News

Microbiologist Prof Leon Dicks is not only a leading researcher in lactic-acid bacteria but is also an accomplished painter. His first solo art exhibition opens in Stellenbosch on Friday, 7 December. He has previously participated in three group art exhibitions, including at the PJ Olivier art centre in Stellenbosch. He paints at home in the [...]

Just chilling for the holidays? No way! Not Veronique Meyer! She gave up part of her holiday to help learners from her Alma Mater gain practical experience in testing water. Veronique, a former learner from Lückhoff High in Stellenbosch, is doing her master’s in microbiology in, among others, environmental biotechnology with a focus on the [...]

The Department of Microbiology at Stellenbosch University will celebrate its 50th year of existence in November with a reunion for alumni and former staff members. The Department of Microbiology was established in 1961 as an academic unit of the Faculty of Agriculture, and became a department within the Faculty of Science in 1997. Its researchers [...]

The growth of a sustainable bioenergy sector can open up attractive new alternative markets to the agricultural sector, and also significantly boost food security to ensure a “win-win” economy in Africa. So says Prof Lee Lynd, a bioenergy expert from the USA who is also an extraordinary professor in the SU Department of Microbiology. He will [...]

A world leader on the use of microorganisms in biomining activities, Stellenbosch University (SU) microbiologist Prof Doug Rawlings, is to receive the 2011 Havenga Prize for Life Sciences from the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (South African Academy for Science and Art). The Havenga Prize is an annual prestige award given for original research [...]

When microbiologist Prof Eugene Cloete became Dean of the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University (SU) in January 2009, he did not allow his expanded administrative duties to overwhelm his passion for his subject. To the contrary, he picked up on relevant research outside his own field of expertise, which sparked the invention of a [...]

 A new biofuels technology company, Stellenbosch Biomass Technologies (SBMT) was launched on Friday 2 July in Sandton. SBMT, which is proud to be asssociated with Stellenbosch University as a research partner, has the ability and expertise to lead Southern Africa towards a sustainable energy future. The South African based SBMT holds the rights to commercialise [...]

Scientific relations between South Africa and Slovakia have been strengthened with the visit of a leading Slovak researcher to Stellenbosch to collaborate in the activities of biofuels researchers in the Department of Microbiology. This follows the signing of a cultural and scientific collaboration treaty three years ago between South Africa and Slovakia, a small country [...]

The Department of Microbiology at Stellenbosch University has two of the country’s most promising young microbiologists. Over the past year, Dr Michele de Kwaadsteniet and Wendy Stone have delivered the best research work on doctoral and honours level, respectively, in South Africa. This announcement was made at the biennial national conference of the South African Society for Microbiology (SASM).