs and to make an impact as an institution. The project with Samsung intends to create a Research and Development Academy at the UWC that will form part of Samsung’s Equity Equivalents Investment Programme (EEIP) initiative. The central objective of the R and D Academy is to improve market-relevant ICT skills for black software developers in South Africa and to develop critical skills in software development as well as social innovation that focuses on national challenges. This partnership provides a rich transdisciplinary context for research on social innovation, digital social innovation and societal change. This partnership is linked to our emerging niche area of Social Development and Innovation. We strive towards a thought leadership role in terms of social change, social justice, equity and community engagement. This programme provides the impetus and resources to pursue and achieve measurable strides in social entrepreneurship that is supported by learning and teaching, research and innovation, and community engagement as the three pillars of the UWC.

D: BUILDING STRATEGIC ALLIANCE WITH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL VISIBILITY International research partnerships are a key component to creating national and international visibility for the UWC. This is reflected in all the programmes that have been designed and supported through the research and innovation offices. In this report we present the case of 4 projects that promoted and ensured national and international visibility of staff and students at the UWC. D 1: Trilateral Grant Funding The Tri-Continental (3C) Partnership is a trilateral agreement between the University of Missouri, the University of the Western Cape, and Ghent University. The aim of this funding is to promote our partnership during the time of COVID-19 and travel restrictions.The three institutions combined and provided funds to support virtual research and teaching collaborations between faculty members at the three institutions. This initiative originated and was supported by the office of the DVC: Research and Innovation in collaboration with the Director of International Relations and it resulted in 8 collaborative projects being funded. D 2: USDP and ADAPTT Grant The university staff doctoral programme grant (USDP) and Academic Doctoral Advancements Programme Towards Transformation (ADAPTT) were two grants which we secured to assist staff to obtain their PhD’s. As part of this programme, we partnered with the University of Missouri and Rutgers University and obtained mentors to support the participants on the programme. The participants were also supported to spend 7-10 days in the US with their mentor who assisted and guided them. These programmes end in 2022 and we shall soon be seeing the fruits of our labour as several will submit their theses for examination in 2021. In addition, we submitted a successful grant application in collaboration with the CHS faculty in response to the USDP 2 call for a SA-UK collaboration. This grant makes provision for 10 staff members from participating institutions to enrol for a joint-doctorate at Loughborough University. Two staff members from the UWC were selected to participate in this programme in the area of Sport and Wellness. These grants respectively supported staff from the UWC, UP, TUT, Fort Hare, CPUT, Stellenbosch, Limpopo and Rhodes University. D 3: YEBO project We participated in an Erasmus funded capacity building project aimed at the internationalisation of PhD programmes at universities. This consortium of universities consisted of 7 European universities and 7 South African universities. Through this project we offered our students access to international universities, as well as access to international funding for PhD projects and the sharing

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

of information on international and national platforms. In addition, we exposed PhD students and supervisors to training workshops offered by international and national specialists on topics such as Reinforcing Intercultural Competencies, Towards Structures/Services to support PhD Lifecycle, Developing a Toolbox for Managing International Collaborative PhD programmes and Strengthening Research Visibility & Capacity of PhD candidates, to name but a few. Through this consortium, the UWC has been firmly positioned as a thought leader on postgraduate education and innovation in the internationalisation of the doctoral degree. As we engage in the next IOP for 2021-2025 it is imperative that as an institution, we continue to: 1. Strengthen and consolidate the pool of productive researchers and this will be given priority in the 2021-2023 USDP funding proposal approved by DHET. 2. Interdisciplinary research through partnerships has proven to be successful and should be encouraged and expanded upon in 2021-2025 with a focus on looking at what the national and international priorities are and how the UWC might capitalise on this. A current project is the focus of a NIH digital hub in collaboration with the University of Missouri. We have identified the key strengths of both institutions and thus such a hub will enhance our focus on collaborative data intensive research. 3. Creating a research conducive environment through improving the collaboration of crosscutting departments that drive the research agenda at the UWC. We have been able to secure funding to support the creation of UWC research chairs that can assist faculties in driving research in their niche areas. 4. Development of a postgraduate academy to foster and develop postgraduate education. The aim of the postgraduate academy will be to develop a central location for sharing good ideas and best practices that contribute to postgraduate student success. The goal will be to support faculties across the spectrum of postgraduate education from recruitment to preparing the next generation of professionals. 5. Development of a research and innovation strategy for the 2021-2025 period that focuses on enhancing the research culture at the UWC across all levels.

DVC: Research and Innovation – Prof. José Frantz

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

SECTION B: THE UWC AT A GLANCE

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

It is evident that researchers and postgraduate students have been supported through various funding opportunities to achieve their research objectives and goals.

As we continue to support researchers and postgraduate students, it is important that we report on the achievements and outputs.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

SECTION C: DIRECTORS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

Achievements of the research strategy over the past IOP period is not possible without a good team. Directors have contributed significantly in driving the research and innovation agenda. We take this opportunity to say thank you, Dr Hames, who retired at the end of 2020. Her valuable contribution was to drive gender equity and raise the awareness of the seriousness of transformation in higher education. We wish her well with her future endeavours. In addition, we bid farewell to Prof. Fielding as the Director of Research Development as he moves to his new position as Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences. We thank him for driving the research agenda and staff development within the research office. We wish him well in his new job from 2022. DVC: Research & Innovation Prof. José Frantz

Head of Projects: Dr T Sokupa

Executive Secretary: Ms JG Lesch

Admin Manager: Ms A George

eResearch: Prof. M Vaccari

Gender Equity: Dr Mary Hames

Postgraduate Studies: Dr M Smith

Library Services: Dr S Neerputh

Research Development: Prof. BC Fielding

Technology Transfer: Dr A Casanueva

Centre of Excellence: Prof. JD May

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

DIVISION FOR POST GRADUATE STUDIES UNIT The IOP 2016-2021 identified the creation of an enabling environment for student success and research productivity. The Division for Postgraduate Studies supports faculties to

realise

the

institutional

goals

for

postgraduate

education as summarised in Goals 2 and 3 of the IOP. The 2020 academic year posed many challenges to continued operations linked to the pandemic. The division demonstrated responsiveness and innovation to leapfrog postgraduate student support into a more efficient digital and online format. The core goals of the division are to: • Improve retention and throughput. • Build capacity through transferable skills training and supervision support. • Assist with funding applications. • Facilitate mobility and internationalisation. • Support good governance in PG research education.

In 2020 the following milestones were achieved: 1. Transferable skills training: Transferable skills training is the cornerstone of postgraduate research training.

Pre-lockdown:

Contact workshops with

205 attendees.

April 2020 – March 2021: A total of

narrated slide presentations were developed and deposited into the

repository. The resources were downloaded A total of

2 269

23 266

times by students, staff and supervisors.

unique registered student users were identified.

Impact: important information research methodology was presented in digestible format and made more accessible. The visibility and value of the training resulted in requests to present existing training and bespoke training to cohorts as part of their curricularized PG training. 16

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

2. Academic mentoring and coaching: The Division offered mentorship opportunities to guide students through the thesis writing process. Through the strategic leveraging of Workstudy and Project funds, the number of mentors was increased. As a result, the number of students who accessed mentoring was increased to

650

Success: • doctoral students were equipped with mentoring skills through training and developed their curriculum vitaes. • the retention of mentors was supported through the salaries they were paid. • the support network of participating PG students were augmented and their relative isolation reduced. This work-integrated learning opportunity contributed to the retention of mentors and the throughput of participating students.

3. Annual Postgraduate Retention Project 2020 Percentage of non-returning students was reduced to

key activities assisted in this achievement: • the early identification and financial assistance with clearance for registration; • leveraging funds to procure study devices and subsudised data and • increased visibility through the development of a postgraduate digitial space on the learning management system of UWC (iKamva).

4. Supervision Training Capacity development workshops were facilitated for supervisors. Training provided an opportunity for reflexive engagement on supervisory practice and quality assurance. PhD candidates were able to attend the two international online training events and gain exposure as potential or future supervisors.

5. Writing fellowships Fellowships in the form of editing support was provided for the preparation of theses for examination.

6. Internationalisation

120

supervisors participated in training events.

With funds leveraged against the UCDG project, a total of

students were assisted. The impact was that students learnt how to procure editing services and the quality of theses were improved which added to the success of the examination process.

The Division represented UWC as part of an international collaborative project involving South African and European universities (YEBO!). The consortium focused on the internationalisation of PhD studies. A training conference was hosted at UWC in March 2020. UWC staff members formed part of international panels of expert presenters at three training events in the course of 2020. UWC, through the work of the Division on this platform, contributed to the development of a community of practice on internationalisation.

7. Governance The Division supported the role of Senate Higher Degrees and Faculty Higher Degrees Committees in establishing and maintaining good governance for postgraduate studies. UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

LIBRARY SERVICES RESEARCH DATA MANAGEMENT The spike in COVID-19 cases, coupled with the uncertainties plagued South African Higher education libraries in 2020. The UWC libraries transitioned rapidly to virtual services and platforms for sustained support to save the 2020 academic year. Academic needs and access for scholarly information increased, creating an increased demand for faculty and research librarian support services. The library webpage was bolstered to reflect enhanced access and a more responsive student experience.

Some of the highlights, despite lockdown were: Thesis and Research Repositories currently has a total of reflecting a

Digitisation of print theses:

4 452 records,

growth.

8 000

items of older print theses were digitised. The ResearchGate project was initiated to grow and update the UWC repository.

Virtual Reference Service (Ask a Librarian Service) continued to be the central access point and preferred communication channel during 2020. More than

72%

of the queries were

dealt with online via live chat.

16 Webinars

and Online

Researcher workshops were hosted by the library.

Research Data Management: The URL “https://kikapu.uwc.ac.za/” was approved for use in October to associate the repository with the university more directly. Statistics provided by the repository (Figshare) show that the UWC records have been viewed 31 272 times and downloaded 8 175 times in total. For the current year the records were viewed 6 139 times and downloaded 2 155 times. Data Management Planning: Online training sessions were conducted to guide researchers to develop data management plans; A Google sheet was created outlining the basic elements for a 18

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

DMP and tutorial videos were uploaded. RedCap research productivity software has now been installed. It is currently undergoing testing in preparation for roll-out to the university community early in 2021. The Ilifu - RDM Cloud storage project was concluded early in the year. The remaining task is the application for Core Trust Seal certification of the repository. The Research Data Management Policy had reached the final stages, with the inclusion of a clear statement of compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act. RDM and Research Support Videos: A series of short informational videos were created to support UWC researchers. They include Conducting a Literature Search; Predatory Publishing; Selecting a Journal; Depositing Research Data, and several more (The FAIR Data Principles; Data Management Plans) are in progress. Thesis and Research Repositories: The Thesis Submission Portal functions well. The library was able to capture all of the graduation theses. The total number of records in the Thesis Repository currently stands at 6 019. A total of 628 theses were added, growing the repository by 10,4%. The Research Repository currently has a total of 4 452 records. The addition of 401 articles grew the repository by 9%. Online Publishing Support Service The service also provides advice and support for journal editors and individual authors with regard to various aspects of publishing. Journal Publishing: The Journal of Entrepreneurial Innovation (JEI) was launched in 2020; Multilingual Margins, African Journal for Gender and Religion, Writing Threesixty and Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning; Kronos: Southern African Histories were published by the library. The UWC Researcher Identifier database records the Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science and ORCID identifiers (online) of UWC researchers.

The UWC Research Week OA Webinars 2020 The UWC was awarded 50TB of free data storage space at the Figshare international competition for second place, awarded to the library. Dr Reggie Raju (UCT); Dr S Neerputh (UWC); Ms E. Tise (SUN) presented on: Academic Libraries leading the Open Access Movement under the SDG theme: Building Inclusive Societies. The purpose of the online webinar was to advocate for African Academic Libraries as the Change Agent in driving the Research Transformation Agenda; Academic Libraries as institutes for knowledge creation and pathfinders for researchers. The sessions conducted - Data intensive research at the UWC (Prof. Vaccarri, e-Research Director, UWC); Data Carpentries services in Africa (Dr Van Rensberg, The Carpentries). Introduction to Figshare (Ms Hardeman, Head of Engagement, Figshare). RDM services and facilities (Mr Snyders -UWC Library). Open Access publishing under the COVID-19 pandemic (Mr Nqotole, UWC Library). Open Access publishing: The UWC editors’ perspective (Prof. Shambare and Prof. Dinbabo, Economics and Management Sciences Faculty).

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OFFICE The Technology Transfer Office (TTO) has been instrumental in the strengthening of the R&D-led innovation ecosystem at the UWC. In the 2016-2020 period, the TTO drove the establishment of UWC Innovations (Pty) Ltd, a wholly-owned UWC company, involved in the management of UWC spinout companies. During that time, the UWC was involved in the creation of 2 companies to commercialise some of its innovations: Zenzeleni Networks NPC and Hyrax Biosciences (Pty) Ltd. The TTO was also engaged in the sourcing and management of Seed Funding from the Technology Innovation Agency to develop innovations to a stage where these move closer to commercialisation: over 20 projects were funded with a combined total of R10M. During this period, 44 disclosures were received by the TTO, leading to 18 patent family applications being filed, resulting in 19 granted patents up to 2020. Over 50 research partnerships with industry were developed, leading to 5 IP transactions in the form of licenses and assignments. In 2019-2020; the TTO redefined itself with the arrival of a new Director, and the creation of specialist functions within the office: Commercialisation Specialist, Intellectual Property Specialist and Intellectual Property Administrator. On the 1st of April 2020; the UWC TTO welcomed a new Commercialisation Specialist, as lockdown forced all TTO staff members to work remotely. The transition to remote work was done smoothly, and the TTO remained fully operational while making use of virtual platforms. Innovation awareness events were successfully presented making use of virtual platforms, and the attendance of these has significantly increased. Despite all logistic challenges due to the lockdown restrictions, the TTO was able to engage with internal and external stakeholders and add value to the innovation undertakings at the UWC.

Achievements May 2019 - Apr 2020:

8 new disclosures were received by the TTO 2 new provisional patent applications were filed in South Africa 2 new national phase applications were filed, 1 in South Africa and 1 in Europe 2 new trademark applications were filed in South Africa UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

2 new design applications were filed in South Africa 2 new design applications were filed in the UK 2 patent families were granted, 1 in the USA and the other in South Africa and Europe 1 Trademark was registered in South Africa The TTO undertook 10 Innovation/Intellectual Property Awareness Events The TTO showcased technologies at 4 Technology Marketing Events The TTO assisted with 176 UWC Agreements The TTO was involved in receiving TIA Seed Funding for 4 new projects to the total value of R1,82M The TTO facilitated the assignment of the Exatype Technology to an IP Holding Company and subsequent licensing to Hyrax Biosciences on 31 July 2020. Ensuring NIPMO compliance, including the UWC’s biannual reporting of IP7 forms (April and Oct 2020), application to the IP Fund Rebate in July 2020, and reporting on the TTO Support fund in Jan and Mar 2021. The TTO manages over

50 active inventions in its current portfolio

Highlights May 2019-Apr 2020: • Investment of R10M to Hyrax Biosciences to commercialise the Exatype technology

developed at UWC. • Management of TIA Seed Funding programme, including

value of R3M and

6 ongoing projects to the

4 new projects to the value of R1,82M (total R4,8M)

With its current staff complement, the UWC TTO is well-positioned to support the UWC to fulfil its research and innovation strategy. The focus for the next 5 years will be to build and strengthen partnerships with innovation partners, to support the commercialisation of UWC innovations. The establishment of an internal Innovation/Seed Fund will allow the development of technologies and social innovations to a stage where commercialisation is feasible. The TTO will work towards providing an enabling environment for quality research and innovation.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

GENDER EQUITY UNIT The COVID-19 pandemic has caused so many disruptions and uncertainties to the activities of higher education institutions around the world. Despite the challenges presented by COVID-19 during 2020/2021, this has been a remarkable year for internal and external collaboration on research and scholarly work.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH The Unit played a leading role in the UWC Team comprised of Prof. Marietta Du Plessis and Prof. Sisa Ngabaza in the consortium formed to respond to the call for funding to advance gender analysis and women leadership in science. The following countries formed part of the consortium: Mozambique, Lesotho, Portugal and Switzerland. The Proposal was submitted on Canada’s International Development Research Centre. Other funding opportunities are also explored. The Unit is involved in the Trafficking-in-Persons (TIP) study focusing on people being trafficked and those who are vulnerable for being trafficked. This study explores service providers’ knowledge, determines the prevalence of victims in high-risk settings, and conducts a social media analysis of TIP.

60th Anniversary: Celebrating Women’s Contributions to Societal Change In recognition of the 60th Anniversary of the UWC celebrations, a special Women’s month virtual project was hosted by the Unit in collaboration with the office of the DVC: Research and Innovation and Institutional Advancement. The purpose of the programme was to celebrate and commemorate the contributions of the UWC women to the University’s 60 years of existence as well as to society at large.

Virtual Breakfast The first Annual UWC Breakfast was held in 2001 with only eighty women. Over the years more women joined the annual event, a safe, social, and interactive platform where women staff across the University community were affirmed in multiple ways.

Webinars and Seminars To celebrate Women’s Day, the Unit in collaboration with the Cape Town Museum hosted a webinar, themed “Reimagining Cape Town as a Women-friendly City” on 9 August 2020. The webinar was facilitated by Maria van Staden and Juliana Davids from the Unit. Ntombi Mbadlanyana, a gender activist working for the Provincial Department of Local Government, described how historically cities were built as an economic hub for men. Apiwe Hotele, Technology Commercialisation Specialist at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), advocated for the need to have more women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Nomfundo Makhubo, Stakeholder Coordinator at the SARAO/Square Kilometre Array (SKA), stressed that creating local economies is an important part of creating a more equal city. Slee Mbhele, Project 22

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

Coordinator, Division of Human Biology at the University of Cape Town and volunteer firefighter shared her passion to break gender stereotypes that limit women and girls from reaching their potential. Finally, Dr Miranda Pillay, a retired senior lecturer at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) perceives religion as playing an important role in transforming cities as many policymakers and lawmakers in charge of our cities are members of faith communities. The Unit also participated in the Critical studies Virtual panel discussion entitled “Hunger and University Students in South Africa” on 19 October 2020. Panellists Dr March Wegeref, Prof. Desiree Lewis, Ms. Oluwafunmilola, and Limpho Makapela discussed the following specific issues: • Students’ food access and university food cultures • The priorities of the entrepreneurial neoliberal university • Critically assessing existing measures for addressing students’ hunger • Critically assess the role of corporate and state “stakeholders” • Changing mindsets and forging collective responsibility

Farewell of the Retiring Director At the 16 days of activism against Gender-based violence closing ceremony held on the 10 December 2020, staff, students; and Friends of the Gender Equity Unit gathered at the River Club Observatory to bid farewell to Dr Mary Hames, who has been the head of the Gender Equity Unit at the University of the Western Cape for the past twenty-one years. She has served on various boards such as DELTA, Cape Town Pride, Pride Shelter Trust and the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW), which was the first organization for black lesbians only. She completed her PhD on feminist interventions in higher education, at the then African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT OFFICE The Research Development Office exists to grow the University of the Western Cape’s capacity for innovative, ground-breaking research. We serve as a catalyst to promote, support, strengthen and grow the research enterprise at the UWC. We are recognised for being trusted partners in effectively enabling and enhancing the UWC’s research capacity, outputs and standing. Over the previous 4-year IOP period, The RDO has developed various training and development workshops. Strategically, over the next five years (2021-2025), these training and development workshops and course training will be used to continue the development and support of early-career, mid-career and established research staff at the University of the Western Cape to become nationally and internationally recognised researchers. The RDO support interventions are also geared at building current and emerging research niche areas, which will be achieved by our leading researchers. The research development initiative for UWC research staff (Academic, Postdoctoral Fellows and Professional Support) is designed around an effective and participatory learning approach. Therefore, a cohort approach will be used for groups of participants. It is envisaged that each participant identifies training initiatives required for their professional development and attend chosen training sessions. Where needed, communities of practice (COP) will be created to facilitate and support development. Subject experts (internal and external) will facilitate all training sessions and workshops.

Page fees: 2016 - 2020 R2500 000.00 R2000 000.00 R1500 000.00 R1000 000.00 R500 000.00 R0.00 2016

2018

2019

2020

Arts and humanities:

R129 645.99

R79 721.14

R113 557.63

R169 303.77

R127 213.00

Community and health sciences

R363 508.43

R270 769.42

R446 670.11

R615 777.66

R716 529.53

Dentistry

R19 488.85

R27 756.33

R15 002.29

R55 559.13

R88 185.36

Education

R48 337.76

R32 350.00

R13 933.82

R41 906.64

R38 258.50

Economic and management science Natural Science

R52 321.71

R31 664.23

R91 613.08

R91 536.69

R244 583.43

R452 766.13

R361 424.17

R422 621.08

R553 360.40

R953 942.71

R3 488.00

R47 968.99

R7 590.30

R64 860.00

R14 007.50

R1110 988.31

R1592 304.29

R2182 720.03

Law Library Grand total

2017

R2 000.00 R1069 556,87

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

R853 654.28

Specific Interventions Offered by RDO 26

GRANT WRITING FLAIR FELLOWSHIP

GRANT WRITING: FUNDING 39

RATING SERIES VIRTUAL RESEARCH INTEGRITY & PUBLICATION WORKSHOP

NRF RATING WORKSHOP

60 140

VIRTUAL SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WORKSHOP 37

VIRTUAL COMMUNITY PRACTICE

EMERGING MIDCAREER SCHOLAR SERIES REC & SR PROCESSES FOR FACULTY OFFICERS & PG ADMINISTRATORS

NRF BLACK ADVANCEMENT

2019 NRF INTERVENTION

RESEARCH PROFESSIONAL TRAINING NRF RATING WORKSHOP

58 66

NRF THUTHUKA & BAAP WORKSHOP GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP

CONVERIS WORKSHOP

110 15

UWC POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP ASSOCIATION 0

100

120

140

160

International Conference Funding: 2016-2020

R1400 000.00 R1200 000.00

R1007 927.30

R994 389.27

R953 128.00

R1182 115.00

R1000 000.00 R800 000.00 R600 000.00 R400 000.00 R200 000.00

R195 350.00

R0.00 2016

2017

2018

ARTS

CHS

DENTISTRY

EDUCATION

LAW

SCIENCE

2020

2019 EMS

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

E-RESEARCH UNIT e-Research Strategy & UWC IOP 2021-2025: Prof. Mattia Vaccari was part of the UWC’s IOP 2021-2025 Information Technology Task Team (TT10), where he led the Research Sub Task Team and played an important role in the compilation of the Task Team reports. Also - thanks to our work, as part of its recently approved IOP 2021-2015 the UWC “will develop and implement an e-research strategy to guide and coordinate activities in support of this area” and “improve support to data-intensive research requirements through cloud-based capacity solutions”. A draft e-Research Strategy describing the rationale for e-Research at the UWC and making the case for investment in additional e-Research support was produced to contribute to the IOP discussion, and is now being updated to reflect the recently approved IOP. We note that significant results in Data Intensive Research at the UWC are being achieved despite limited institutional support. We stress the opportunities to build on these strengths and outline specific needs for the development of eResearch infrastructure and support across the university, and conclude prioritizing the establishment of an expanded eResearch team. A survey of Data Intensive Research Activities at the UWC : In September 2020, at the request of the ICTGC, we completed a survey of ongoing Data Intensive Research Activities at the UWC. The survey outlined several existing strengths and identified some barriers to further growth, concluding that for the UWC to grow data intensive research and data science more organically across its different faculties, and for the institution to more effectively compete for external funding in this competitive area, a degree of institutional investment in infrastructure and crucially in user support is required. ilifu Facility: The DIRISA/NICIS-funded ilifu project formally came to an end on 31 March 2021, and Prof. Mattia Vaccari (ilifu Facility Director) and IDIA/ilifu Operations Manager Mr Jeremy Smith prepared the ilifu final report and submitted it to the ilifu Project Steering Committee. The DIRISA/NICIS funding for the ilifu facility has supported UWC-led projects in Astronomy and Bioinformatics but perhaps more importantly allowed us to strengthen ilifu operations so as to offer expert and timely user support. Our recent agreement with SARAO will allow us to continue supporting Astronomy research well beyond 2021, and we are currently pursuing different avenues to guarantee the sustainability of Bioinformatics support as well. The ilifu facility is routinely being used by a substantial fraction of the UWC staff, postdocs and students in Astronomy and Bioinformatics. Computing Resources: Thanks to their distributed / remote operations, the ilifu facility and the meerkat cluster are seeing sustained usage in COVID-19 times. Extensive ilifu training activities for old and new users alike were carried out in March and April. Cloud Computing Environments & Data Intensive Research Training Resources: We have liaised with industry (Amazon / Google / IBM / Microsoft / Nvidia) to compile an introduction to Cloud

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

Computing Environments and Data Intensive Research Training Resources which can be made available to researchers and students, with the aim to increase adoption and expertise within the UWC community and thus allow them to more effectively use such resources for their research. A preliminary set of resources are provided via our website, and related training activities (Webinars / Workshops) are being planned for later in the year. RDM Practices and Needs Survey: Following the approval of the RDM policy, we completed an RDM Practices and Needs Survey which will be used to plan future RDM activities. We are now busy compiling a summary of the responses and plan to produce a related publication. REDCap: This secure web platform for building and managing online databases and surveys was made available to all the UWC staff and students at https://redcap.uwc.ac.za in January 2021, and is now being used by a small but growing community. Kikapu: The UWC’s Institutional Data Repository (IDR), Kikapu, is available at https://kikapu.uwc. ac.za and provides a user-friendly platform for the UWC staff and students to publish their research data in accordance with the FAIR (i.e., Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) principles. During the past year the Kikapu portal and the associated training activities have been revamped in collaboration with the Library Services. Fundraising: We obtained funding: from the EU for the Professional Development of Astronomy PhD Students; from the FSNet-Africa Programme for Research Expenses and Student Bursaries in Food Systems; from MICTSETA for 4IR Student Bursaries. Data Intensive Research Emerging Niche Area: The eResearch Office coordinates the Data Intensive Research emerging niche area funded by the DVC R&I line as part of DHET’s HDI Development Grant. This initiative aims to foster multi-disciplinary research with our other partners on and off campus. Our team published research spanning Food Systems, Climatology/Meteorology and Astrophysics and we supervised one BSc Hons and five MSc Students.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCEFOOD SECURITY (COE-FS) During 2020, the CoE-FS has been particularly active in strengthening our role in providing locally relevant research outputs to support COVID-19 mitigation. We supported submissions to the government concerning lockdown measures including one concerning Informal Food Traders, and a second concerning School Feeding. We published frequently in the non-academic media, including proposals for place-based poverty mitigation strategies in the Business Day and the impact of the lockdown on child nutrition in the Conversation. We raised several grants to investigate aspects of the COVID-19 response, including two projects funded by UNICEF on food safety.

ACHIEVEMENTS The CoE-FS plays an important role in growing a research-enabling environment at the UWC through the provision of research grants and post-graduate bursaries, and by supporting research management of these. A total of 95 students were involved in CoE projects, of which 47 were funded by bursaries awarded from the NRF grant of R15m, and 48 from leverage funds which amounted to R22,8m in 2020. To build a critical mass of researchers, we also funded 11 post-doctoral Fellows. Mindful of the need to increase the numbers of highly qualified women academics, women made up 65,3% of the students supported

CoE-FS Achievements

5 6

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Doctoral Students

14 11

Masters Students

27 13

Honours Students 0

■ Other Sources

48 47

201

Total Postgraduate Students

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

■ NRF Bursaries

During 2020, 47 bursary holders graduated and the CoE-FS has supported 203 students to graduation in the current IOP period. Building a culture of research active postgraduates, these bursary holders presented 15 papers and posters at national and international conferences in 2020, most of which were held virtually Research output also continues to grow, with 66 academic publications in 2020, taking the total output of the CoE-FS during the current IOP to 237 journal articles and book chapters.

Activity May 2019 - Apr 2020:

Articles in Refereed/Peer-reviewed Journals Books /Chapters in Books

Refereed/Peer-reviewed Conference Output

15 19

Conference Output (seminars, workshops) Policy Briefs

Journal articles – Impact factor greater than 3

As a part of our contribution to UWC’s goals of growing its global recognition, during the current IOP this research has been cited been cited more than

40 times.

1 889 times, with 40 of these papers

COMMUNICATION/ VISIBILITY: The CoE-FS makes available its research, events, and activities through various communication channels, including the website, social media channels (Facebook and Twitter), video and audio platforms, as well as email lists whose content is distributed to a diverse group of stakeholders including students, researchers, host and affiliate institutions; government, funding agencies, and the national media through whom, the public is exposed to the work undertaken by the CoE-FS. Our Strategy has borne fruit during 2020, with 404 media activities including radio, television, and the national press; 278 website views and 2818 Facebook likes. Media coverage during the current IOP now stands at 952 activities. Previous global and regional impact during the IOP includes the award of the UNESCO Chair in African Food Systems in 2018, the hosting of the Global Food Security Conference in 2017 and the World Public Health Nutrition Conference in 2016. In recognition of this

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

work, the CoE-FS was short-listed for an NSTF award for science communication in 2019. Sadly, we bade farewell to Ms. Loga Makwela, our Communications Manager at the end of 2020, who left the UWC to take up a position in the private sector.

LOOKING TO IOP 2021-2025 Looking forward, the annual Lekgotla of the CoE-FS has identified our comparative advantages. We are a trans-disciplinary and multi-institutional centre that has adopted virtual and flexible practices since our inception. We have focused on providing enabling research management and science communication since inception under the guidance of Dr Elaine Sinden, our Centre Manager, and Ms Elaine Petersen, our finance manager. We have research strengths in the analysis of multi-level food system governance, knowledge co-production and impact pathways. We have strengths in research and innovation for the production and utilisation of climate-smart indigenous African and other locally available foods. And we have strengths in the analysis of diets and practices that provide quantity, quality, diversity and safety to reduce all forms of malnutrition. To contribute towards the goals of the UWC’s IOP 2021-2025, we plan to further promote transdisciplinary research and to encourage the formation of research teams across faculties. We will promote collaborative work amongst researchers within and across faculties, making it possible for researchers to work in teams. We intend identifying joint training opportunities to postgraduate students and early career researchers across faculties. We will need to rebuild and expand our Science Communication activities to contribute towards knowledge translation and utilisation. Finally, we will engage with the proposed establishment of a School of Sustainable Agriculture and with the e-Research director to explore options for Big Data research on food systems.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

SPECIAL PROJECTS The Office for Special Projects has supported academic and administrative staff towards the completion of their PhDs, supported Mid-Career Researchers, Established Researchers, Faculty Mentors, Faculty Leaders and Post-Doctoral Support. The UWC’s Goal three of the Institutional Operational Plan (IOP) 2016-2020, aims “To strengthen the UWC’s position as an excellent research and innovation university with local relevance, regional impact and global recognition”. The Office has built on the strengths and successes of the university through the Strategic Research Plan for 2016-2020 which aims to grow capacity in research and knowledge mobilization. Thus, in order to address the local, national and global challenges through research, we have supported innovation and excellence as a collective. We have continued to identify opportunities for the UWCs interdisciplinary research strengths while building critical mass in areas that are globally relevant and strategically important. During the COVID-19 lockdown many of our supported researchers expressed their difficulties faced due to the pandemic, which included but was not limited to the inability to access laboratories, carrying out data collection which required face-to-face contact and balancing the demands of work, home life, and studying. Consequently, and despite these challenges, we have devised innovative plans and actions to adapt our programmes to ensure that completion of outcomes was adhered to as best as possible. Below are milestones achieved:

The University Support Development Programme (USDP) Collaborative Projects The University Staff Doctoral Programme (USDP), is a collaboration project between local and international partner universities, The PHD candidates receive individual coaching which focuses on matters of degree completion and developing a publication agenda related to research.

USDP Collaborative Projects UWC, TUT, CPUT, RHODES & FORT HARE ACADEMIC & ADMIN SUPPORTED ON THE PHD PROJECTS

REGIONAL RETREATS HELD IN 2020

REGIONAL RETREAT PARTICIPANT ATTENDANCE

R50 000 PHD PROJECT SUPPORT PER CANDIDATE

PHD GRADUATION IN 2021

ARTICLES PUBLISHED

28 0

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

University Capacity Development Grant (UCDG) The University Capacity Development Grant (UCDG) aims to bolster and support the UWC’s strategic framework document, namely its Institutional Operating Plan (IOP) 2016 – 2020, with the primary goal of addressing transformation imperatives in the university system and is implemented under the auspices of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation.

University Capacity Development (UCDG) FACULTY MENTORS PROVIDED

RATED RESEARCHERS SUPPORTED

FACULTY LEADERS SUPPORTED

ESTABLISHED RESERACHERS WERE SUPPORTED

MID-CAREER RESEARCHERS SUPPORTED TOWARDS STAFF EXCHANGE

20 39

INTERNATIONAL/NATIONAL CONFERENCE SUPPORT

FACULTIES SUPPORTED WITH WRITING RETREAT FUNDING

POST DOCTORAL SUPPORT: R50 000 PER STAFF MAMBER

SEED GRANT FUNDING: R30 000 PER STAFF MEMBER

TEACHING RELIEF: R40 000 PER STAFF MEMBER

ARTICLES PUBLISHED

PHD GRADUATES

FACE TO FACE PHD COMPLETION WORKSHOPS

ONLINW ORKSHOPS

PARTICIPANTS SUPPORTED TOWARDS PHD COMPLETION

23 0

Historically Disadvantaged Institution Grant (HDIG) The HDI Projects are rooted in the IOP 2016-2020 with a focus on the UWC’s core capabilities and aim to increase innovation in mutually beneficial and sustainable ways with external partners.The following Niche Projects have been identified and supported by the DVC-R and I:

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

The HDI projects over the past few years have seen an increase on their research deliverables. The following graph tabulates the outputs from 2018-2021.

Niche Projects Outputs 39

ARTICLES PUBLISHED PHD STUDENTS SUPPORTED

MASTERS STUDENTS SUPPORTED

48 80

SAMSUNG TRAINING STUDENTS GRADUATED PHD STUDENTS GRADUATED 2 MASTERS STUDENTS GRADUATED 3 BOOK CHAPTERS PUBLISHED

BOOKS PUBLISHED 2 30

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 0

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

SECTION D: SUPPORTING RESEARCH ACROSS THE SPECTRUM (UCDG) 34

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

EMERGING RESEARCHERS The aim of supporting emerging researchers was to develop the next generation of T-shaped research scholars based on Boyers model through supportive approaches to postgraduate training and early career staff development. These stories range from staff members who aim to complete their PhD to academics who were supported and could develop themselves as an academic.

Makhaya Malema is an emerging researcher in the field of Leisure, Recreation and Sports Management in the Department of Sports, Recreation & Exercise Sciences, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences. Makhaya Malema is currently a PhD candidate, with a focus on leisure education and leadership development amongst youth with physical disabilities in South Africa. Makhaya’s research is focused on community recreation, and sports programmes with non-governmental organisations from disadvantaged backgrounds. Mr Malema joined the developing the research scholar (DTS) program me in 2019. The aim of the DTS programme is to support the development of emerging academics and researchers as all round scholars.

“I found the programme very helpful and fundamental in developing my capacity as an emerging academic and contributed significantly in my approach towards my career plans. The programme contributed to my holistic development, and facilitated my growth as a new academic and researcher”. He reported:

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

EMERGING RESEARCHERS (contd.) Dr Brighton M Mupangavanhu is a member of the Mercantile & Labour Law Department in the Faculty of Law at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Dr Mupangavanhu completed his PhD degree in Commercial Law at the University of Cape Town in July 2017. Dr Mupangavanhu teaches and researches primarily in Corporate Law and also in Commercial Transactions Law relating to financial services and law of payments. In 2020, he was a recipient of the UCDG Fund which supported emerging researchers post PhD and which allows emerging researchers to create a research network post PhD or attend an international conference and present their PhD work. As part of his support Dr Mupangavanhu was able to visit a university in the United Kingdom and spent two terms totalling close to 8 months. During this visit Dr Mupangavanhu was able to produce 4 publications and this is an example of one that was published: ‘Evolving Statutory Derivative Action Principles in South Africa: The Good Faith Criterion and Other Legal Grounds’ Journal of African Law, UK, Journal of African Law, First View, pp. 1 – 19. Published online by Cambridge University Press: DOI: https://do He was also able to successfully graduate 1 PhD student and 2 masters’ students. In addition, he attended the 21st Kuala Lumpur International Business, Economics and Law Conference on 20 June 2020 via Webinar, hosted by the Infrastructure University. He presented a paper entitled: “Regulating the Conduct of the Business of Banking Prior and Post Banking Crises in South Africa”

“I want to take this opportunity to once again, express my gratitude to the DVC and the office for the support I received.”

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

MID-CAREER RESEARCHERS Marshall Keyster (Ph.D.) UCDG The University Capacity Development Grant at the University of the Western Cape is a wonderful initiative from the Office of the DVC (Research and Innovation) and I would like to thank the team for all the hard work in keeping the operations as smooth as possible.

Through UCDG funding I have managed to achieve the following research activities under the funding period: My expectations were to use the funding as seed funding to conduct research which could lead to a potential bigger project. The funding was therefore earmarked for pure research activities such as laboratory supplies in order to generate data. Furthermore, my expectation was to produce feasible outputs from the envisioned project in order to account for the funding support. Full references of all publications from the UCDG funding 1. Bakare, O.O., Gokul, A. and Keyster, M., 2021. PR-1-Like Protein as a Potential Target for the Identification of Fusarium oxysporum: An In Silico Approach. BioTech, 10(2), p.8. 2. Istain, B., Mokgokong, P.S., Wu, R., Mia, J., Gokul, A., Mendoza-Cozatl, D., Du Plessis, M. and Keyster, M., 2021. Draft Genome Sequence of the Putative Endophytic Bacterium Pantoea agglomerans R6, Associated with Lactuca serriola from South Africa. Microbiology Resource Announcements, 10(10), pp. e00023-21. 3. Gokul, A., Fahiem Carelse, M., Niekerk, L.A., Klein, A., Ludidi, N., Mendoza-Cozatl, D. and Keyster, M., 2021. Exogenous 3, 3′-Diindolylmethane Improves Vanadium Stress Tolerance in Brassica napus Seedling Shoots by Modulating Antioxidant Enzyme Activities. Biomolecules, 11(3), p.436. 4. Niekerk, L.A., Carelse, M.F., Bakare, O.O., Mavumengwana, V., Keyster, M. and Gokul, A., 2021. The Relationship between Cadmium Toxicity and the Modulation of Epigenetic Traits in Plants. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(13), p.7046.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

MID-CAREER RESEARCHERS (contd.) Prof. Marieta du Plessis

“How UCDG grants have helped shaped my growth as researcher” Prof. Marieta du Plessis’s interest in the field of Positive Organisational Psychology (POP), and positive leadership in particular, has been evident throughout her research journey. This research focus manifests in her postgraduate dissertations, publications, conference proceedings and a number of the topics of Master’s and PhD students who have graduated under her supervision. She highlights that, through her research endeavours, her understanding of the field has grown from investigating positive forms of leadership, to mediating mechanisms of leadership that ensure positive outcomes in the workplace. The finding that the mediating mechanisms could substitute leadership, necessitated the focus on these psychological capacities. This was done by proposing a definition of and a model depicting positive self-leadership as well as an intervention to develop such leadership in the workplace (Du Plessis, 2019). “The compendium of research outputs put me in a position to apply for a NRF rating, and subsequently a Y2 rating was received in 2021. My endeavours were also recognised through an Academic Achiever award as best mid-career scholar at the University of the Western Cape in 2019, as well as a nomination for most Masters Students supervised. Both of these achievements (i.e., the NRF rating and Academic Achiever awards) were matched with UCDG funding”, stated Prof. du Plessis. Through UCDG funding, she was able to apply her strengths and hone her abilities in engagements with colleagues (internally and externally), championing of projects and mentorship of fellowacademics. Not only have the UCDG grants provided her directly with resources and autonomy to advance the interests of her research group; it has also allowed her the opportunity to act as a mentor for other academic staff members and students benefiting from such grants. Selected accepted/published outputs that were supported through UCDG funding: Barnes, N., Du Plessis, M. & Frantz, J. (in print). Career management programmes for academics in the Higher Education sector: A RE-AIM systematic review. SA Journal of Higher Education. Barnes, N., Du Plessis, M. & Frantz, J. (2021). Perceived career management challenges of academics at a South African university. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 19(0), a1515. https://doi. org/10.4102/sajhrm.v19i0.1515 Frantz, J., & Marais, J. & Du Plessis, M. (in print). Exploring the views of academics on an academic leadership programme in Higher Education. SA Journal of Higher Education. Naidoo-Chetty, M. & Du Plessis, M. (2021). Job demands and job resources of academic employees in Higher Education. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 631171. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.631171 Naidoo-Chetty, M. & Du Plessis, M. (2021). Systematic review of job demands and job resources of academics. International Journal of Higher Education, 10(3), 268-284. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe. v10n3p268 Waglay, M., Becker, J. R. & Du Plessis, M. (2020). The role of emotional intelligence and autonomy in transformational leadership: A leader member exchange (LMX) perspective. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 46(0), a1762. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v46i0.1762

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

LEADING RESEARCHERS Prof. Joliana Phillips Overview of how the UCDG added value to my research and support (Prof. JS Phillips). Prof. Joliana Phillips received the UCDG funding in 2019 to assist in building a research team in the area of traumatic spinal cord injury in Africa. Her team included five members from the UWC of which 4 were junior staff members. Her collaborators included two professors from Karolinska Institute in Sweden, two academics from Rwanda, a potential PhD student from Zambia and Kenya respectively as well as one from Namibia. She states that “the grant afforded me the ability to facilitate a writing retreat to assist in the preparation of manuscripts in the area of traumatic spinal cord injuries as well as the preparation of presentations for the World Confederation of Physical Therapy Congress in Geneva.” Outputs related to this below: Academic manuscripts: 1. Conradsson, D., Phillips, J. Nizeyimana, E., Hillier, C. & Joseph, C (2019). Risk indicators of length of acute hospital stay after traumatic spinal cord injury in South Africa: a prospective, populationbased study. Spinal Cord, DOI: 10.1038/s41393-019-0286-0 2. Nizeyimana, E., Joseph, C. Phillips, J. (2020). Quality of life after traumatic spinal cord injury in a developing context: the influence of contextual factors and injury characteristics, Disability and Rehabilitation, DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2020.1827051. 3. Madasa, V., Boggenpoel, B., Phillips, J. Joseph, C. (2020). Mortality and secondary complications four years after traumatic spinal cord injury in Cape Town, South Africa. Spinal Cord Series and Cases 6, 84. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41394-020-00334-w 4. Nizeyimana, E., Joseph, C. & Phillips, J. (2021) The role of self-efficacy in community reintegration among persons with traumatic spinal cord injury in South Africa, The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, DOI: 10.1080/10790268.2020.1855867 Conference presentations: 1. Nizeyamana, E. & Phillips, J. (2019). Relationship between self-efficacy and community reintegration among persons with traumatic spinal cord injury in the Cape Metropolitan Area, South Africa. World Congress of Physiotherapy, 10-13 May 2019, Geneva, Switzerland. 2. Joseph, C., Boggenpoel, B., Phillips, J. & Madasa, M. (2019). Mortality rate and risk indicators for death of persons with spinal cord injury in South Africa. World Congress of Physiotherapy, 2-4 July 2017, 10-13 May 2019, Geneva, Switzerland. The grant further afforded her the opportunity to attend a seminar/meeting in Sweden at Karolinska Institutet and Rebab Station, Stockholm regarding experiences of individuals with chronic pain after

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

sustaining a traumatic spinal cord injury. A potential PhD student could attend these seminars/ meetings with her and another UWC team member and collaborators. This afforded her student to conceptualise a proposal for her PhD project which she could successfully submit to higher degrees and ethics committees in 2020. She concludes by stating that, “as one of my aims was to build teams in the area of traumatic spinal cord injuries in Africa, I successfully recruited PhD students to the UWC, one from Kenya, Zambia, Rwanda, Namibia and South Africa respectively. These students are supervised by me and the supervisory team include colleagues from Sweden, Rwanda and Zambia”.

Prof. Rouaan Maarman The UCDG funding supported me to continue to do research despite the pressures of being a Deputy Dean in a teaching-heavy faculty. As such over the past two years there were crucial milestones that I reached. Firstly, I visited Nelson Mandela University to engage colleagues around research collaborations between our faculty and NMU’s Faculty of Education. During this visit we engaged about the research interests of the two faculties, the emerging research niche areas in our faculty, teaching and research collaborations e.g., Moderation and external examination engagements. These arrangements were shared in our faculty and many staff members took up the opportunity to engage staff at the NMU. Secondly, The UCDG grant also allowed me to appoint a research assistant to assist me with basic research work. The RA attended to literature searches, editing work of my writings and communication with research participants etc. This is a crucial opportunity that staff in leadership and management positions need to advance their research. Furthermore, a key outcome of the UCD support is the research team I could put together around a pressing national imperative in Education, namely, “capability enhancement in basic education”. Although I did not fund the postgraduate students’ activities from the grant, they came together under a research focus which will be further developed via workshops, writing retreats and seminar presentations. One of the students presented his research of his master’s thesis in the UWC Research Week of 2020. This group of postgraduate students include one masters and two doctoral students. Below are the research engagements that also led to invitations to comment publicly on basic education matters. The following research outputs were possible over the period of the grant support; Esau, D & Maarman, R.F.A. 2021. Re-imagining support for beginner teachers in relation to initial teacher education policy in South Africa. South African Journal of Education. Forthcoming in 2021. Barnett, E & Maarman, R.F.A. 2020. Principals’ views of the implementation of the No-fee policy through the lens of capability theory. South Africa Journal of Education. Vol. 40. No. 3.

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Esau, D & Maarman, RFA. 2019. Re-positioning the competences of beginner teachers in South Africa: a capability perspective. South African Journal of Higher Education. Vol. 33 No 6 of 2019. Nwati, MP & Maarman, RFA. 2019. Reframing the quality education discourse via a capability analysis of quintile 1 (poor) school communities. Southern African Review of Education. Vol. 24 Issue 1. pp 109-125.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

SECTION E: FOCUSED RESEARCH AT UWC

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

1. SDG RESEARCH AT UWC INTRODUCTION: THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH ON THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS The 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations (UN) member states in 2015 with the intention to move towards Prosperity, People, Planet, Peace and Partnership. The interconnected nature of the SDGs presents an opportunity for creative and innovative approaches. The social, economic and environmental aspects are profoundly linked by the SDGs, and in turn imply a link across time. Through the development of the SDGs the UN is trying to make the world a better place for all. The objectives set by the SDGs agenda are bold and robust; they seek to address social ills and environmental issues that affect and impact our day- to-day lives. As a university that is rooted in the community it is imperative for the UWC researchers to engage with the issues raised by SDGs, not only to give a South African perspective, but to make contributions that will directly impact on the unique situations we face as a country and the continent at large. The 2019 records indicate that UWC researchers published the most on SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 14 (life below water), SGD 15 (life on land) and SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions). Below we highlight some of the research from these SDGs of interest.

Sustainable Development Goals research at UWC # no. of articles # 88

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# 87

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UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

SDG 1: NO POVERTY Sustainable development goal 1 seeks to end poverty in all forms everywhere. The study explores the connections between the path of agricultural development and the ability of the rural economy to explore non-farm jobs. This is done through conducting an analytical synthesis, exploring contrasts and similarities between three case studies in order to draw conclusions and also to develop hypotheses for follow-up research about the spatial characteristics of agro-food networks—and their implications for employment. The vitality of the rural non-farm sector to create jobs is of essential importance to SDG number 8 (sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth), and thus also directly impacts on the ability of governments to ensure food security (SDG 2) and the eradication of poverty (SDG 1). Prof. Andries du Toit

ABSTRACT

The ability of agriculture to support the development of the rural non-farm economy (RNFE) is essential to its ability to drive inclusive growth. This paper presents the synthesis of the findings of a threecountry qualitative investigation into the connections between agricultural development and rural non-farm employment in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Malawi. It argues that the employment effects of agricultural development depend greatly on the spatial configuration of agricultural value chains and the social organisation of agro-food institutions. An empirical investigation of the socioeconomic networks created by the forward and backward linkages of agriculture in the three country case studies identifies high level emergent ‘system characteristics’ of such networks that play a crucial role: density, local embeddedness, external connectedness and power differentials. The ability of ‘external connectedness’ to support employment depends on precisely how spatially extensive value chains ‘touch down’ in rural economies. Key meso-level factors that impact on job creation include the scale of agricultural enterprises and the nature of local market organisation. These findings highlight the risks of large-scale agricultural investments and the need for land reform that increases the tenure security of small farmers. Du Toit, A. (2019). Agriculture, Value Chains and the Rural NonFarm Economy in Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe. In Value Chains in Sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 185-201). Springer, Cham.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

SDG 2: ZERO HUNGER Sustainable development goal 2 seeks to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. This paper places fish at the centre of food and nutritional security of over 200 million Africans and provides livelihoods for over 10 million fishers, yet globally fish stocks are severely over-utilised. It is for this reason the UN’s special Rapporteur on Food, voices the need for a shift to a strong human rights-based approach to, in particular, small-scale fisheries management in the light of the inadequacy of the traditional neo-liberal ‘trickle-down’ approach to adequately promote basic human rights, such as food security and sustainable livelihoods, and effectively contribute towards poverty-alleviation. Additionally, this paper seeks to address the protection of basic human rights that lies at the heart of the global convention on transnational organised crime and domestic criminal law whilst, correspondingly, the fisheries crime approach aims to redress the adverse impacts of illegal fishing that extend beyond natural resource implications to preventing the realisation of human rights such as food security, dignity and equality. Small-scale fisheries are not only key actors in ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and sustainable agriculture, but also plays a significant role in the governance of ocean sustainability (SDG 14), reducing poverty (SDG 1), community well-being (SDG 3), and economic growth (SDG 8). Prof. Moenieba Isaacs

ABSTRACT

Marine fisheries play an important role in ensuring food security and providing livelihoods in South Africa, as in many other developing coastal States. Transnational fisheries crime seriously undermines these goals. Drawing on empirical research, this contribution highlights the complexity of law enforcement at the interface between low-level poaching and organised crime in the small-scale fisheries sector with reference to a South African case study. Specifically, this article examines the relationship between a fisheries-crime law enforcement approach and the envisaged management approach of the South African SmallScale Fisheries Policy. Isaacs, M., & Witbooi, E. (2019). Fisheries crime, human rights and small-scale fisheries in South Africa: A case of bigger fish to fry. Marine Policy, 105, 158-168.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

SDG 3: GOOD HEALTH AND WELLBEING This paper shows that food insecurity remains a challenge in South Africa, with rural areas being more affected than urban areas. These disparities between the urban and rural areas of South Africa show that efforts to minimise the gap between these areas have not yielded the desired effects. The inadequate intake of fruit and vegetables in both areas is an indication of how the quality of diets in South Africa continues to be deficient in disadvantaged communities. This leads to poor health outcomes, resulting in reduced life expectancy as well as the ability to live productive lives. The poor availability of fruit and vegetables also reflects the environment’s ability to dictate people’s spending, and in this case, people were purchasing sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB). The purchasing of SSB also illustrates how the environment can limit people’s choices to healthier options. Food insecurity, as highlighted by inadequate fruit and vegetable intake in this paper, is a challenge in reaching or attaining Sustainable Development Goal 3. Dr Lungiswa Tsolekile

ABSTRACT

Consumption of fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of obesity, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular mortality and allcause mortality. The study assessed the pattern of intake and the factors that influence daily intake of commonly available fruits and vegetables in economically disadvantaged South African communities. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study nested on an ongoing longitudinal study in South Africa. Two communities (a rural and urban) of low socio-economic status were purposely selected from two of the nine provinces. A sample of 535 participants aged 30-75 years was randomly selected from the longitudinal cohort of 1220; 411 (78%) women. Data were collected using validated food frequency and structured interviewer-administered questionnaires. Descriptive and multivariate regression analyses were undertaken. Results: A higher proportion of participants in the urban township compared to their rural community counterparts had purchased fruit (93% vs. 51%) and vegetables (62% vs. 56%) either daily or weekly. Only 37,8% of the participants consumed at least two portions of commonly available fruits and vegetables daily, with no differences in the two communities. Daily/weekly purchases

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of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) was associated with daily intake of fruit and vegetables (p = 0,014). Controlling for age and gender, analysis showed that those who spent R1000 (USD71,4) and more on groceries monthly compared to those who spent less, and those who travelled with a personal vehicle to purchase groceries (compared to those who took public transport) were respectively 1,6 times (AOR, 95% CI: 1,05-2,44; p = 0,030) and 2.1 times (AOR, 95% CI: 1,06-4,09; p = 0,003) more likely to consume at least two or more portions of fruit and vegetables daily. Those who purchased SSBs daily or weekly were less likely (AOR, 95% CI: 0,54, 0,36-0,81, p = 0,007) to consume two or more portions of fruit and vegetables daily. The average household monthly income was very low (only 2,6% of households earned R5000 (US357,1); and education level, attitude towards fruit and vegetables and owning a refrigerator had no significant association with fruit and vegetable daily intake. Conclusion: These findings indicate that affordability and frequency of purchase of sugary drinks can influence daily intake of fruits and vegetables in resource-limited communities.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

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Okop, K. J., Ndayi, K., Tsolekile, L., Sanders, D. & Puoane, T. (2019). Low intake of commonly available fruit and vegetables in socio-economically disadvantaged communities of South Africa: influence of affordability and sugary drinks intake.

SDG 13: CLIMATE ACTION Sustainable development goal 13 urges people to take action to combat climate change and its impacts. This paper highlights that grasslands are an important carbon sink and source of forage for wildlife/livestock. In South Africa, rangelands occupy more than 70% of the land supporting the livelihoods of most communities and contribute approx. ZAR b2,88 to the country’s annual GDP. Their functional types influence their productivity, quality over space and time. However, climate change is anticipated to alter plants’ functional types. Therefore, spatial explicit information on the distribution of C3/C4 plants becomes critical. A number of international and national programmes have developed an interest in their monitoring. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: Climate Action, of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) uses the extent of C3/C4 plants to report on the protection, restoration, strengthening, resilience and adaptive capacity of plants on climate-related impacts. Understanding the spatial and temporal responses of C3/C4 grasses to seasonal climate and topography assist in characterizing their role in the provision of services. On the other hand, monitoring inter- and intra-annual variation of C3/C4 grasses distribution and productivity improves our understanding of their morphological, physiological, and phenological deviations resulting from climate change. This work therefore contributes in developing innovative methodologies for C3/C4 monitoring and management under climate change and mitigation to safeguard biodiversity and livelihoods.

Prof. Timothy Dube

ABSTRACT Seasonal climate and topography influence C3 and C4 grass species aboveground biomass (AGB). Climate change further threatens these grasses AGB, thereby compromising their ability to provide ecosystem goods and services. This emphasises the need to monitor their AGB for well-informed management. New-generation sensors, with improved resolution capabilities present an opportunity to explore C3 and C4 AGB. This study

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therefore investigated the response of remotely sensed C3 and C4 grasses AGB to seasonal climate and topography. Overall, the spatial and temporal responses of AGB due to seasonal climate and topography were observed across the study area. For example, in March, a marked increase in C4 AGB was associated with an increase in rainfall, with the highest significant positive relationship (R2 = 0,82, p < 0,005). Elevation had a very significant positive relationship (R2 = 0,84; p < 0,005) with C3 and a highest negative (R2 = -0,77; p < 0.005) with C4 AGB. During the winter fall, AGB significantly decreased from averages of 2,592 and 1,101 kg/m2 in winter (May), to 0,718 and 0,469 kg/m2 in August, for C3 and C4 grasses, respectively. These findings provide a key step in monitoring rangelands and assessing management practices to boost productivity. Shoko, C., Mutanga, O. & Dube, T. (2019). Remotely sensed C3 and C4 grass species aboveground biomass variability in response to seasonal climate and topography.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

SDG 14 LIFE BELOW WATER

Sustainable development goal 14 and its targets aim to sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems from pollution; address the impacts of ocean acidification; and enhance conservation and the sustainable use of ocean-based resources through international law. This article looks at analysing 15 chemical compounds to determine their concentrations in selected commercially exploited, wild caught small and medium sized pelagic fish species and their organs obtained from Kalk Bay Harbour, Cape Town. Sewage effluents are a significant pathway for pollution of the marine environment due to containing a high number of emerging contaminants (ECs) and their metabolites. These synthetic and persistent organic compounds readily pass through conventional wastewater treatment systems and escape into the receiving environment, ending up in the marine environment. The chemical content of sewage plumes from various parts of the city is directly linked to lifestyle choices with respect to household cleaning chemicals, personal care products, industrial chemicals, perfluorinated compounds and medications. All these indicator compounds were shown to bioaccumulate in sessile organisms near Green Point, Camps Bay and all-around False Bay, as well as in pelagic and reef fish samples purchased from Kalk Bay Harbour. Furthermore, five indicator herbicides were quantified in the same organisms. The compounds were present in organisms’ tissues in concentrations much higher than the background level in the ocean and their potential for bioaccumulation up to the trophic level was demonstrated. The measurable presence of selected EC chemicals in many different marine species indicates the probable presence of many other EC chemicals. Our study showed that disposal of poorly treated sewage is significantly contaminating marine organisms and wild caught fish stock in the local marine environment. The combined effects of such contaminants upon marine organisms are mostly unknown but their presence

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

poses a significant chronic risk to marine organisms and fish. Prof. Leslie Petrik

ABSTRACT A comprehensive analysis of 15 target chemical compounds (pharmaceuticals and personal care products, perfluoroalkyl compounds and industrial chemicals) were carried out to determine their concentrations in selected commercially exploited, wild caught small and medium sized pelagic fish species and their organs (Thyrsites atun (snoek), Sarda orientalis (bonito), Pachymetopon blochii (panga) and Pterogymnus laniarius (hottentot)) obtained from Kalk Bay harbour, Cape Town. The solid phase extraction (SPE) method based on Oasis HLB cartridges were used to concentrate and clean-up the samples. Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of these chemical compounds revealed the simultaneous presence of at least 12 compounds in different parts of the selected fish species in nanogram-per-gram dry weight (ng/g dw) concentrations. The results revealed that perfluorodecanoic acid, perfluorononanoic acid and perfluoroheptanoic acid were the most predominant among the perfluorinated compounds and ranged between: (20,13–179,2 ng/g), (21,22–114,0 ng/g) and (40,06–138,3 ng/g). Also, diclofenac had the highest concentration in these edible fish species out of all the pharmaceuticals detected (range: 551,8–1812 ng/g). The risk assessment values were above 0,5 and 1,0 for acute and chronic risk respectively which shows that these chemicals have a high health risk to the pelagic fish, aquatic organisms and to humans who consume them. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a precautionary approach and the adequate regulation of the use and disposal of synthetic chemicals that persist in aquatic/marine environments in this province and other parts of South Africa, to prevent impacts on the sustainability of our marine environment, livelihood and lives. Fifteen compounds from Kalk Bay harbour were detected in different fish species in Cape Town oceanic environs. Diclofenac levels were highest and most frequently detected. Ojemaye, C. Y. & Petrik, L. (2019). Occurrences, levels and risk assessment studies of emerging pollutants (pharmaceuticals, perfluoroalkyl and endocrine disrupting compounds) in fish samples from Kalk Bay harbour, South Africa.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

SDG 15: LIFE ON LAND Sustainable Development Goal 15 seeks to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. This article looks at the competing narratives about the future of food and farming in Africa and globally. It explores how scarcity is represented in policy debates, by whom and to what end. Through qualitative explorations this paper interrogates the knowledge politics of the global ‘land rush’ when both international concern and investment activity were at their peak. This paper highlighted four themes. The beginning highlights the problems of limits and urgency; a middle which represents a context of relative abundant and idle land (abundance, emptiness and under-use and; a technical and investment solution); and an end centred on solutions around investment and capturing advantage (capturing global opportunities). This analysis showed that absolute and relative scarcity dominated representation of Africa’s land rush, while there is an absence of nuanced political interpretations. Even though we recognise that scarcities narratives are constructed, this does not mean that scarcities are not real, rather what it does indicate is that policy narratives are subject to the process of construction. What has emerged from this study is the importance of a political scarcity framing on the global land rush, and resource questions more broadly for African settings. Prof. Ruth Hall

ABSTRACT

Global resource scarcity has become a central policy concern, with predictions of rising populations, natural resource depletion and hunger. The narratives of scarcity that arise as a result justify actions to harness resources considered ‘underutilised’, leading to contestations over rights and entitlements and producing new scarcities. Yet scarcity is contingent, contextual, relational and above all political. We present an analysis of three framings: – absolute, relative and political scarcity – associated with the intellectual traditions of Malthus, Ricardo and Marx, respectively. A review of 134 global and Africa-specific policy and related

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sources demonstrates how diverse framings of scarcity – what it is, its causes and what is to be done – are evident in competing narratives that animate debates about the future of food and farming in Africa and globally. We argue that current mainstream narratives emphasise absolute and relative scarcity, while ignoring political scarcity. Opening up this debate, with a more explicit focus on political scarcities is, we argue, important; emphasising how resources are distributed between different needs and uses, and so different people and social classes. For African settings, seen as both a source of abundant resources and a site where global scarcities may be resolved, as well as where local scarcities are being experienced most acutely, a political scarcity framing on the global land rush, and resource questions more broadly, is, we suggest, essential. Scoones I.; Smalley R.; Hall R.; Tsikata D (2019). Narratives of scarcity: Framing the global land rush.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

SDG 16: PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS Sustainable Development Goal 16 refers to the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provision of access to justice for all and the building of effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. Target 16.3 calls for the promotion of the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensures equal access to justice for all. Prof. Mujuzi’s article illustrates approaches taken at various national, regional and international levels to compensate an individual for a wrongful conviction. It may be linked to Goal 16.3.2 that requires State accountability on unsentenced detainees as a proportion of the overall prison population. By implication, three points are evident. First, while this goal mitigates the possible detention of an accused, Mujuzi takes the conversation further to evaluate approaches for compensation following a miscarriage of justice. Secondly, this article introspects the extension of SDG 16.3.2 from a victimcentred to a human rights approach in dealing with a miscarriage of justice on the accused. Thirdly, Mujuzi recommends that an acquittal should be sufficient for an order of compensation. This embraces the SDG Agenda’s developmental approach that avoids wastage of time and resources. In addition, the provision of compensation mitigates possible financial burdens that one may have suffered following his or her incarceration. Dr Robert Nanima on behalf of Prof. Jamil Mujuzi

ABSTRACT

Human rights treaties (including Article 14(6) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); Article 3 of the Protocol No. 7 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; and Article 10 of the American Convention on Human Rights) explicitly protect the right to compensation for wrongful conviction or miscarriage of justice. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights is silent on this right. The Human Rights Committee, the European Court of Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have developed rich jurisprudence on the ambit of the

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

right to compensation for wrongful conviction or miscarriage of justice. States have adopted different approaches to give effect to their obligation under Article 14(6) of the ICCPR. Relying on the practice and/or jurisprudence from States in Africa, Europe, North America, Asia, and Latin America and on the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee, the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the article illustrates the approaches taken by some States to give effect to Article 14(6) of the ICCPR and the relevant regional human rights instruments. Mujuzi, J.D. The Right to Compensation for Wrongful Conviction/ Miscarriage of Justice in International Law

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

2. COVID RESEARCH AT UWC

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

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COVID and Mental Health:

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

Social Justice:

Importance of Research:

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

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Understanding COVID-19 and the impact:

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

SECTION F: OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

Prof. Julia Sloth Nielsen (Research excellence) One of the significant highlights of 2020-21 is the accomplishment of Professor Julia Sloth-Nielsen, who holds a Chair in Public Law at the University, on receiving an A-rating from the NRF., making her the first A-rated researcher at the Law Faculty and the UWC’s first A-rated woman researcher. The A-rating is granted to leading international researchers who are recognised as leaders in their field for the high quality and impact of their recent research outputs Prof. Sloth-Nielsen arrived at the UWC in 1994, and her first role was to manage the Children’s Rights Project at the Community Law Centre, which she did until the year 2000 when she formally joined the Faculty of Law. “It was not easy in the beginning,” she admitted. “I have had to push hard to get recognition.”

“Work hard. Don’t make excuses. Make your own hay. No one is going to do it for you.”

“What makes her accomplishment even more noteworthy, is that the rating is in the discipline of law, thus broadening our internationally recognised expertise at the University outside of the science field in which we currently have 6 A-rated researchers”, said Professor José Frantz, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation. “It shows that we can capacitate across disciplines and that the UWC has the ability to make research count in all spheres, not only in one discipline.” Prof. Sloth-Nielsen is the UWC’s second non-science A-rated researcher. Prof. Frantz said the UWC’s recent Times Higher Education ranking suggests that the University is gaining recognition internationally for its research capabilities across disciplines. Prof. Sloth-Nielsen’s A-rating by the NRF, which benchmarks South Africa’s researchers against the best in the world, is an “honour and an achievement for us as an institution, the Law Faculty and Prof. Sloth-Nielsen herself, who has demonstrated commitment to and resilience in pursuing research excellence”, Prof. Frantz added. Prof. Sloth-Nielsen has supervised over 70 postgraduate students and still lectures around the world. She has published extensively on a range of subjects, including child justice, surrogacy and corporal punishment. She was a member of the South African Law Reform Commission that drafted the Child Justice Act (1996-2000) and the Children’s Act (1998-2002). She is currently working on a children’s rights clause in the new constitution of Sri Lanka, and a book on children’s constitutional rights. The passionate protector of children’s rights attributes her significant success in the challenging world of academia to her no-nonsense approach. “Work hard. Don’t make excuses. Make your own hay. No one is going to do it for you.” 61

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

Prof. Nico Orce: GAMKA PROJECT Research Excellence) When the UWC was awarded the single largest grant given by the National Research Foundation (NRF) in a competitive call for a new nuclear spectrometer called GAMKA, many people doubted if the project would ever see the light of day. But the UWC ensured that the project was completed with great aplomb; bolstering the country’s ability to perform cutting-edge nuclear research and attracting more world-class projects in the process.

“UWC successfully led this collaborative project to perform cuttingedge nuclear research.”

The UWC-led consortium of four Universities (Stellenbosch, UniZulu, Wits and UWC) and iThemba LABS has been awarded R35 million by the National Research Foundation (NRF) for a new nuclear spectrometer. The bidding consortium was led by Prof. Nico Orce of the UWC’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, who says it was a hard slog to get the submission exactly right. The process started more than five years ago but their initial submission to the National Equipment Programme was unsuccessful. Changes to the Strategic Research Programme, however, opened up a call for project proposals valued up to R35 million. The input from all partners in the consortium has meant that the submission describes the potential positive impact of the proposed spectrometer on the field of nuclear physics studies. GAMKA stands for GAMma-ray spectrometer for Knowledge in Africa, and the name stems from the Khoisan word for “Lion”. It is a name that was chosen by the SA nuclear physics community for the younger generation to identify with and take pride in. Almost 10 years into the making, and involving many people and institutions, GAMKA is a ball of detectors with high-end capabilities for gamma radiation. new detectors that are involved in the GAMKA project*. There are also new frames to house the detectors, a state-of-the-art liquifier, which provides detectors with liquid nitrogen at working temperatures of approximately -196°C -an instrumentation engineer to take care of GAMKA and lots of planning, designing, manufacturing, procurement and finances; including the necessary business plan.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

Prof. Helen Schneider (Research excellence) Professor Helen Schneider has held a SARChI Chair in Health Systems Governance since 2016. In 2020 the Chair’s term was renewed for another 5 years and simultaneously upgraded from Tier 2 to a Tier 1 status. The work of this Chair aims to explore, through a range of lenses, the micro, meso and macro dimensions of health system governance in South Africa. In the first five-year term, the Chair and associated postgraduate students studied the everyday practices of governance and accountability at the frontline of the health system, documenting in particular local pockets of health system effectiveness against a background of wider systemic failures. Structural reforms such as national health insurance are unlikely to succeed unless they also engage the routines, cultures and management systems at district and sub-district levels. This focus is being extended into the next 5-year term through an agenda of research and engaged scholarship referred to generically as bottom-up health system strengthening. A cross-cutting preoccupation of this work is the mechanisms that enable local collective action – whether this concerns coordinated action between the primary health care system and district hospitals, or between health and other sectors or between the formal health system and citizens. With a keen interest in nurturing future scholars, the Chair also convenes the PhD programme in the SOPH (~50 students), and with a small team is exploring models and discourses of doctoral education appropriate to the field of public health, student expectations and values of the School.

“National Health Insurance will not succeed unless there is adequate engagement.”

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

Prof. Cyril Julie (Research Excellence) Prof. Cyril Julie is currently the FirstRand Foundation and NRF Chair in Mathematics Education at the University of the Western Cape. His research interests span the Continuous Professional Development of high school Mathematics teachers, the teaching of the Applications of Mathematics and Mathematical Modelling and the development of teaching school Mathematics. Prof. Julie continues to make a valuable contribution to the development of Africa females in the field of Mathematics Education. Just recently he was acknowledged for his valuable work when his NRF SARCHI chair was upgraded to a Tier 1 which is an indication of his excellent contribution to Maths Education He is currently directing the Local Evidence-Driven Improvement of Mathematics Teaching And Learning Initiative (LEDIMTALI) project at the University of the Western Cape. The principal aim of the project is to bring together mathematics educators, mathematicians, mathematics teachers and mathematics curriculum advisors to work collectively and collaboratively to develop good teaching of mathematics. The initiative is premised on the belief that such collective and collaborative work can lead to learners achieving at their highest potential in mathematics.

“Collective and collaborative work can lead to learners achieving at their highest potential in mathematics.”

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

Prof. John Klaasen: International Research Training Group (IRTG) The initiative to develop an IRTG emerged from a longstanding cooperation between the Faculty of Theology at Humboldt University and their respective counterparts at the Faculty of Theology (Stellenbosch University), School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics (UKZN) and the Department of Religion and Theology (UWC). The collaboration involved annual summer school events in Berlin and at the three South African partnership institutions since 2008 as well as the development of a master’s programme in Religion and Culture. Against this backdrop Prof. Heike Becker, Dr Jung Ran Annachiara Forte (both from the discipline of Anthropology at the UWC) and Prof. Ignatius Swart were all approached to become part of the IRTG initiative during its development in 2017/2018. The rationale was to assemble a team from the UWC that would strengthen the inter- and transdisciplinary inclination of the IRTG project.

“The International Research Training Group will contribute significantly towards internationalisation of post-graduate students at UWC.”

Prof. John Klaasen was invited to join the initiative at the beginning of the new (second) application process (2019/20) because of his interest in Healing and Pastoral Care, which is one of the four research areas of the project. Prof. Klaasen replaced Prof. Ernst Conradie, who was no longer available for the second application undertaking (after the first unsuccessful undertaking). Success for the 2020 application can be credited to the work that went into sharpening the focus of the second application, under the same overarching topical focus on “Transformative Religion – Religion as Situated Knowledge in Processes of Social Transformation”. This entailed that the focus areas were reduced from 6 to the current 4 areas. Much attention was also given towards sharpening the inter- and transdisciplinary aspects of the project. This achievement was acknowledged in the final assessment results of the application, commending it for the way in which it has brought together scholars from the disciplinary fields of religious studies and theology, social and cultural anthropology, African history, and ethics. As such the IRTG was commended for having “grasped the rare opportunity to combine these different competencies in a productive manner”. The following could be considered valid reasons for what it would mean for UWC: The IRTG on “Transformative Religion” is only the second IRTG in the history of South African-German academic collaboration (see Press Release; also see below from the NRF website).

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

The UWC is an integral partner of this undertaking through the four UWC PIs and the doctoral students that will join the UWC participation. The IRTG will make a significant contribution to further establish the focus on “Religion and Theology” at the UWC as a field of excellence from an inter-and transdisciplinary perspective and approach. As such it will make a significant contribution towards enhancing the international standing of the UWC in terms of the aforementioned focus and not least of its Department of Religion and Theology and Department of Anthropology. Specifically, for Anthropology as an established discipline at the UWC the project provides a brilliant opportunity to develop the social and cultural anthropology of religion in South Africa within the framework of a transcontinental and a wider South African collaboration. The IRTG will also make a significant contribution towards drawing a selected number of high-quality doctoral students to the UWC. This will make a significant contribution towards the internationalisation of post-graduate study at the UWC and its Faculty of Arts and Humanities, within the ambit of the IRTG’s doctoral training programme.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

Prof. Olaf Jacob: internationalisation Prof. Olaf Jacob began his HNU career in 1994 at the newly founded “Neu-Ulm Department of the University of Applied Sciences Kempten/Neu-Ulm” as Professor of Business Informatics. As a founding member, he thus had the opportunity to actively shape the university since its inception and far beyond its independence in October 1998. University President Prof. Dr. Uta M. Feser appreciates Jacob as an “innovative forward thinker who brings ideas to fruition and is always there when you need him.”. From 2017, Prof. Jacob contributed to the university management as Vice President for Research and Digitisation; he was also a member of the University Council.

“I enjoyed projects that involved exploring new things.”

In February 2021, Olaf Jacob entered a new phase of his life: retirement. His review of his long time at HNU is positive: “I enjoyed projects that involved exploring new things and moving the university forward - such as founding a faculty or planning and introducing an international Master’s programme. Whenever it was a matter of showing “founding spirit” on the way from a small branch of the FH Kempten to an independent, innovative business school.” International commitment: unforgettable experiences in Africa Prof. Olaf Jacob was instrumental in promoting the internationalisation of the HNU and made particular efforts to establish connections with Africa. His efforts earned him, among other things, the appointment as associate professor at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He carried out numerous cooperative projects with partners, especially in Africa and South America. In this way, he developed valuable international strategic partnerships for HNU and made a decisive contribution to the university’s international profile. “Integral personality”: Prof. Jacob as an important advisor Vice-President Prof. Dr. Julia Kormann vividly remembers her first meeting with Prof. Dr. Olaf Jacob: “I still remember my trial lecture. Olaf Jacob already struck me as a personality of integrity.” Later, Jacob always proved to be a valuable advisor for her, who had the ability to enrich problem solutions with innovative insights and perspectives. Kormann is very sorry that he is now retiring. “I wish him to keep in touch with South Africa,” she says. Vice President Bayer also dedicates words of praise to his companion: “What I appreciate most about working with Olaf is his calmness and composure, his farsightedness as well as his structured approach. I have always been able to rely on him, his helpfulness and on agreements and arrangements made.”

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

RESEARCH RECOGNITION AWARDS The office of the DVC Research and Innovation held their first virtual research recognition awards evening in 2020. As this event took place during the Coronavirus pandemic, the theme for Research Awards 2020 was “Making Research Count in The Time of Covid-19”. The aim was to acknowledge and recognise those individuals and faculties that have contributed significantly to research and innovation at the University of the Western Cape during this period. The winners of the different categories have been listed below: CATEGORY

WINNER

FACULTY/DEPARTMENT

BEST POSTGRADUATE STUDENT: MASTERS

Ms Amy Schroeder

Natural Science

BEST POSTGRADUATE STUDENT: PHD

Dr Babatope Adebiyi

Community and Health Sciences

MOST STUDENTS GRADUATED AT A MASTERS LEVEL

Dr Thokozani Kanyerere

Natural Science

MOST STUDENTS GRADUATED AT A DOCTORAL LEVEL

Prof Emmanuel Iwuoha & Prof Kailash Patidar

Natural Science

BEST FACULTY OPEN SOURCE REPOSITORY

Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences

BEST LIBRARIAN SUPPORT

Mr Mark Snyders

Library

INNOVATION

Prof Shaun Pather & Prof Bill Tucker (Zenzeleni Project)

Economic and Management Sciences

IP REGISTERED/GRANTED OR FILED IN THE LAST 2 YEARS 2018-2019

Prof Vladimir Linkov

Natural Science

CREATIVE ARTS OUTPUT: ACADEMIC IMPACT

Prof Julia Martin

Arts & Humanities

CREATIVE ARTS OUTPUT: SOCIETAL IMPACT

Ms Limpho Makapela

Gender Equity Unit

FACULTY BOOK PRIZE

Prof Ernst Conradie

Arts & Humanities

NEXT GENERATION RESEARCHER

Ms Elsabe Huysamen

Law

EARLY-CAREER RESEARCHER

Dr Adriaan Engelbrecht

Natural Science

MID-CAREER RESEARCHER

Prof Marieta Du Plessis

Economic and Management Sciences

ESTABLISH RESEARCHER

Prof Nicolette Roman

Community and Health Science

WOMEN IN RESEARCH

Prof Joy Papier

Education

BEST FACULTY ADMINISTRATOR SUPPORT

Ms Faheemah Pathan

Natural Science

BEST UNIT ADMINISTRATOR SUPPORT

Ms Elaine Petersen

Centre of Excellence

FACULTY AWARD

Faculty of Law

DEPARTMENTAL AWARD

Department of Physical Science

DVC SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

1. Prof Mario Dos Santos

Natural Science Research Excellence

2. Prof Ramashwar Bharuthram

Management in Research

3. Prof Vivienne Bozalek

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

4. Prof Rod Uphoff

Internationalisation and Partnerships

“Covid-19 has presented us with new challenges, and this demands on us to be innovative in finding out-of-the-box solutions, there is still work for us to do.” PROF. RAMASHWAR BHARUTHRAM, MANAGEMENT IN RESEARCH

“The University of the Western Cape has been a place which has encouraged me and other researchers, giving me lots of opportunities and I am very grateful for this.” PROF. VIVIENNE BOZALEK, SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

“I’ve been coming to the University of the Western Cape since 2002. It has been a special privilege for me to work with the students, staff and leadership of UWC. It’s a very special place.” PROF. ROD UPHOFF, INTERNATIONALISATION AND PARTNERSHIPS.

UWC ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT 2020/21

All divider images: www.shutterstock.com

2020/2021 Annual Research & Innovation Report

Articles inside

SECTION C: DIRECTORS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION

SECTION F: OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS

SECTION D: Supporting Research Across the Spectrum (UCDG

SECTION E: Focused Research At The UWC

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

SECTION B: The UWC At A Glance