TACKLING GLOBAL CHALLENGES THROUGH INNOVATION AND COLLABORATION
Professor Zeblon Vilakazi FRS, Vice-Chancellor and Principal
• An Innovation Ecosystem
• Sustaining Development and Public Health
• Confronting Climate Change and Inequality
• Governance Globally and the World of Work
• Partnerships and Collaboration
THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
• Towards the SDGs, For Good
• The SDGs and Curios.ty, Wits’ Research Magazine
ENTRENCHING INNOVATION AND NURTURING RESEARCH TALENT
Professor Lynn Morris, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation
• Impact, Relevance and Open Access
• People Potential
• Taking Research to Market
AN INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM
Dr Adam Pantanowitz, Director of the Wits Innovation Centre (WIC)
• Establishment of the WIC
• Upstream Activities
• Midstream
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POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH STRATEGY
Professor Brett Bowman, Head: Postgraduate Strategy
• The Postgraduate Research Strategy in 2023
• Programme Expansion and Diversification
• Modernising Research Systems
• Availability and Access to Funding Opportunities
RESEARCH BY THE NUMBERS IN 2023
Dr Robin Drennan, Director: Research Development
• Productivity
• Measures of Interest and Quality
FACULTY OF COMMERCE, LAW AND MANAGEMENT
• Dean: Professor Jason Cohen
• Faculty CLM 2023 Research Showcase
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
• Dean: Professor Thokozani Majozi
• FEBE 2023 Research Showcase
FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES
• Dean: Professor Shabir Madhi
• FHS 2023 Research Showcase
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
• Dean: Professor Mucha Musemwa
• Faculty of Humanities 2023 Research Showcase
FACULTY OF SCIENCE
• Dean: Professor Nithanya Chetty
• Faculty of Science 2023 Research Showcase
TACKLING GLOBAL CHALLENGES THROUGH INNOVATION AND COLLABORATION
Wits University is renowned for the quality of its research in highimpactjournals,andforitscommitmenttoacademicandresearch excellence. In recent years, we have seen the expansion of Wits’ role in higher education, which extends beyond knowledge creation, to innovation and research that impacts society for good.
Climate change and inequality, the rise of artificial intelligence, pandemics and non-communicable diseases, governance and society, and the future of work and the economy, are some of the greatest challenges that confront humanity today. Many Wits researchers are working across disciplines, faculties, and sectors to address some of these pressing issues.
AN INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM
The launch of the Wits Innovation Centre, the establishment of the David and Angela Fine Chair in Innovation, and the opening of the Telkom Solutions Lab, are some of the structural elements that make up Wits’ innovation ecosystem.
There are examples of innovation in every faculty – new quantum technologies and applications, transmission of data and images securely through light, novel diagnostic applications to test for a range of diseases, advancements in robotics, artificial intelligence and big data, and lighting up Africa through cost-effective renewable technologies, amongst other projects.
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None of the challenges of our time can be resolved without
collaboration within and beyond the University.
ZeblonProfessorVilakazi
SUSTAINING DEVELOPMENT AND
PUBLIC HEALTH
Wits’ involvement in Afretec, a pan-African network of engineering and technologyfocused universities that drives inclusive digital transformation in Africa, is another way in which research, teaching and learning work in tandem in the innovation ecosystem.
Working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ensuring better health for all are also areas of research strength. There have been tremendous strides made in challenging infectious diseases, noncommunicable diseases, mental health, and the intersection of these. This year, Wits-affiliated scientists were amongst those who identified a third case of HIV infection ‘cured’ by stem cell transplantation, researchers launched a study to harness real-world data to maximise the impact of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medicine, and others found that vaccinating pregnant women to protect against Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is safe.
Wits researchers published two series in The Lancet with high global impact: the first focused on breastfeeding, and the second on the commercial determinants of health. Studies in the School of Public Health revealed that living in food insecure households is associated with poor mental health, that one in five people are at risk of hunger in South Africa, and that adverse childhood experiences are associated with an increased risk of mental health problems in adulthood.
CONFRONTING CLIMATE CHANGE AND INEQUALITY
Witsiscommittedtoaddressingclimatechange, sustainability and inequality, and researchers advanced significantly in this strategic area in 2023. Wits scientists presented at COP28 on
the Global Tipping Points, while Wits’ Global Change Institute is co-leading an international project to limit the devastating impact of tropical cyclones on South Africa and Madagascar.
The Pro Vice-Chancellor: Climate, Sustainability and Inequality hosted economic historian Professor Adam Tooze, who presented a series of lectures, whilst the Senior Deputy ViceChancellor: Academic, stewarded the WitsEdinburgh Sustainable African Futures (WESAF) doctoraltrainingprogrammetodevelopthehigh-
GOVERNANCE GLOBALLY AND THE WORLD OF WORK THE
Weliveinaworldinwhichwefacemyriad governance challenges, at all levels, both locally and abroad. About half of the world will line up at the polls in 2024, with elections taking place in South Africa, India, Indonesia, the European Union, and the US, amongst others. There is a need for research to inform policy at the national, provincial and local governance levels in South Africa, which Wits is well-poised to conduct.
There is much room for research into the changingworldofwork,thecareersofthefuture, different ways of working, the link between skills development and work, the tensions between various socioeconomic challenges, and the balance between advancing society and the economy. The Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies and the Centre for Researching Education and Labour are some of the Wits research entities that are grappling with these questions and creating impact through the implementation of their work.
PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATION
None of the challenges of our time can be resolved without collaboration within and beyond the University. Wits remains part of the
AfricanResearchUniversitiesAlliance, which is progressing a-pace. The Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa hosted its sixth forum at Wits, while the Afretec and WitsEdinburghSustainableAfricanFutures (WESAF) programmes are models that can be emulated to advance the development of high level and critical skills in Africa.
In 2023, Wits hosted delegations from almost all continents – including the Brazilian Association of Rectors of State and Municipal Universities, the President of Portugal and his representatives, delegations from Germany, the US, the UK, Sweden, Canada, Lithuania, Jordan and Romania – to explore mutually beneficial partnerships.
Wits also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the School of Oriental and African Studies in the UK to launch a joint degree in heterodox economics (these are economic theories that diverge from mainstream or neoclassical principles), this MoU being an example of the joint degrees that Wits is developing with the Global North.
Finally, let me thank the Wits community, and especially our awardwinning, highly rated researchers and academics, for ensuring that Wits continues to publish quality research and foster innovation that impacts society for good.
TOWARDS THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS, FOR GOOD
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 are an urgent call for action by all countries. Although the SDGs aren’t focused on higher education, Wits University has heeded the call to action and actively contributes to several SDGs at an institutional level. Amongst others, these have included:
SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.
Within a research context and in line with its For Good positioning, Wits University has since at least 2018 aligned and tracked its research publication and impact with the SDGs.
The graphs shows the numbers of Wits Web of Science Publications, over five years, that relate to specific SDG’s.
This 2023 report includes SDGs explicitly specified by faculties, which provides institutional evidence of how our research aligns with, positively impacts, and advances the SDGs, and demonstrates For Good in practise.
THE UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE THE UNITED DEVELOPMENT GOALS
THE SDGs AND CURIOS.TY RESEARCH MAGAZINE
The SDGs also inform themes in Curios.ty, Wits’ research magazine, (see QR code below), which, since 2017, has featured research across faculties, schools and disciplines that relate to the theme. SDGs are inherent in previous Curios.ty editions including the #MOOD, #CLIMATE EMERGENCY, and #GENDER issues respectively, while the #DRUGS and #ENERGY issues, published in 2023, continued to address several SDGs:
SDG AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY
SDG CLIMATE ACTION
SDG CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
SDG INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE MORE ABOUT WITS AND THE SDGs
SDG SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
Read more about Wits’ alignment with and contribution to the SDGs at https://www.wits. ac.za/about-wits/sustainable-developmentgoals/
SDG ZERO HUNGER
SDG GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Professor Lynn Morris
IMPACT, RELEVANCE AND AND OPEN ACCESS
Wits academics produced a significant number of research publications in 2023, including in high-impact journal articles and books, continuing to be one of the major producers of new knowledge on the African continent.
Over 90% of our publications are linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting the relevance of our work.
Increasingly, our research is being published in Open Access journals through various initiatives, notably transformative agreements
with publishers to waive or reduce the article processing charges. The Wits Libraries are embracing new tools to measure impact, and together with the Wits Libraries, we are on a mission to increase researcher visibility by encouraging and assisting researchers to register an Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID).
PEOPLE POTENTIAL
Another important initiative has been the Centenary Postdoctoral Programme, which has significantly bolstered our postdoctoral
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Increasingly, our research is being published in Open Access journals through various initiatives, notably transformative agreements with publishers to waive or reduce the article processing charges.
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ENTRENCHING INNOVATION AND NURTURING RESEARCH TALENT
numbers. Over the last four years, we have had a four-fold growth in the number of postdoc scholars, contributing to a more vibrant postdoc culture at Wits.
Three years ago, we established the Vitamin C programme to incentivize young researchers to apply for a National Research Foundation (NRF) rating, and it’s starting to show benefits. We have an increasing number of young researchers joining our information workshops, asking forassistance,andapplyingforNRFratings. We are also making great strides in the
space of postgraduate (PG) education with the introduction of programmes that facilitate interdisciplinarity, innovation and an inclusive graduate culture.
OurPGorientationprogrammewaswelcomed bystudents,particularlythosenewtoWits.We have also modernised information systems and infrastructure to enable evidence-based interventions, and we are thinking more holistically about the funding of PG education.
In 2023, the Academy of Science of South Africa inducted 16 new members from Wits and several of our researchers won major awards, some of which are mentioned below:
Professor Jill Adler received the NRF Lifetime Achievement Award.
Professor Jennifer Fitchett received the Royal Society of South Africa’s 2023 Meiring Naudé Medal, which recognises outstanding early career scientists under 35-years-old.
Professor Yahya Choonara was awarded the AAS Olusegun Obasanjo Prize for Scientific Discovery and Technological Innovation.
At the National Science and Technology forum (NSTF)South32 Research Awards, Professor Roger Deane won the Communication category, Professor Nosipho Moloto was cowinner in the Engineering Research Capacity Development category, and Professor Andrew Thatcher won in the Green Economy category.
Professor Nosipho Moloto was joint winner of the 2023 NSTF-South32 ‘Science Oscars’ Engineering Research Capacity Development category.
‘Social justice warrior’ Professor Vishwas Satgar won the HSRC USAf CEO’s Award in recognition of his commitment to ending hunger, fighting climate change and securing a safer, better future.
The HSRC and USAf named Dr Hannah Dawson, a social scientist in Wits’ Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, as the winner of the Emerging Researcher category.
Professor Claudia Polese received the Order of the Star of Italy.
Professor Roger Deane, Chair In Radio Astronomy in the School of Physics, won the Communication category at the NSTF-South32 Research Awards in 2023.
PROFESSOR LEWIS
ASHWAL WON THE 2023 THE 2023 VICE-CHANCELLOR’S RESEARCH AWARD.
Professor Cathi Albertyn received the Postgraduate Teaching Award. Professor Andrew Thatcher in the Faculty of Humanities and Professor Craig Sheridan in the Faculty of Science won the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Innovation and Social Impact.
PROFESSOR CATHI ALBERTYN’S SARCHI CHAIR IN EQUALITY, LAW AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, WAS RENEWED FOR A SECOND FIVE-YEAR TERM UNTIL 2028.
Professor Craig Sheridan (pictured) in the Faculty of Science, in collaboration with Professor Andrew Thatcher in the Faculty of Humanities, won the 2023 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Innovation and Social Impact.
TO MARKET
In 2023, we launched the Wits Innovation Centre, and we continue to build the innovation ecosystem; we want more of our researchers to become actively involved in innovation and to take their research into the market. We celebrated our innovators on World IP day by awarding prizes to over 65 staff and student innovators, recognising those who had been grantedpatentsorhadtheirpatentscited,aswell as those who have successfully commercialised Wits IP.
As we highlight the achievements of our researchers and innovators, it is important to acknowledge the support and collaboration that make these accomplishments possible. Research thrives on partnerships, mentorship, and the sharing of ideas. I would like to extend my immense gratitude to all our funders, collaborators, academic peers, and the Wits community for their unwavering support of the research enterprise.
Dr Adam Pantanowitz
Professor Barry Dwolatzky(1952-2023)
Chancellor: Research and Innovation, Professor Lynn Morris, and Professor Barry Dwolatzky, who passed away shortly after the WIC’s establishment. Much of Professor Dwolatzky’s work is encapsulated within the WIC, and we extend our enduring gratitude for all that he did in driving the innovation ecosystem at Wits forward.
Professor Barry Dwolatzky was the first Director for Innovation Strategy at Wits. The WIC was formally established in 2023 and included the appointments of Dr Adam Pantanowitz as Director and Mr Letlotlo Phohole as the Senior Programme Manager. Several significant milestones were achieved in 2023:
“One of the most significant ways to impact society is to take a formidable idea and wrap it in a renewable and sustainable business model.
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• The appointment of Professor Barry Dwolatzky as the first Director for Innovation Strategy.
• The Wits Strategic Plan for Innovation was conceptualised, developed and launched.
• The Angela and David Fine Chair in Innovation, with an endowment of R50 million, was secured.
• The new Wits Entrepreneurship Clinic, one of the first initiatives aligned with the Strategic Plan for Innovation, was launched.
• The new Wits Innovation Centre was established, and its leadership announced.
• The first Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship course was offered.
• The proclamation of the first Industry Lab – the Telkom Industry Solutions Lab.
• The first Wits Innovators meeting took place.
• The conferral of an honorary doctorate upon Dr David Fine.
• The formal launch of the Wits Innovation Centre, including a media and publicity campaign.
ESTBLISHMENT OF THE WITS INNOVATION CENTRE
THIS REPORT ELABORATES ON THESE 2023 MILESTONES, SPECIFICALLY REGARDING:
INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WIC: STRUCTURE STAFFING GOVERNACE INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT
MIDSTREAM ACTIVITIES
UPSTREAM ACTIVITIES
DOWNSTREAM ACTIVITIES
At the time of writing, we have ±R1.5 million in reserve in our account due to careful expenditure and recovery of many costs. We have been more conservative while we establish a deep understanding of the finances and ecosystem and intend to be more aggressive going into 2024.
Dr David Fine
Namesake of the Angela and David Fine Chair in Innovation at the WIC launch in 2023. We launched in March 2023 with an event that coincided with the visit and awarding of an honorary doctorate to Dr David Fine. At the launch, we hosted a variety of people from industry and academia for an engaging event.
STRUCTURE
At the onset, the WIC combined existing teams from within the University ecosystem. The Innovation Support team was brought in from Wits Commercial Enterprise, comprising Innovation Support managers who manage and facilitate Intellectual Property (IP) processes. The Transnet Centre for Systems Engineering (TCSE) and Transnet Matlafatšo Centre (TMC) teams and facilities were combined to give the WIC practical skills in terms of lecturing, practical entrepreneurial skills, and prototyping.
STAFFING
The Wits IP portfolio was brought into the University from Wits Enterprise. The WIC sits at the heart of the innovation strategy at the University and is thus surrounded by the innovation ecosystem, as shown in Figure 1.
We launched the WIC with staff from a few different entities at Wits, namely: the Innovation Support team, previously at Wits Commercial Enterprise, which is a wholly owned Wits entity; staff from the former Transnet Matlafatšo Centre; staff from the former Transnet Centre for Software Engineering; and some key academic staff from around the University.
GOVERNACE
In 2023, we considered governance structures for the WIC and the WIC’s operation in the innovation ecosystem. We intended that the WIC sits within the University, but also has a presence within industry (and acts as an industry link to the University). This is indicated in Figure 2, with our industry and academic links outside of the University.
• South African Future Trust, with which we had extensive engagement towards funding Wits programmes in future, and the Trust has an open door around funding Wits initiatives, including looking at spinouts.
• Simple.Capital and Koya Capital engagements linked to the Wits Innovation Fund
• Ampath South Africa engagements focused on business development towards launching a product.
• L’Oreal South Africa engagements linked to a series of innovation projects.
• GreenTech engagements linked to innovations by Professor of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Yahya Choonara.
Forums at which the Chair delivered talks in 2023 are listed below. Broad topics covered at each forum include Cultivating Innovation; Promoting and Developing Innovation; and Innovation Work at Wits (including for the Disabled):
• Wits Senate
• Stanford SPARK Conference at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
• Falling Walls
• Mind Shift Mining Conference
• SANLiC
• Wits Disabilities Interest Group
• INCE
• Redhill School
• Telkom SATNAC Conference
• SingularityU Prague Summit
• YPO Prague
• SingularityU Executive Programme
• NEXT Biosciences
UPSTREAM ACTIVITIES: EDUCATION PROGRAMMES
• In 2023, the PGDipSci in Innovation and Entrepreneurship was established, with Professor Christo Doherty from the School of Arts seconded into the WIC to be the course coordinator. This programme is designed to enable researchers and aspirant entrepreneurs to fast-track ideas to market by teaching them how to plan, build, protect, and monetise innovation.
• A cohort of ±30 Wits students and staff attended a twoweek Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship course run by the WIC in March 2023. The course ran on campus with mostly postgraduate students and staff members and focussed on innovation in the biomedical context.
• Professor Lynn Morris and Dr Adam Pantanowitz with the Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship course 2023 cohort.
• A programme we ran previously with some success as a pilot was the Lean Launchpad (LLP) and we have approachedtheSAFutureTrusttowardscreatingaMOOC, which will facilitate innovators and entrepreneurs going to the market.
• We inherited a vibrant Monthly Seminar Series from the Science Faculty and Innovation team and continued in 2023. Attendance varied from ±40 to ±140 members of the Wits community. The WIC is formulating a website with videos of these talks to be accessible online.
MIDSTREAM ACTIVITIES SUPPORTING INNOVATION
INNOVATION HUBS
In2023,midstreamactivitiescomprisedinnovationhubs, which are a new structure at Wits for interdisciplinary work. Hubs therefore do not exist within a single faculty but rather are structured across faculty or with industry. At Wits, four hubs (interdisciplinary/industry-based) began this year:
• GovTech Hub, run within the Tayarisha Centre for Digital Governance, Wits School of Governance
• Diagnostic Innovation Hub (healthcare): being run by Professor Wendy Stevens
• FinTech Hub
• HealthTech Hub
The Telkom Industry Solutions Lab, an industry-specific hub, is a contract with Telkom to initiate a new Industry Solutions Lab which has been established within the WIC.Thisisauniquehubinthatitconsistsofanindustry partnerandisgearedtosolveproblemswithanindustrial focus to the benefit of Telkom in the coming years.
THE INNOVATION SUPPORT UNIT WITHIN THE WIC
Inthe2023reportingperiod,34commercialopportunity disclosures/idea registrations were received:
• Faculty of Science (9), Research and Innovation (3)
• FacultyofEngineeringandtheBuiltEnvironment(12)
• Faculty of Health Sciences (9)
• Faculty of Humanities (2)
• Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (1)
The faculties contributing the most to the innovation disclosures are the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment and the Faculty of Science, with 12 and 9 disclosures respectively. This suggests a strong innovation drive in these areas.
Thereare90activeinnovations(theseareopportunitieswhere active efforts are being made by the researchers, supported by the Innovation Support Unit in the WIC, to develop and commercialise the innovation). Of these, 16 are associated with patent applications which have either been granted and are in force, and/or are currently being examined in one or more countries.
The Wits Innovation Postdoctoral Fellowships went ahead in 2023, and Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Diaa Ahmed Mohamed Ahmedien produced and interesting piece of work which can be seen in an online documentary produced by Professor Christo Doherty. Two other fellowships regrettably fell through due to the postdocs’ emigration and split focus respectively.
The seed funding portion for the WIC Innovation Grants will be budgeted for 2024 and will hopefully align with the establishment of the Wits Venture Fund, and with the South African SME Fund via the University Technology Fund (UTF) investment Wits may make in 2024.
DOWNSTREAM ACTIVITIES
Amongstthedownstreamactivitiesin2023aretheformationof theWinnovationLabswithintheWICtoenableprototypingand practical innovation. In addition, we established the Stanford SPARK programme – a partnership between university and industry experts – formalised by our being signatories to the SPARK Charter.
One of the most significant ways to impact society is to take a formidable idea and wrap it in a renewable and sustainable business model. This is sometimes referred to as ‘social entrepreneurship’. These businesses can be a way to change society in important ways and, as such, should be considered in the spirit of Wits’ For Good strategy.
Just as Wits is working to impact society through enhancing its innovation ecosystem via the WIC, spinouts/startups are frequently inspired during research work. Arguably, amongst the most exciting developments in the WIC in 2023, were efforts to secure seed funding as well as enable spinouts and startups. These developments serve as evidence of research with impact.
DOWNSTREAM ACTIVITIES
The total number of ongoing seed funded (SF) projects is 10, and the total of seed funding raised in 2023 is R5 137 503.90. The table below is a summary of the ongoing seed funded projects active in 2023 and describes the research that inspired these innovations:
Mr Collins Sagurua/ Prof. Sehliselo Ndlovu
Recovery of PGMs from catalytic converters – Melting catalytic converters to recover Platinum Group Metals, focusing on temperature control and solid-liquid ratio for efficiency.
Quality assurance for TB LAM assay –Tuberculosis Lipoarabinomannan (LAM – a glycolipid found in the outer cell wall of mycobacteria) assay
Peripheral nerve repair – Design of a biodegradable nerve conduit implant for nerve repair.
Efficient parabolic trough receiver –Development of an efficient parabolic trough with an innovative absorber pipe. The project is led by a physicist doing engineering work. Focus on adding value to the energy ecosystem, potentially through waste-to-diesel conversion.
Prof. Marianne Cronje
Nkanyiso Mlalazi
Antimicrobial wound dressing –multifunctional nanocomposite scaffolds that are antimicrobial and promote rapid wound healing. Designed to be placed inside wounds, biodegrading over time and eliminating the need for dressing changes.
Mine tailings remediation using Moringa and organic compost – this innovative approach to environmental remediation uses vetiver grass treated with moringa to remove metals from mine tailings.
Prof. Nosipho Moloto
Efficient solar cells – Multifunctional nanocomposite scaffolds that are antimicrobial and promote rapid wound healing.
STARTUPS AND SPINOUTS
SMARTSPOTQ
In 2023, a great deal of effort went into SmartSpotQ, an existing Wits startup that works to provide quality control material and processes for laboratories around the world that test for infectious diseases. We worked to formalise and rectify payment of license fees, and to regularise equity allocation to the inventors.
THE RHISOTOPE PROJECT THE
The WIC worked extensively on the spinout for The Rhisotope Project, which was formed in 2023. The intention of the business is to protect rhinos and other wildlife through small radioactive injectables into keratinous (e.g., the rhino’s horn) parts of their bodies. If these are smuggled, they trigger the global nuclear terrorism infrastructure. The objective is to reduce poaching and there is a business model to support The Rhisotope Project.
Wildlife veterinarian, Dr Pierre Bester (left) and the Rhino Orphanage team monitors a sedated black rhino while Professor James Larkin (right) from Wits University prepares to insert radioisotopes into its horn.
The table below names the companies associated with the WIC in 2023 and describes the spinouts and deal structure for each:
COMPANY
AltMet
Peco Power
Button Optics
SmartSpot
Cleantouch
SPINOUT
Platinum Group Metals recovery from Scrapped Catalytic Converters (Engineering)
Scalable Microgrid (Engineering)
Structured light innovations (Science)
Supplier of TB controls (Health Sciences)
Antimicrobial coatings (Engineering)
Water Treatment Plant (Science)
PIMECO
Dynamic Aerotech
Rhisotope
GreenX
Passive AMD Sampler (Science)
Laser-Shock Peening Technology (Engineering)
Monitoring for the smuggling of rare wildlife substances such as Rhino Horn
Moringa extraction technology (Science)
DEAL STRUCTURE
Exclusive rights to a technology for recovering Platinum group metals, developed by Sehliselo Ndlovu and Collins Saguru.
Equity arrangement involving the University, innovators, Umbono (industry partner), and Wits Enterprise.
Equity arrangement with Wits Enterprise, the University, innovators, and University Technology Fund (UTF). UTF has preference shares.
Equity arrangement between the University and the entrepreneur
No company incorporated yet. Piloting innovation at Midvaal Private Hospital.
Letter of intent for exclusive rights to IP. Formal transaction pending
Letter of intent for exclusive rights to IP. Formal transaction pending
Entrepreneurs led by Sibongile Sambo partnered with Wits. Letter of intent in place.
Entrepreneur Jess Babich with Wits Prof. James Larkin as Scientific Advisor established a spinout with a Wits commercial deal in place.
Company deregistered due to funding delays Working on reactor designs with TIA funding.
The WIC has had an interesting year. We began by combining various teams from various parts of the University, taking on a great deal of momentum created by the Deputy ViceChancellor: Research and Innovation, Professor Lynn Morris, the late Professor Barry Dwolatzky, and others within the Wits Community who worked toward these efforts.
We focused on maintaining and delivering these projects in 2023, while working to integrate as our own team and find our direction. We look forward to 2024, when we can focus on growing and achieving our vision of creating a strongly entrepreneurial and innovative University in the heart of Africa.
POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH STRATEGY Professor Brett Bowman
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The year 2023 ushered in the development of a new five-year strategy to advance postgraduate research capacity and an inclusive postgraduate research culture at Wits.
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POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH CAPACITY
Growing the number of postgraduate students is a primary objective of the University’s 2022 strategic plan.
Between 2012 and 2022, the overall postgraduate numbers grew by 71%, which fundamentally reshaped the student body:
In 2012, postgraduates comprised 32% of the University’s 26,992 students.
By December 2022, there were 16,681 students enrolled in postgraduate programmes, comprising 40% of the approximately 41,492 students registered in that year.
Furthermore, the number of staff able to supervise doctorates (i.e., staff with PhDs), only grew by 41% against a PhD graduation rate that had increased by 83%. This increase was accompanied by a significant decrease in state funding, resulting in greater numbers of academically eligible students being unable to register.
In recognising this upward trajectory, but also the serious challenges it presented, in 2018 the University set in place a five-year postgraduate strategy, which aimed to create a swift, secure and stimulating postgraduate student experience.
Building on this momentum, 2023 ushered in the development of a new five-year strategy aimed at advancing postgraduate research capacity and an inclusive postgraduate research culture at Wits.
To this end, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation, seconded a dedicated strategist to her office and compiled the institution’s first ever standalone postgraduate research strategy (20232027).
This growth significantly outpaced supervisory capacity, with the number of permanent academic staff increasing by only 17% as depicted in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Growth in staff and student numbers and FTEs by year, 2011-2023
POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH STRATEGY IN 2023 IN
The new strategy aims to produce socially engaged postgraduate thinkers and innovators equipped to use knowledge for change in South Africa, the continent, and across the world, through two primary objectives:
1. To develop world-class research capacity in our postgraduate students
2. To build a facilitative and inclusive graduate culture
These objectives will be achieved through three interrelated activities that are intended to fundamentally reimagine Wits as the postgraduate destination of choice. These are:
1. Implementing programmes that facilitate interdisciplinarity, innovation, and an inclusive graduate culture
2. Modernising information systems to enable evidence-based interventions
3. Increasing the availability of and access to funding opportunities.
Having secured endorsement for the strategic plan from Senate in December 2022, much of 2023 was spent designing implementation and resourcing strategies across each of the three domains. Significant progress was achieved in each during 2023, as this report describes.
PROGRAMME EXPANSION AND DIVERSIFICATION
Postgraduate research at Wits has largely been informedbytheapprenticeshipmodelofsupervision. However,giventhegrowthinnumbersandtheclear gapinsupervisioncapacity,aswellastheplateauing of its outputs, the University has committed to developing programmes that:
To drive this expansion, a postgraduate education specialist was seconded to the Research Office. During 2023, the specialist proposed and was awarded significant funding to begin developing a Wits Doctoral Academy, which will be piloted in 2024. The academy will represent an advanced suite of modules that will need to be completed by PhD students as part of the degree life cycle.
As per the increasing amount of evidence in higher education, this curriculated approach will increase the quality, and decrease the completion times, of the University’s doctoral programmes. Such a focus will require strong collaborations with the Centre for Learning, Teaching and Development, the Quality andAcademicPlanningOffice,andotherprocesses in academic affairs.
The diversification of programmes will also be accompanied by an emphasis on postgraduate publication, which grew nominally in 2023 (see Figure 2 below). The faculties are increasingly encouraging such publication, especially at the doctoral level. In 2023, new standing orders in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment require publication for PhD graduation.
We will also continue to pursue international partnerships to enhance the global quality of our postgraduate experience. To this end, and in partnership with the Office for Strategic Partnerships and Internationalisation, the joint degree processes were designed to optimise efficiencies.
MODERNISING RESEARCH SYSTEMS TO ENABLE EVIDENCE-BASED INTERVENTIONS
In line with Wits’ strategic focus on research intensiveness and growing postgraduate numbers, the University has invested heavily in the development of a modern postgraduate research tracking system. The Wits Student Information Management System contains its own Graduate Research Management Module (GRM).
This module has been customized to track the fulllifecycleofpostgraduateresearch,toenable early indications of backlogs, bottlenecks, and general impediments to efficient throughput. ThesystemwentliveinMay2023.GRMwillroll out across all higher degrees, as the institution familiarizes itself with the enhanced functionality and advanced monitoring and evaluation capacity of the system.
INCREASING THE AVAILABILITY OF AND ACCESS TO FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Funding for postgraduate students remains a priority. Without a significant increase in the funding pool for postgraduate studies, Wits will not achieve its goal of growing its postgraduate numbers. Funding pressures were exacerbated by decreasing annual support for postgraduate studentsfromtheNationalResearchFoundation (NRF). In response, the University committed to an integrated postgraduate funding model that will pool sourced funding and disseminate these through a dedicated, searchable funding portal (https://www.wits.ac.za/funding-portal/).
An analysis of the uptake of the portal at the time of writing is encouraging, with over 13,000 visits during 2023.
Alongside these efforts, the Academic Affairs Office and Research Office have committed to growing joint degrees funded by international donors. These partnerships also form an important part of the University’s internationalisation strategy and complement the focus on expanding and diversifying the postgraduate programmes described above.
In addition to these new postgraduate research collaborations, the Offices of the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation continue to seek out strategic allies and funding in collaboration with the Development and Fundraising Office. In 2023, this resulted in the establishment of the WitsEdinburgh Sustainable African Futures Doctoral
Programme (WESAF – see https://www.wits. ac.za/wesaf/).
This flagship programme, funded by the Mastercard Foundation, will graduate 48 MSc by Research and 30 PhD students collaboratively trained across faculties, sectors and disciplines by leading researchers at Wits and the University of Edinburgh.
Although this scale of funding and array of partnerships are significant in addressing the postgraduate funding crisis in the University, much more must be done to sustain our knowledge pipeline, including establishing a sustainable teaching assistant programme.
Dr Robin Drennan
RESEARCH BY THE NUMBERS IN 2023
It is my pleasure to present this report focusing on the research contributions made by Wits staff and students in 2023. The essence of the report will be characterised by two major trends: exceptionally high-quality research publications, together with moderate growth. The all-important research impact, given that the University’s research strategy calls for ‘growing amounts of research with impact’ is summarised in the case studies presented elsewhere in this annual report.
PRODUCTIVITY
Looking at major trends, none can be more significant than the observation that the abnormalities in publishing research, brought on by the COVID lockdown of 2020, have now worked themselves out of the system. The plot of the number of journal articles indexed in Scopus (the largest index of DHET accredited journals), Figure 1, shows that the productivity in 2020 and 2021 was 9% above expected productivity in each year, based on the average annual increase of 168 publications per year, and significantly (-13%) lower in 2022. However, in 2023 Wits people authored 3 275 peer reviewed journal articles which is only 3% less than the average expected increase.
Allinclusive,Witsauthorspublished4332itemsrecordedintheScopusindexin2023. Besides the journal articles, which constituted 76% of the publications, the breakdown of the type of publications is shown in Figure 2. It is good to see that a quarter (i.e., 260 publications) of these are in the form of books, including monographs and chapters in edited books.
Figure 1: Number of publications other than journal articles
Figure 2: Number of publications other than journal articles
Another consistent trend observed in the 2023 publications is the disciplinary spread. The five most common disciplinary areas are shown in Figure 3 confirming once again that medical researchisdominantatWits(39%ofallpublications). Thisisfollowedbyasignificantcontribution in the social sciences (19% of all publications). The next cluster of three almost equal areas consists of the physics and astronomy (10%), engineering (9%) and biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology (8%).
A different way to examine the range of disciplinary areas is to view a word cloud crafted of citation topics over a five-year period including 2023 (Figure 4).
It remains important to review the units of research as measured through the 2015 DHET policy on subsidising research outputs, not at least because this policy is currently under review. Wits submitted 1 992 units for publications in 2023. This number is 13% smaller than the number submitted in 2022 but represents a 1% growth over a 5-year period, and a 31% growth over 10 years. The total number of units is constituted by 84% units for journal articles, monographs 7%, chapters in edited books 6% and conference proceedings 3%.
Figure 3: Disciplinary spread of 2023 publications (Scopus)
Figure 4: Citation topic word cloud
MEASURES OF INTEREST AND QUALITY
It is pleasing to observe that amongst the journal articles published the overwhelming focus on international publications. In this context, international publications are defined as publications in journals that are indexed rather than in journals in the so called DHET list of local journals that are not indexed. Thus 96.2% of the units submitted are for international journals. Figure 5 shows the breakdown of the journal articles in different indexes.
TurningattentiontoacademicinterestintheWitspublications,aproxyforquality,itisnecessary to consider the Web of Science index. This is important given that most of the Wits authored articles are in this index. The following are important metrics:
• 8 591 citations were recorded in 2023
• Only 520 of these were self-citations (6%)
• These citations were recorded in 7 511 citing articles
• Giving an average of 2.27 citations per article
• And an h-index of 31
Figure 5: Distribution of indexes used in 2023 (the smallest slither is for the Norwegian list)
Web of Science
SciELO SA
IBSS
Another interest indicator is the category normalised impact score (CNIS). The CNIS is calculated by computing the average number of citations for all papers in the same subject area, document type (article, conference paper, book chapter, etc), and publication year, and then each paper is compared to the average. A score of one is the norm. Figure 6 compares the CNIS for Wits publications to that of all South African and global research publications. Wits’ normalised citation impact is on average 36% higher than the global norm.
Finally, Figure 7 shows the range of documents characterised journal impact factors (JIF) per year. The growth in quartile 1 journals is good to see.
Figure 7: Number of Wits authored documents published in JIF quartiles per year
Figure 6: Category Normalised Impact Score
Professor Jason Cohen
FACULTY OF COMMERCE, LAW AND MANAGEMENT
The Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (CLM) has once again excelled in its research achievements asitcontinuestoembedacultureofresearch excellence among staff and students.
Over 72% of our academics (excluding the Margo Steele School of Accountancy) hold PhDs, and we continue to make progress even in our traditionally professionally oriented schools. Additionally, we’ve reduced our non-research producing staff by over 30% year-on-year and increased our new postdoctoral hires from two in 2022 to 16 in 2023.
These efforts have resulted in high-quality andhigh-volumeresearchin2023,withCLM exceeding its 2022 research output by 2%, achieving 291.13 units, and within reach of our 300-unit benchmark.
Our research outputs reflect our impact on multiple thematic areas and the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. These include our works on economic growth and inequality (SDGs 1, 8, 9 and 10) pursued in part by the Derek Schrier Chair in Economic Development, PPS Chair in Health Economics, Helen Suzman Chair of Political Economy, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, Centre for African Philanthropy, and GRT-INSPIRED, a research entity facilitating data access in urban communities.
Our works address environment and climate (SDGs 7, 12, 13 and 6), supported by the Claude Leon Chair in Earth Justice and Stewardship, the ABSA Chair in Future Energy,theAfricanEnergyLeadershipCentre, and research on sustainable consumption, environmental and resource economics, and environmental law.
Research on digital transformation (SDG 9) is gaining momentum with our Chair in Digital Business, Firstrand Chair in Financial Data Science, Fintech Hub, and Tayarisha Centre on Digital Governance (see Research Highlight following).
In the area of democracy and governance (SDG 5, 16), we host the SARChI Chair in Equality, Law, and Social Justice, and numerous researchers in gender studies. Our centres, including the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, CLEAR-AA, and the Good Governance Academy, along with projects on state capture, corruption, and SOE reform, exemplify our commitment.
InadditiontoourSchools,ourresearchentities makeanimportantcontributiontoouroutputs, including our Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, Centre for Learning Evaluation and Results (CLEAR-AA), and Teaching and Learning Centre. Further demonstrating our commitment to excellence, CLM currently boasts 56 NRF-rated researchers, including three B1 and seven B2 researchers, and we raisedR41millioninexternalresearchincome. raisedR41millioninexternalresearchincome. Our research outputs reflect our impact
In Accountancy, there are numerous papers on corporate governance, while our Law School focuses on local governance and the future of democracy. The works of our legal scholars continue to be cited in the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeals, exemplifying our impact.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT
Tayarisha – Room for Contemplating our Digital Transformation and its Governance
tayarisha (kiSwahili) / tajari∫a / From tayari + -isha Verb: to prepare, to make ready
The new Tayarisha Research Group is framed as an interdisciplinary response to governing a digital society in a time of polycrisis. At its core, the idea is for Tayarisha to offer a serious and focused space for research, learning and dialogue on Africa’s digital transformation and its governance. These are considered from various perspectives, spaces of agency and use, both critical and pragmatic. Underpinning this focus on technological change is a concern about governance that is anticipatory, taking a long and systems view.
In 2023, Tayarisha embarked on a range of research-based activities, including initiating research projects on various digital themes, launching a policy dialogues series (including the South Africa-European Union Digital Dialogues in partnership with Denmark, one of the top-rated countries in e-government indices), the monthly Lunchbox Sessions series of seminars, and establishing a PhD cohort to begin community engagement, sharing and support among students studying new digitalrelated topics.
The programme of work is not, however, confined to academia. These projects are significant towards supporting evidence-based conversations between academia, governments and civil society, and between Africans and our international partners in an increasingly geopolitically complicated digital world.
South Africa’s award to host the United Nations’ 2024 International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV) conference is an important early recognition of the initiative,andavaluableplatformforAfricatoengage the world about emerging digital economies and issues, and how societies and governments can be more anticipatory regarding the opportunities and implications of technological change.
Tayarisha managers Dr Halfdan Lynge (left) and Rekgotsofetse Chikane (right) with authors from the inaugural Working Paper series, and Hanns Seidel Foundation sponsor, Karin April (2nd from right).
FACULTY OF COMMERCE, LAW & MANAGEMENT
2023 RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Professor Cora Hoexter
Professor Cora Hoexter, in the School of Law, during 2023 was cited in 62 South African cases, including two in the Constitutional Court and two in the Supreme Court of Appeal. She presented an online guest lecture on “Major Developments in Judicial Review” to the PanAfrican Bar Association of Southern Africa and facilitated a workshop on aspects of administrative justice for the Gauteng Department of Health and its Appeals Advisory Committee on Labour and Private Licensing.
Professor Daniela Casale
Professor Daniela Casale, in the SchoolofEconomicsandFinance, was elected as a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) in 2023, the same year she received the Wits-University of Edinburgh African research fellowship.
Professor Jonathan Klaaren
ProfessorJonathanKlaaren,intheSchoolofLaw,wasB2 rated by the National Research Foundation in 2023 and he made several submissions and presentations to Parliament, together with an interdisciplinary team of experts,regardingthePublicProcurementBill–National Treasury’s effort to comprehensively reform South Africa’s regulation of government contracting.
Professor Moinak Maiti
ProfessorsIsmailFasanyaandMoinakMaiti(pictured),Schoolof Economics and Finance, were both appointed as associate editors for Springer Nature’s Future Business Journal, hostedbytheFutureUniversity,Egypt.
Dr Sanya Samtani
Dr Sanya Samtani, in the School of Law, appeared before the South African National Committee of Provinces and provincial legislatures to present her research on copyright and human rights regarding the Copyright Amendment Bill. In recognition of her expertise in the field – particularly her role as advisor to Blind SA in the successful Constitutional Court litigation, Blind SA v Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, she was invited by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to present her work on copyright and disability rights at the National Conference on the Constitution held in South Africa in March 2023.
Professor Yudhvir Seetharam
Associate Professor Yudhvir Seetharam, in the School of Economics and Finance, became the Executive Editor of Springer Nature: Business & Economics, in 2023, and was appointed as the Editor-in-Charge of the South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences.
Professor Pamela Andanda
Professor Pamela Andanda, School of Law, was the keynote speaker at the UNESCO and the African Bioethics Network Stakeholders’ workshop on strengthening capacity in research ethics in Africa held at the University of Nairobi in December 2023. Her keynote presentation was titled “Contextualization of bioethics in Africa to strengthen consistentpractice”. Andandaalso received a US$100,000 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation research grant for a project titled “Data governance and regulatory frameworks in Africa”. The project aims to identify common weaknesses withindatagovernancestructuresofleadingdatainstitutions and key stakeholders in Sub-Saharan Africa’s health data
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
The Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (FEBE) at Wits University is positioned and known for the development and implementation of innovative built environment and engineering solutions that drive modernization and industrialization.
The Faculty acknowledges the existence of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), which align with three critical areas of research in the FEBE pursued with more coordinated vigour and purpose:
(i) water resource management
(ii) a just energy transition (iii) digitalization.
Accordingly, the FEBE held its first research seminar on 25 and 26 October 2023, themed Excellence and Relevance in Research and Innovation. The seminar enabled scholars and industry practitioners to engage and showcase their work.
The FEBE covers a broad range of research areas across various schools and research entities. Some topical research areas include, but are not limited to:
• Artificial intelligence/remote sensing
• Sustainable process engineering
• Materials science
• Advanced manufacture
• Clean coal technology
• Waste beneficiation
• Urban and regional policy, planning and governance
• Bioinformatics and high-performance computing.
Professor Thokozani Majozi
There is no doubt that NRF rating is a valuable tool for benchmarking the quality of South African researchers against the best in the world. The FEBE has several flourishing as well as internationally renowned researchers.In2023,theFEBEhas51NationalResearch Foundation (NRF)-rated researchers, including:
• 2 A-rated
• 10 B-rated
• 32 C-rated
• 7 Y-rated.
A number of FEBE researchers had a comparably significant number of publications in 2023 in their various areas of research.
For example, Associate Professor Yusuf Isa and Dr Desmond Klenam in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, each published 19 journal papers as captured in Scopus.
ProfessorVishalSharmaintheSchoolofMechanical,IndustrialandAeronauticalEngineering co-authored the paper, Artificial intelligence systems for tool condition monitoring in machining: Analysis and critical review, which generated the most citations (104 citations) in the Faculty.
In 2023, more than half of the research papers published in the Faculty appeared in journals with high impact factors; 29% in quartile 1 and 35% in quartile 2.
In addition, Web of Science data show that 2.49% of the Faculty’s research outputs were contained in the top 1% of the publications, based on citations by category, year, and document type, which is more than a global baseline of 1.15%.
The Faculty is at the forefront of moulding engineering and built environment professionals who,aftercompletion,arereadytodevelopinnovativeandappropriatesolutionsforsocietal well-being within and beyond South Africa’s borders.
In this regard, at the end of 2023, the Faculty had enrolled across the seven schools:
2108
39
Dr Desmond Klenam in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering published 19 Scopusindexed journal papers in 2023.
OUR POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS HAVE ALSO CONTINUED TO PERFORM EXCEPTIONALLY WELL NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY. FOR EXAMPLE:
Ms Janina Kanjee
MsJaninaKanjeeintheSchoolofCivilandEnvironmental Engineering won the prestigious Young Concrete Researcher Award at the 2023 Young Concrete Researchers, Engineers, and Technologist Symposium (YCRETS)inStellenbosch.Theawardisgiventoayoung researcher who is making a significant contribution to the advancement of cement and concrete through research excellence in the South African environment.
The productivity of postdoctoral fellows in the Faculty in 2023 was closer to the average productivity of postdoctoral fellows in the University of 0.3 units/postdoctoral fellow and was also closer in terms of actual papers (0.9 papers/postdoctoral fellow). Researchers in the Faculty are not only focused on the production of knowledge in their respective fields but are also involved in innovation by developing and marketing breakthrough products and services for adoption by customers.
The technological performance and/or innovation activities in the Faculty in 2023 are evidenced by13innovationdisclosures,30activeinnovations,andthreeincorporatedspin-outcompanies (one other spin-out company is yet to be incorporated). There are also several funding offers for technology development and commercialization.
The Faculty encourages industry partnerships and thus all seven schools seek and foster closer working relationships with industry, as well as identifying commercial opportunities for growth and income generation. The Faculty hosts two SARChI Chairs in hydrometallurgy and sustainable development, and spatial analysis and city planning respectively.
In 2023, the Faculty housed three externally funded centres and an institute (Wits Mining Institute) which hosts several laboratories and/or centres. However, the Centre of Excellence in Strong Materials was officially closed in September 2023 and, under the new criteria for research entities, the University Research and Innovation Committee (UR&IC) regularized the Centre for Urban and Built Environment Studies (CUBES) as a research group in October 2023.
TheFEBEhasoneotherUR&IC-recognisedresearchgroup(theMineralResourcesGovernance ResearchGroup)andoneresearchunit,theGreenEngineeringandIndustrialEcologyResearch Unit, recognised in October 2023.
The Transnet Centre for Systems Engineering (TCSE) and Transnet Matlafatšo Centre, formerly hosted by the FEBE, were officially relocated to the Wits Innovation Centre (WIC) in April 2023.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT 2023 RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Professor Philip Harrison
In 2023, Professor Philip Harrison, the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning in the School of Architecture and Planning, published a book titled “Governing complex city-regions in the 21st Century”
.
Dr Mitchell Cox
Forhisearlycareerleadershipandacademiccitizenship in optics and photonics, Dr Mitchell Cox, in the School of Electrical and Information Engineering, was named by the Optica Worldwide Foundation as an Optica Ambassador, of which there are fewer than 100 in the world and only one other in Africa.
He also received the prestigious Friedel Sellschop fellowship in 2023, in recognition of his exceptional research and his potential to become an international leader in the field of structured light optical communications.
Separately, he and colleagues published “Quantum transport of high-dimensional spatial information with a nonlinear detector” in Nature Communications in December 2023. He is co-founder of the Wits Optical Communication Lab.
ProfessorYunus Ballim
The Tirisano Construction Fund Technical Capacity and Engineering Bursaries Programme awarded R4,5 million in funding for three years to the Cement-Based Materials Research Programme at Wits and the University of Cape Town. Wits researchersincludeEmeritusProfessorinConstruction Materials, Yunus Ballim; Head of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor Mike Otieno; and Ms Janina Kanjee in the same School.
ProfessorTurgay Celik
ProfessorTurgayCelikreceivedthe AFRETEC NETWORK Inclusive andDigitalTransformationGrant Award worth US$100,000, for a project titled “Towards IoT-enabled privacy-preserving large-scale healthcare analytics in Africa: A use caseonmonitoringacardiovascular disease”.
Professor Paul Jenkins
Visiting Professor Paul Jenkins, formerly Head of the School of Architecture and Planning, coauthored the book,“Orderanddisorderinurban space and form: ideas, discourse, praxis and worldwide transfer”.
Professor Claudia Polese
Professor Claudia Polese in the School of Mechanical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering was awarded the Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy (Cavaliere OSI) in recognition of her efforts to expand national and international research collaborations.
Separately, in collaboration with the Thermal Spray Association of Southern Africa and Centerline SST, Polese with postdoctoral fellow Dr Michael Lucas hosted “The Cold Spray Conversation” at Wits – an industry and researcher open day for the revamped Cold Spray Laboratory. More than 80 leading industry experts across the globe, including Canada, USA, UK, Italy, Germany, India and Australia, attended.
Ms Zamageda Zungu
Ms. Zamageda Zungu in the School of Construction Economics and Management won the Best Presentation award at the 2023 Engineering Project and Production Management Conference in Auckland, New Zealand.
Professor Michell Gohnert
Professor Mitchell Gohnert in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering was admitted into the South African Academy of Engineering and named a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE, UK). This grading recognises members who make outstanding contributions to structural engineering through valuable research, inspirational teaching, and promoting the profession.
Professor Samuel Lsryea
Professor and Head of the School of Construction Economics and Management, Samuel Laryea, won the ConstructionIndustryDevelopmentBoardresearchgrant, valued at R4.5 million, to create the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Construction Industry Growth.
FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES
Professor Shabir Madhi
FACULTY OVERVIEW 2023
The Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) trains the highest numbers of clinicians, across multiple academic platforms in several provinces in South Africa. Our clinical staff, together with our researchers, comprise a diverse, inclusive research community that pursue groundbreaking research aimed at understanding, preventing and treating disease and ensuring equitable, quality healthcareforall.
Faculty research outputs continue to address our countries health challenges, leading to significant advancements and impact, both nationally and globally. During 2023, our continued commitment ensuredthatteachingandtraining,andthe focus on mentoring thenextgeneration of leadersinmedicineandscience,research, discovery,innovation,publichealthimpact andservicedelivery,continued.
Total research output units allocated to the Faculty by the SA Department of Higher Education and Training (DoHET) were 1122,13. There was a decrease in publication outputs but an increase in postgraduate completions during 2023, ascomparedto2022.
The Wits Donald Gordon Medical Research Institute was approved by the University Research and Innovation Committee (UR&IC), Senate and Council.
The Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey was transferred to the Health Sciences Research Office from the Faculty of Science.
Based on the Academic Ranking of World Universities Shanghai Ranking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2023, the Faculty was ranked 51-75 in Public Health, and 201-300 in Clinical Medicine.
The National Research Foundation rated 101 members of Faculty during 2023, with seven being A-rated scientists.
The 2023 Times Higher Education World University rankings placed the Faculty at 151-175 for clinical, preclinical and health subjects.
Total units awarded by the DoHET to the Faculty for 2023 amounted to 700,20 from publications including book chapters and books. This reflects a decrease of approximately 6,6% from 2022.
BREAKDOWN OF FHS GRADUATES BY SCHOOL AND DEGREE IN 2023
POSTGRADUATE STUDENT ENROLMENTS AND COMPLETIONS
Overall, the 941 postgraduate students that completed qualifications in 2023 included 106 PhD students, 532 Master’s by research or Masters by coursework and research report, 89 postgraduate diploma and 214 BHSc Hons.
Thepercentageofstudentsgraduatingcomparedtothe totalnumberofstudentsregisteredisnowapproximately 31,3%.Facultyhasimplementedvariousstrategiesover the last few years to improve the postgraduate student throughput rates, and to achieve a minimum of 30%. Data imply that most students are graduating within the prescribed time period.
ENHANCING THE POSTGRADUATE STUDENT EXPERIENCE
The Faculty has implemented various strategies to enhance the postgraduate student experience and increasepostgraduatethroughputs,increasesupervisory capacityandqualityandprovidepostgraduatestudents withatransformationalexperience.TheHealthSciences Research Office (HSRO), managed by the Assistant Dean for Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Support, continued to expand the services provided to postgraduate students (and staff). The HSRO staff provideface-to-faceandonlinecoursesandworkshops to assist the postgraduate students with research methodology, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, introductory and advanced biostatistics and research writing skills, and one-on-one biostatistics support.
INNOVATIONS AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
A key Faculty strategic research goal is to strengthen and contribute to the sustainability of the Faculty in the long term. This includes developing innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurial areas.
During 2023, nine innovation disclosures/idea registrations were submitted to the Wits Innovation Centre. Of these, 4 are under review, 3 were nonactionable, and two technologies were accepted.
THE FACULTY OF
HEALTH SCIENCES HOSTS SIX SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL RESEARCH UNITS
Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit (Prof.Patrick Arbuthnot)
Developmental Pathways to Health Research Unit (Prof.Shane Norris)
Rural Public Health and Health Transition Research Unit (Prof. Steve Tollman. Renewed in 2023)
Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit (Prof.Shabir Madhi)
Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science Research Unit (Prof.Karen Hofman. Renewed in 2023)
Antibody Immunity Research Unit (Prof.Lynn Morris)
Additionally, there are 30 Faculty/University recognised research entities, six DST/NRF
South African Chairs and one Centre of Excellence – Professor Linda Richter’s CoE Human Development. The Faculty hosts two SARChI Research Chairs (Professors Marta Nunes and Lizette Koekemoer).
The DST/NRF COE for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research (Professor Bavesh Kana) reached the end of its funding cycle.
NRF Rated Scientists 2023
The number of NRF-rated researchers in the Faculty of Health Sciences has remained constant the last few years. The Faculty of Health Sciences had a total of 101 NRF rated researchers in 2023, with 7 A-rated, 25 B-rated, 47 C-rated and 22 Y-rated. Four were re-ratings, and 15 were new ratings.
Contribution of postdoctoral fellows
The Faculty of Health Sciences hosted a total of 32 postdoctoral fellows throughout 2023, where they contributed to 67 publications – 1.5% (10,32/700.02) DoHET units to the Faculty. This is translated into an expected income of R 1 168 800.00 (down from R 1 853 541.00 from 43 postdocs in 2022) from the postdocs for the University in 2023.
FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES 2023 RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Professor Shabir Madhi
Shabir Madhi, Professor of Vaccinology and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences was appointed as an honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) by King Charles III. Madhi received this recognition for his services to science and public health during a global pandemic.
Professor Bavesh Kana
ProfessorBaveshKana,Schoolof Pathology, received the South African Medical Research Council Gold Medal. He was also appointed to the National Advisory Council on Innovation.
Professor Stephen Tollman
Professor Stephen Tollman received the Harvard Alumni Award of Merit in Public Health. He was also appointed to the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).
Professor Lizette Koekemoer
Professor Lizette Koekemoer received the Women in Vector Control (WiVC) Excellence Award: Senior Career.
Professor Helen Rees
Professor Helen Rees, Executive Director of Wits RHI, received an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree from Rhodes University in recognition of a distinguished professionalcareerandcommitmenttoimprovingaccess to quality healthcare and medicine in South Africa, Africa and beyond.
She was also appointed as the Chairperson of the Gavi Vaccine Investment Strategy Working Group on Immunisation Platforms; as a member of the WHO International Health Regulations Review Committee regarding standing recommendations for Mpox and Covid-19; as a member of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s AI Ethics Advisory Committee; and as a member of the African Regional Emergency Preparedness and Response Technical Advisory Committee.
Professor Yahya Choonara
Professor Yahya Choonara, Chair and Head: Pharmacy and Pharmacology, South African DSI-NRF Research Chair: Pharmaceutical Biomaterials, Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine and Director of the Wits Advanced Drug DeliveryPlatform, wasappointedtotheAfricaScience Leadership Programme
FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES
2023 RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Professor Desire Brits
Head of the Division of Biological Anthropology in the School of Anatomical Sciences, Associate Professor Desiré Brits was named as the third certified forensic anthropologistinSouthAfricaandonlythefifthindividual to be certified as a level 1 Forensic Anthropologist by the Forensic Anthropology Society of Europe. Her researchfocusesondrybonetaphonomy,bonetrauma and bone biomechanics, and establishing identification methods using medical image modalities.
Dr Contance Khupe
Dr Constance Khupe Academic Advisor in the Office of Student Success in the Faculty of Health Sciences was appointed as a member of the Mission Circle of the International Transformative Learning Association.
Dr Anastasia Ugwuanyi
Dr Anastasia Ugwuanyi, in the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Division of Family Medicine, was named in the Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) Global 100 List
Prof. Angela Woodiwiss
Prof. Daynia Ballot
ProfessorAngelaWoodiwiss,intheSchool of Physiology, was appointed to the Academy of Science of South Africa, as was Professor Daynia Ballot, Head of the School of Clinical Medicine, and Lisa Du Toit, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Assistant Director of the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform Research Unit in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, School of Therapeutic Sciences.
Dr Ekene Emmanuel
Dr Ekene Emmanuel Nweke in the Department of Surgery, School of Clinical Medicine, received the National Research Foundation’s Research Excellence Award for Early Career/Emerging Researchers in recognition of outstanding research performance by an NRF grant-holder.
His focus is on hepato-pancreato-biliary cancers, specifically pancreatic and gall bladder cancers, with a special emphasis on their impact on disadvantaged groups. His current work involves identifying biomarkers for early detection and improving the understanding, treatment, and management of these disease.
Dr Ann George
Dr Ann George, in the Centre for Health Education, received the Southern African Association of Health Educationalists (SAAHE) Best Publication Award.
Professor Derick Raal
Derick Raal, Distinguished Professor and Director, Head of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and the Director of the Carbohydrate and Lipid Metabolism Research Unit in the School of Clinical Medicine, was named as the Most Highly Cited Researcher by the Web of Science™ for the fourth time.
Professor Mucha Musemwa
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
The Faculty of Humanities continues its research endeavours in the Arts, Social Sciences, Human and Community Development,EducationandLiterature,Language and Media.
In2023,theFacultyofHumanities,throughthedifferent Schools, showcased remarkable achievements in research,encompassingdiversefieldsandSustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Faculty’s efforts alignwiththeSDGs,especiallywith:
• SDG 4 (Quality Education)
• SDG16(Peace,Justice,andStrongInstitutions)
• SDG9(Industry,InnovationandInfrastructure).
SDG17(PartnershipsfortheGoals)isstrengthened by fostering academic excellence and international collaboration. By promoting innovation in its initiatives, Faculty’s initiatives align with SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure).
SDG10(ReducedInequalities)andSDG16(Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions) are addressed through the faculty’s interdisciplinary approaches and international collaborations.
TheFacultyproudlyhostsseveralNationalResearch Foundation (NRF)-rated researchers including six A-rated and 16 B-rated researchers and hosts ten ResearchChairs,sevenofwhicharefundedthrough the NRF’s South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI).
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES RESEARCH FOCUS AREAS
• Enhancing research outputs and dissemination strategies to elevate academic scholarship.
• Continued excellence in producing high-quality research and supporting postgraduates.
• Prioritising the development of artistic practice as a research modality while fostering international partnerships for advanced research and artistic endeavours.
• Prioritising research capacity enhancement and securing substantial grants to solidify leadership in the sector.
• Commitment to critical engagement for societal change, addressing societal challenges, and contributing to global conversations on issues of exclusion and inequality in the African continent.
THE FACULTY IS MADE UP OF FIVE SCHOOLS
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
SCHOOL OF HUMAN & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
SCHOOL OF ARTS
SCHOOL OF LITERATURE LANGUAGE AND MEDIA
A total of 871 postgraduate students completed their studies in the Faculty in 2023, including: 537 HONOURS
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
• The Wits School of Education (WSoE) hosted the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) conference intended to re-envision South Africa’s education sector.
• The Wits Centre for Deaf Studies celebrated its 25th anniversary. This milestone emphasises the opportunities for more inclusive environments for the Faculty.
• The Wits School of Arts co-hosted the Performance Studies International (PSi) conference in Johannesburg from 2-5 August 2023 – the first time that the PSi has been hosted in Africa.
• In the Wits School of Literature, Language and Media (SLLM), the Wits Centre for Journalism (WCJ) was inaugurated.
• When the Wits Senior Management Team hosted the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and his team, during his state visit to South Africa on 7 June 2023, the President took the opportunity to visit the Portuguese Language Centre of Camões in SLLM, a centre which has continued to receive financial support from the Portuguese government since its inception.
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES 2023 RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Dr Andile Khumalo
In Wits Music in the Wits School of Arts, Dr Andile Khumalo’s piano concerto, “Invisible Self,” was performed by the world-acclaimed Ensemble Modern as the highlight of the International Society for Music’s World New Music Days in Johannesburg and Cape Town. He also curated and published the CD “The Dusk of Day” and performed in Europe and the US.
Professor Srila Roy
“Changing the Subject”, a book by ProfessorSrilaRoyintheDepartment of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, was the winner of the Distinguished Book award of the Sexualities section oftheAmerican SociologicalAssociationandtheBest BookawardfromtheFeministTheory and Gender Studies section of the InternationalStudiesAssociation.
Dr Ayesha Omar
Dr Ayesha Omar in the Department of Political Studies, School of Social Sciences, was awarded a prestigious three-year British Academy International Fellowship.
Professor Kate Cockcroft
Professor Melissa Steyn
Professor Kate Cockcroft, in Psychology in the School of Human and Community Development; Professor Melissa Steyn, founding Director of the Centre for Diversity Studies; and Professor Elizabeth Walton in the Wits School of Education were inducted as members of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).
Professor Andrew Thatcher
Professor Andrew Thatcher in the Department of Psychology in the School of Human and Community Development) won the Green Economy category at theNationalScienceandTechnologyForum(NSTF)South32researchawards–theso-called‘ScienceOscars’ – and he also received the Vice-Chancellor’s Innovation andSocialImpactAward.
FACULTY OF SCIENCE Professor Nithaya Chetty
The Faculty of Science is composed of nine schools clustered into four groupings, which are the Mathematical Sciences, the Physical Sciences, the Earth Sciences, and the Biological Sciences.
ResearchersintheFacultymakesignificant contributions to research and innovation across various disciplines by conducting impactful and innovative research that contributes positively to the existing and new pools of knowledge in the South African System of Innovation and globally.
In 2023, Faculty researchers published a record number of 378.22 publication units from articles in peer reviewed journals, conferenceproceedings,books,andbook chapters.
2023 POSTGRADUATE NUMBERS
Professor Laura M. Pereira in the Faculty of Science’s Global Change Institute published in the high-impact journal, Nature Sustainability, in 2023.
Prominent researchers from diverse research fields in the Faculty continue to publish prolifically in prestigious high impact journals such as Science (with an ImpactFactorof63.832,thelateProfessor Robert Scholes); in Nature Sustainability (IF = 27.7, Professor Laura M. Pereira); andinNatureReviewsGastroenterology& Hepatology (IF = 73, Professor Mandeep Kaur).
Additionally, The Global Change Institute is co-leading a new international project which aims to limit the devastating impact of tropical cyclones on South Africa and Madagascar, whilst Professor Mary Scholes was appointed asthenewSappiChairinClimateChangeand Plantation Sustainability, showing the Faculty’s commitment to UN SDG13 goal: Climate Action.
FACULTY OF SCIENCE 2023 RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Christoper
Henshilwood
Christopher Henshilwood, a Distinguished Professor in the Evolutionary Studies Institute at Wits and the Director of the SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour at the University of Bergen, Norway, and his team put the spotlight on how early ancestors collected eye-catching shells that radically changed the way we look at ourselves and others
Professor Mary Scholes
Professor Mary Scholes was appointed as the new Sappi Chair in Climate Change and Plantation Sustainability in 2023.
Dr Cameron Penn-Clarke
Dr Cameron Penn-Clarke’s new collaborative research demonstrated that ancient sea levels and climate change led to major extinctions around South Africa
Dr Isaac Nape
A quantum expert and rising star, Dr Isaac Nape, was awarded the Silver Jubilee Medal from the South African Institute of Physics andhehasbeen appointed as the inaugural New Optica Emerging Leader in Optic Chair that seeks to advance quantum research.
Dr Karen Smit
Analysis of ancient, superdeep diamonds dug up from mines in Brazil and Western Africa has exposed new processesofhowcontinentsevolvedandmovedduring the early evolution of complex life on Earth. These diamonds, which were formed between 650 and 450 million years ago on the base of the supercontinent Gondwana, were analysed by an international team of experts and show how supercontinents such as Gondwanawereformed,stabilised,andhowtheymove around the planet. Dr Karen Smit, in the Wits School of Geosciences, was part of the study.
Professor Andrew Forbes
For the first time, researchers from the Structured Light Laboratory in the School of Physics, led by Professor Andrew Forbes, in collaboration with string theoristRobertdeMelloKochfromHuzhouUniversity in China, have demonstrated the remarkable ability to perturb pairs of spatially separated yet interconnected quantum entangled particles without altering their shared properties
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