from the vice-chancellor

PROF L VUYISA MAZWI-TANGA

In March 2001, the then-Minister of Education, Prof Kader Asmal, announced the National Plan on Higher Education which was set to change the higher education landscape of South Africa. By 2006, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology had emerged fully from a protracted merger process, with six new faculties: Applied Sciences, Business, Education & Social Sciences, Engineering, Health & Wellness Sciences, and Informatics & Design.

Becoming a university of technology encompasses measuring research performance: the establishment of research niche areas and research units, the number of peer-reviewed journal publications and conference papers produced by staff and postgraduate students, the throughput and quality of postgraduate students, income generated through scholarly grants and contract funding, the registration of intellectual property in the form of patents, and the recognition of the research standing of staff, both by peers at other higher education institutions, but chiefly through NRF ratings, are just some of the key indicators of a university research environment.

Specific mention should be made of CPUT’s performance in the NRF’s Thuthuka programme: the aim of Thuthuka is to develop and advance excellence in researchers, more specifically researchers-in-training, women in research, and black academics. For the period 2002 – 2005, CPUT showed the highest return on investment of all South African higher education institutions. This is commendable, and I should like to express my congratulations to the researchers in this programme.

In conclusion, I should like to thank our researchers (both staff and postgraduate students) for their commitment to research during 2006. The vision of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology is to be at the heart of technology education and innovation in Africa; to this end, our mission is to develop and sustain an empowering environment where, through teaching and learning, research and scholarship, our students and staff, in partnership with the community and industry, create and apply knowledge that contributes to development.