Primary care providers need stronger support to deliver mental health services
ResearchStellenbosch University November 4, 2025
In South Africa, up to nine out of ten patients with mental health disorders do not receive treatment or have access to mental healthcare programmes. Primary healthcare (PHC) practitioners are working to fill this gap, but they are not receiving the necessary support. This, according to researchers from the... Read more
New study highlights role of fathers’ drinking in foetal alcohol spectrum disorder
ResearchStellenbosch University October 24, 2025
It’s a well-known fact that foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in children is caused by mothers who drink during pregnancy. But it turns out that the father’s drinking habits could also affect a child’s growth and development. A team of international researchers — including contributors from Stellenbosch University (SU)... Read more
NRF-SAEON MD leads groundbreaking weather disasters study
Research October 20, 2025
The Managing Director of the South African Environmental Observation Network (NRF-SAEON), Dr Mary-Jane Bopape and her research collaborators have published a groundbreaking research paper in a journal that analyses weather-related disasters in South Africa from 1980 to 2023. This comprehensive study utilises data from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT)... Read more
UFS PhD student honoured with L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award
AwardsResearchUniversity of the Free State October 20, 2025
Runè van der Merwe, a final-year PhD student in the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of the Free State (UFS), has been selected as one of eight recipients of the prestigious L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Programme Award in 2025. The accolade recognises exceptional early-career women scientists whose research... Read more
UFS medical physics, oncology at forefront of AI-powered cancer treatment planning
ResearchUniversity of the Free State October 5, 2025
The Departments of Medical Physics and Oncology at the University of the Free State (UFS), together with Universitas Academic Hospital, was the first clinical site worldwide to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into cancer treatment planning. In adopting the Radiation Planning Assistant (RPA), a web-based AI platform developed at MD... Read more
UKZN research explores political disillustionment, existential freedom
ResearchUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal September 6, 2025
Yoliswa Madondo graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts Honours in English Studies, driven by a long-standing passion for using language and literature to reflect on and reshape society. Her study is shaped by the contradictions of post-apartheid South Africa, where the promises of democracy and freedom remain... Read more
ASSAf helps to demystify POPIA for researchers
Academy of Science of South AfricaResearch September 3, 2025
The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) is proud to announce the launch of its POPIA Voluntary Compliance Framework for Research, endorsed by the ASSAf Council on 14 May 2025. It is compulsory for all researchers to comply with POPIA. This voluntary Framework provides practical guidance for researchers... Read more
First case of rare, deadly fungus in sub-Saharan Africa identified
Free StateResearch September 2, 2025
Medical staff at the University of the Free State (UFS) and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) at the Universitas Academic Hospital have identified the first case of S. oblongispora mucormycosis in sub-Saharan Africa and among HIV-positive patients. This discovery was made when a 32-year-old male patient was admitted to the Universitas Academic... Read more
From ship to shore: NRF-SAEON leads deep-sea seamount exploration
National Research Foundation May 23, 2025
The South African Environmental Observation Network (NRF-SAEON), the National Research Foundation’s long-term environmental observation and research facility, is participating in the Around Africa Expedition. Led by global ocean exploration non-profit organisations, OceanX and the newly established OceanQuest, Around Africa Expedition is a pioneering collaborative expedition along the African coastline.... Read more
Weevil species released into the Crocodile River to combat invasive alien aquatic plant
National Research FoundationResearch May 23, 2025
The South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (NRF-SAIAB), a National Research Foundation (NRF) research facility, plays an important role in conserving the country’s biodiversity. In an effort to combat the growing threat of the invasive alien plant Salvinia minima to South Africa’s freshwater ecosystems, the DSTI/NRF-SAIAB SARChI Chair in... Read more
