Research Directorate

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR: RESEARCH DIRECTORATE

The CPUT community is known for its agility and resilience in challenging times, and so it started to develop new and innovative ways of doing research.

Prof Dina Burger

The year 2020 will always hold significance for the Research Directorate. During this period of Covid-19, research leadership and management as well as researchers themselves have shown their true CPUT character. An outstanding number of research outputs have been produced. There have been many successes with internal and external research grants, the responsible use of finances, a new and revised series of research and research-related policies, and further implementation of a newly acquired research information management system, Converis.

Above all, much excellent ethical research has continued to be conducted. CPUT celebrated additional NRF rated researchers, and the institution’s research focused strongly on the six approved research focus areas, making a sound contribution to the knowledge economy of South Africa and beyond. The Research Directorate offered a series of training and capacity development courses, and has logged a record high number of attendees at these.

All of these achievements took place under the most difficult circumstances. There was very limited to no access to laboratories, fieldwork almost came to a halt, and access to fellow researchers fostering new partnerships and collaborative opportunities through physical national and international conferences came to an abrupt standstill. Undertaking and harnessing productive scholarly conversations could no longer take place in the same way, and the place of work shifted to the place that used to be home. Above all, researchers suffered the loss of family and friends which has impacted and changed lives in an unimaginable way.

However, the CPUT research community is known for its agility and resilience in challenging times, and so it started to develop new and innovative ways of doing research. For instance, training and capacity development courses could be offered online; researchers introduced online seminars and conferences; and academics began participating in international seminars and conferences virtually. Meetings continued to take place through various platforms, and researchers reached out to each other through regular virtual discussions. These are just a few examples of the new ways of work that came about in record time.

I would like to therefore dedicate this report to all our researchers and to those in research leadership who have worked so hard to produce new knowledge under such extraordinary difficult circumstances. I would also like to sincerely thank the staff of the Research Directorate who have shown that their commitment to service and support of all our researchers continues, albeit in new and innovative ways.

GUIDING POSTGRADUATES TO GRADUATION

Workshops aim at helping postgraduate students graduate

CPGS is working together with the Research Directorate for a series of online workshops aimed at helping postgraduate students on their journey to graduation. The workshops are facilitated by experts and are to assist master’s and doctoral students develop the skills and competencies required to successfully complete their studies. Workshops for supervisors, co-supervisors and postdoctoral fellows are also available.

Manager: Capacity Development Dr Patricia Smit (Research Directorate) said the first few workshops were well attended and that workshops are repeated during the year to allow as many students as possible to attend. Mr Wendal Koopman of CPGS, also a workshop facilitator, said participants have indicated that the workshops are helpful and that they are grateful for the support.

The list of workshops available includes Proposal Writing, Research Methods, Online Library Resources and Reference Tools, Research Methods, Data Collection and Analysis, Fieldwork in Practice, and Writing for Publication.

For more information on the workshops please email Dr Smit at smitpa@cput.ac.za

FOUR ‘SCIENCE OSCAR’ FINALISTS FOR CPUT

CPUT has four ‘Science Oscar’ finalists

Four outstanding researchers were announced as finalists in the 2019/2020 NSTF-South32 Awards. Known as the ‘Science Oscars of South Africa’, the awards recognise excellence and outstanding contributions to SET and innovation in South Africa.

The four CPUT finalists are:

• Prof Jeanine Marnewick, Director: AMHBI and Research Chair:

Biotechnology, in the Communication Award category • Prof Victoria Jideani, Leader: Cereals and Legumes Biopolymer Research for

Food Security, in the TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Researcher category • Prof Vernon S Somerset, Professor: Environmental Chemistry, in the TW

Kambule-NSTF Award: Researcher category • Dr Mahabubur Chowdhury, Senior Lecturer: Department of Chemical

Engineering, in the TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Emerging Researcher category