News

With topics ranging from a new hypothesis to explain the formation of the earth’s crust, to a novel process for extracting pure gold from industrial waste streams, the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University has reason to be proud of a further 30 PhD-students graduating in March. This means a record number of 263 postgraduate [...]

Nearly 290 post-graduate students received a kickstart to their future research careers during a research orientation workshop hosted by the Faculties of Science and AgriSciences recently. During the one-day workshop students were taken through the do’s and don’ts of research ethics, safety procedures and guidelines in general and specifically in the laboratories, support programmes for [...]

Members of the Stellenbosch regional team can boast with twenty medals, three special awards and a few category prizes after their participation in the 32nd Eskom Expo for Young Scientists/International Science Fair in Boksburg. More than 750 learners from all over the country participated in this national competition which took place from 4 to 6 [...]

“Managed relocation”, also known as “assisted migration” or “assisted colonization”, is a controversial conservation strategy that involves the deliberate movement of species into new habitats to improve their chances of long-term survival. In a recent article in the August 2012 issue of the journal BioScience, lead author Prof Mark W. Schwartz of the University of [...]

Prof Susan Mazer from the University of California in Santa Barbara will present a seminar on “The evolution of mating system, life history, and physiological performance in Clarkia sister taxa: does selection for drought-avoidance drive the evolution of selfing?” at the Department of Botany & Zoology. DATE: 23 August TIME: 13:00 – 14:00 VENUE: Science Building, [...]

A PhD student in nuclear physics who uses mosses and lichens to monitor air pollution in the Western Cape is one of seven Stellenbosch University students to have won awards after the recent conference of the South African Institute for Physics (SAIP). Ms Zikhona Ndlovu received the award for the best oral presentation by a [...]

A Stellenbosch evolutionary geneticist has added his knowledge of Africa’s most ancient mammals to an international study in which the most comprehensive family tree for mammals yet has been compiled. The study, which shows just how different families of mammals relate to one another, was published in the leading academic journal Science. Prof Terry Robinson [...]

Prof Kathy Myburgh has received the Lasec Award for Excellence in Physiology Research from the Physiological Society of Southern Africa (PSSA). It was awarded to her at the recent PSSA conference, which was hosted by the University of the Western Cape. The award honours well-established physiologists who have proven their research excellence over a period [...]

“Don’t make a decision that will create an environment that will dictate your behaviour too much – rather try to think about a behaviour that will help to dictate the environment.” That was the challenge towards sustainable living that dean Prof Eugene Cloete put out to alumni who attended the first ever networking event of [...]

Sean Robinson, a postgraduate student in inorganic chemistry, has been named as a recipient of a James Moir Medal from the South African Chemical Institute (SACI), after he came up tops last year as the best honours student in Chemistry at Stellenbosch University. SACI annually awards James Moir Medals to the best BSc Honours student [...]

A networking opportunity for alumni of the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University (SU) will take place on 28 September in Stellenbosch. Dean Prof Eugene Cloete will be the guest speaker. The cocktail event will take place at 18:00 for 18:30 in the open area in front of the JC Smuts Building (off Banghoek Road) [...]

Biochemistry Forum: MSc Progress Lecture Candidate: René Goosen (MSc student of Prof Erick Strauss) Title: Analysing metabolite levels in the CoA salvage pathway of Escherichia coli. Date: Thursday  04 August 2011 Time: 09:00 – 10:00 Venue: Biochemistry Seminar Room A111, JC Smuts Building, Stellenbosch Enquiries: Prof Erick Strauss, Tel: 021 8085866, e-mail: estrauss@sun.ac.za

Yeast is not just used to bake bread, but also to improve the welfare of people. This was the topic of the inaugural lecture of Prof Alfred Botha of the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University (SU) on Monday [6 June] in the Jannasch Hall of the SU Conservatoire. According to Botha, people have been using [...]

A successful research orientation day for postgraduate students of the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of AgriSciences was held on campus last week. It was presented to all new honours and masters degree students of these faculties, with the aim of supporting them in taking their first steps as researchers. The proceedings were started [...]

Members of the outgoing Natural Science Student Committee, along with the newly elected committee for 2011, had the opportunity to leave a living legacy in Stellenbosch when they participated in a tree planting ceremony at Coetzenburg. It was part of the annual NSC Farewell, which was organised to thank members of the outgoing NSC of [...]