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The Equality Unit (EqU) at Stellenbosch University (SU) has embarked on a visual arts social media project that addresses unfair discrimination and harassment, HIV/Aids, and other social injustices. This interactive and inclusive project commenced yesterday (4 August) with the publishing of six 2-4 minute videos portraying sensitive and topical issues currently high on the national agenda.

The topics under discussion include defining race, why it is important to choose your pronouns, talking to your sexual partner about contraceptives, male rape and sexual violence, masculinity and catcalling.

Mr Jaco Greeff Brink, Head: EqU, says they want to encourage students, staff, youth and the community to exchange thoughts and ideas, and give their perspectives on the topics that highlighted in the video series. Every Tuesday for five weeks, a video will be posted on the Unit's Instagram page.  On Wednesdays at 19:00, these posts will be followed by a live Instagram discussion with various project partners and collaborators like the Womxn and Queer Empowerment (“WAQE") from SU's Student Representative Council (SRC); QueerUS; Spectrum; Rape Crisis; Sonke Gender Justice; Institute for Justice and Reconciliation; Ahmed Kathrada Foundation; activist Guiseppi Guerandi and South African actress and singer, Alexis Petersen.

Petersen plays different roles in the videos. Instagram followers can comment and ask questions about the videos. These comments and questions will form part of the live discussions.

“Universities and society as a whole are dealing with immensely complicated and challenging issues around gender-based violence, sexual health, understanding sexualities, racism, toxic masculinity, patriarchy, and the list goes on. By embarking on the project and highlighting these challenges, we hope it will create a robust dialogue and unpack these very important issues that we face daily," says Brink.

The Unit encourages students and staff to follow @EqualityUnitSU on Instagram and join the conversation.

• The EqU offers various services and supports SU's staff and students like facilitating the lodging of formal and informal complaints of unfair discrimination, harassment, victimisation and abuse, while helping with HIV prevention, testing and counselling and rendering Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and Pansexual (LGBTQIA+) support services.

To report and lodge a complaint of unfair discrimination, harassment or sexual violence, email unfair@sun.ac.za. For HIV/Aids and sexualities-related support, email hiv@sun.ac.za.

​Dr Marcela Espinaze, a postdoctoral fellow in biomathematics at Stellenbosch University, has been selected by Cambridge University Press' journal Parasitology for the 2020 Early Career Researcher award for the best paper published in the journal during 2019.

The paper, entitled “Parasite diversity associated with African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) and the effect of host and environmental factors", was the first of its kind to record parasites living both in and on African penguins from five different colonies. The findings indicated that parasites were particularly infesting chicks in high-density mainland colonies during spring-time, and have made a valuable contribution to colony management in the region.

The article formed part of Dr Espinaze's PhD project under supervision of Prof Sonja Matthee from the Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Prof Cang Hui from the Department of Mathematical Sciences, and Dr Lauren Waller, at the time from Cape Nature. The paper was also recognised as Paper of the Month by the journal in March 2019.

Dr Espinaze, who obtained her PhD in Conservation Ecology at Stellenbosch University in 2019, says she would like to keep working at the interface of disease ecology and wild life conservation: “I think it is crucial to understand the transmission of diseases in a holistic context, taking into account the pathogens, and the health of the host and the environment. With my work I hope to make a contribution to the conservation of endangered wildlife, as well as environmental education."

She also has an MSc in Conservation Biology from the University of Cape Town, and a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the Austral University of Chile. Before coming to South Africa, she worked as a conservation project coordinator in Patagonia.

With regards to the award, she says it is always very encouraging to have her work recognized: “It makes me feel that I am on the right path, and that people appreciate all the effort and love that we as a team have put into this research project."

The prize includes prize money of £1 000, three months' free access to the article, and social media exposure from Cambridge University Press.

​Professor Daleen Klop and Monique Visser, lecturers in the division of Speech-Language and Hearing Therapy, are members of an international research team that recently received a grant of £265 732 (about R5.7 million) from The British Academy to develop and trial an early literacy intervention which will address the literacy achievement gap in South Africa.

The collaborative project – entitled The Effects of Story-based Activities on Early Language and Literacy in SA pre-schools – will be led by esteemed British professors Jane Oakhill from the University of Sussex and will include another expert, Professor Kate Cain of Lancaster University. Both women are international experts in reading comprehension. 

In effect the project will be researching the efficacy of the approach used by a local NPO called Wordworks. Dr Shelley O'Carroll, the director of Wordworks will also be part of the research team. 

Klop said the collaboration came about when Oakhill met O'Carroll on a visit to South Africa and was so impressed with her work that she applied for a grant to do the research. 

“Wordworks has been working for the past 15 years in under-resourced communities in the Western Cape. It is a wonderful organisation," said Klop. “I have been working for my whole career in early literacy and this is one of the best approaches I have seen for promoting and improving early language and literacy skills in pre-school children." 

According to Klop, Wordworks focuses on training the caregivers of children in under-resourced communities through programmes which train them in the basics of language and literacy. It provides them with well-crafted learning material based on indigenous stories and multilingual storybooks and supports them in the implementation. 

"These are the caregivers who are not trained teachers but are working with children in community centres. 

"I really love this programme – to the extent that we have now introduced it in our academic programme. We use Wordworks to train our second year students in working with caregivers in a culturally sensitive way and how to develop resources that caregivers can use. We hope the students will implement it in their clinical training and particularly in their community service year because it's the type of approach we want in rural communities to support caregivers.

"However, without evidence, the successes are just anecdotal. This is where the researchers can play a role to provide evidence about the effectiveness of this approach to improve early language and literacy."

Klop added that intervention research is "very expensive". "Without a grant like this, we cannot do this."

"That is why it is so fortunate that we now have this grant from the British Academy."

Klop said the researchers aim to involve 30 caregivers and about 500 pre-school children in the greater Cape Town area, working in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa communities. "So all the material and assessments must be developed for all the languages." 

Klop said the research is significant because of the importance of literacy skills. "Literacy skills are associated with positive outcomes in terms of employment, health, productivity and wealth creation, but in South Africa, a high proportion of children struggle with literacy. Our programme will target the literacy and language skills of all pre-Grade-R (4- to 5-year-old children), and is designed to meet the World Health Organisation's Sustainable Development Goal 4 by better enabling children to reach their developmental potential once they start school. 

Klop said the researchers are fortunate to have the UK research team on board for their expertise and input in the programme. 

"I can't wait to start working on this," she said.

Photo credit: Stefan Els

Rushed research in the time of pandemic panic has led to questionable research and conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus – but genetic analysis of the virus has shown that it is highly unlikely that it originated in a lab, writes Kristien Nel van Zyl, Wolfgang Preiser, Andrew Whitelaw and Susan Engelbrecht in an opinion piece for Daily Maverick.

• Read the article below or click here for the piece as published.

With the entry of SARS-CoV-2 – the virus responsible for Covid-19 – into the human population and the rapid spread of the pandemic, the general public as well as the medical and broader scientific communities have been bombarded by an extraordinary number of articles in scientific journals and on pre-publication servers, as well as in popular media, including social media. This has led to a change in publication norms, with expedited publications reaching the public within days of receipt and preprint servers being close to overwhelmed.

While this has allowed for worldwide dissemination and research efficiency on an unprecedented scale, it is no surprise that some questionable research has slipped through. As shown in the past, a single "bad" paper can overshadow many more legitimate ones. To combat this, many preprint servers and publishers now have filters – but is it too little, too late?

Many conspiracy theories regarding the origins of SARS-CoV-2 have taken hold, partly due to the propagation of these theories by respected professionals in both the scientific and medical fields.

We are aiming with this article to debunk some common misconceptions and misrepresentation by summarising peer-reviewed, credible research showing that this novel virus has a "natural" origin and the unfortunate ability to spread further and faster than previous coronaviruses.

Manufacture

A major contributor to the manufacture theory was the presence of supposedly "unnatural" DNA sequences in the novel coronavirus genome. This theory first came about in a preprint in January 2020, where the authors claimed to have found striking similarities between the novel virus's spike glycoprotein and two HIV proteins, gp120 and Gag. The research was retracted less than a week later, due to the input and comments from peers that pointed out that the methods used were rushed and incomplete, and that the conclusions drawn were, at best, coincidence.

Furthermore, a comment published less than a week later thoroughly debunked every conclusion drawn by the preprint by showing how the original bioinformatics analysis was flawed.

Despite the retraction, and the evidence against the link to HIV, this question was thrown into the spotlight again by French Nobel Prize winner, Luc Montagnier, in an interview in April 2020. Claims were made that the virus was created during HIV vaccine research in Wuhan. Some people, including some scientists, used these claims to support the theory that an artificial coronavirus escaped from the Wuhan laboratory, either accidentally or by purposeful release. However, if this were the true source of SARS-CoV-2, evidence would have been found in the viral genome, since several reverse-genetic systems are already available and commonly used for betacoronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV-2. No such evidence has been found by any of the teams that conducted whole genome sequencing on various samples from the outbreak.

Another theory suggests the escape of a "natural" laboratory virus. On the face of it this may seem plausible, especially given past incidences of SARS-CoV viruses that escaped from laboratories that work with virus culture. There have been incidents of SARS-CoV-1 infection occurring in laboratories: in Singapore, in Taiwan, and two cases in China, leading to three generations of infections due to human-to-human transmission outside the laboratory. All three incidents involved SARS-CoV-1 strains from samples being used in these laboratories.

A second point brought up by some in the medical profession is that the novel virus must be human-made, as it should not be spreading so rapidly across the world. "Human" coronaviruses HCoV-OC43, HCoV-229E, HCoV-HKU1 and HCoV-NL63 are indeed seasonal. They have circulated in human populations for at least decades, if not centuries, and may have originated from an animal source originally. (Interestingly, HCoV-HKU1 and HCoV-NL63, despite having been present for decades, were discovered only after 2003 due to much increased research interest in human coronaviruses).

While the current Covid-19 outbreak began and spread during the northern hemisphere winter months, it has continued to spread during the northern hemisphere spring and summer and also in warm climatic zones such as Brazil. While virus stability may be impaired by higher temperatures, the infection pressure during an outbreak and the fully susceptible population are likely to overcome this impediment.

This is supported by previous coronavirus outbreaks. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) started in winter and persisted into summer. Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) was brought to Korea via a single traveller in May 2015 and caused an outbreak during warmer months.

Last, many researchers and clinicians fear that this novel virus spreads too rapidly to be a natural coronavirus. While it is indeed spreading faster than SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, possible reasons have been found in its ribonucleic acid (RNA). SARS-CoV-2 has distinct mutations in its spike protein, specifically the receptor binding domain (RBD).

The RBD gene is the most variable part of the coronavirus genome and mutations here can affect how well the virus can enter cells. Some argue that this is a reason to believe it was purposefully inserted; however, the backbone sequence of the virus does not support the genetic manipulation theory. Other mutations in this region give more credit to zoonotic transfer events, as will be explained next.

Mother Nature

In a sense, the occurrence of this pandemic had been forewarned by the scientific community. Highlighted here are just four of many articles that were written before the discovery of SARS-CoV-2: in September 2019, January 2019 and October 2007, and strikingly, a report written in the wake of the SARS epidemic in 2003. All suggest that future coronavirus outbreaks are likely to originate from bats or exotic animals, specifically in China. The picture painted by literature since the start of the pandemic shows how these predictions have come true.

Comparisons of the genomes of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 with SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and a large assortment of other coronaviruses, including many SARS-like coronaviruses found in bats, have been made in multiple publications by unrelated author groups. Genetic comparison found that the novel virus is less closely related to MERS-CoV (~50%) than to SARS-CoV (~79%). Phylogenetic analysis placed SARS-CoV-2 in the genus Betacoronavirus, subgenus Sarbecovirus and showed that it formed a distinct clade within the species Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus; it was subsequently named SARS-CoV-2 following established naming practices.

Evolutionary analysis in early 2020 found that the closest relative of SARS-CoV-2 was a previously isolated bat coronavirus (RaTG13) from China (96% sequence homology). More recently, another coronavirus (RmYN02) isolated from bats that were collected in China in 2019 was shown to share 97% identity in the lab gene. While it is not the exact variant that caused the outbreak, it shows that the progenitor of SARS-CoV-2 probably originated in bats. Transfer events such as these have been shown before.

The major differences between SARS-CoV-2 and other SARS-like viruses were seen in the spike protein, where the previously mentioned mutations were found. Of six key residues in the receptor binding domain, five were different in SARS-CoV-2 when compared to SARS-CoV-1. Interestingly, these six residues are identical to those found in a pangolin coronavirus.

The second set of mutations was the insertion of amino acids between the two subunits of the spike protein. Previous research suggests that this would allow bat viruses to infect human cells. The closely related bat-derived coronavirus, RmYN02, also has amino acid inserts between the spike protein subunits, providing strong evidence that these events often occur naturally. These discoveries further discredit the idea that mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome were introduced in a laboratory and led to an unusual question: were pangolins the intermediate host for SARS-CoV-2?

At first, this may sound like a far-fetched theory; however, scientific evidence suggests it may be possible. Malayan pangolins illegally imported into China were found to contain coronaviruses up to 91% similar to SARS-CoV. Human-pangolin contact could have arisen by many means, as pangolin meat is considered a delicacy and the scales have been reportedly used in Chinese traditional medicine.

This, together with the discovery of the six key mutation changes in the RBD receptor supports the possibility of pangolins as the intermediate animal host. More important, even without considering pangolins as an intermediate host, this proves that the mutations found in SARS-CoV-2 could occur naturally.

There is still the issue of exactly how and where the virus transferred between animals and humans. Unfortunately, the likely period of undetected human-to-human transmission and the lack of animal and environmental samples at the proposed origin site in Wuhan make this a difficult task that is expected to remain unsolved.

While the manufacture theory deserved investigation, genetic analysis of the virus has shown that this is highly unlikely. Scientific evidence supports the Mother Nature theory, namely that SARS-CoV-2 most likely originated through zoonotic means either by direct contact, e.g. of bats with humans, or via an intermediate host. This was likely followed by a period of undetected human-to-human transmission, during which the virus could mutate and spread rapidly enough to trigger detection by medical authorities once a number of cases of severe disease arose.

Given the growing evidence showing that a significant proportion of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 remain asymptomatic, it is entirely plausible that there was a period of sustained, undetected human transmission following the first zoonotic transfer.

With such a large reservoir of animals untested, we may never find the true progenitor of SARS-CoV-2. However, the mutations it contains, and their similarities to those found in animal coronaviruses, such as bats and pangolins, certainly show that it is possible for the virus to adapt by natural selection to infect any species.

Given that this has been known since 2003, yet a spill-over was allowed to happen again (this time, with much worse consequences), one might just wonder whether humankind is clever enough to learn the lesson this time. Mother Nature will always find a way, particularly if humans choose to interact irresponsibly with the rest of the natural world. 

Kristien Nel van Zyl is a PhD student in the field of microbiomics at the Division of Medical Microbiology at Stellenbosch University (SU) and has research experience in infectious disease epidemiology. Prof Wolfgang Preiser is the head of the Division of Medical Virology at SU and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) Tygerberg. He is interested in emerging viral diseases, the diagnosis of viral infections and the monitoring of antiviral therapy. Prof Andrew Whitelaw is the head of the Division of Medical Microbiology at SU and the NHLS Tygerberg, with an interest in infection control and infectious disease epidemiology. Prof Susan Engelbrecht is a principal medical scientist at the Division of Medical Virology at SU and the NHLS Tygerberg. Her principal scientific interests are viral diversity and evolution with particular emphasis on HIV.

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Stellenbosch University (SU) has “achieved a lot in a short space of time", and as staff “we have also learnt a lot together", which has helped SU move forward during this unprecedented time.

This was the message from SU's Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Wim de Villiers to staff who virtually attended the University's second staff assembly of the year on Wednesday (5 August 2020). Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the University had to move the event online, making it the first staff assembly to be held online.

“We are clearly running a marathon, not a sprint. We must build our stamina, as we still have a long way to go. In this type of race, it is a question of mind over matter. Persisting and persevering in tough times takes a lot – both physically and mentally, but if we continue working as a team, I have no doubt that we shall overcome," said De Villiers

He also thanked staff for their ongoing commitment and carrying on with the important work as a research-intensive public university.

Members of SU's Rectorate briefed staff on important developments since the University's last staff assembly in February, specifically highlighting SU's response and efforts to help combat the coronavirus.

 “I'm so proud of how our University community is rallying in response to the coronavirus pandemic. From hundreds of Tygermaties volunteering to serve on the frontline, to very many multi-disciplinary coronavirus-related research projects and activities unfolding across various faculties, I have really been impressed by how well things have been coordinated to keep SU going."

Some of the institutional highlights presented during the assembly included:

• The importance of setting up an Institutional Committee for Business Continuity (ICBC) in February already, consisting of seven work streams covering various aspects of the University, which has helped SU act in unison as an institution and to save the academic year.
• SU's Division of Social Impact (DSI) collaborating with various partners to support local COVID-19 initiatives, including the Stellenbosch Municipality and provincial government departments.
• SU managing to still award qualifications, with the University having its first-ever virtual graduation on 3 April.
• The University being in the process of refreshing its brand and visual identity. Over the next few months, there will be an opportunity for staff to participate in the development of a new institutional logo.
• SU successfully switching to e-learning, with academic staff creating many online resources for students and the University ensuring that no student is left behind. More than 1 700 loan laptops were couriered to the homes of students all over South Africa and the University provided data bundles to students for access to learning materials.
• Various internationalisation efforts had to continue online, which resulted in some difficulties, but also created an opportunity for creativity and innovation with international partners.
• A virtual African Doctoral Academy (ADA) Winter School was held during July. It was the ADA's first venture into the world of online teaching, and it was well received by the 100+ delegates.
• SU also upgraded its health and wellbeing measures, to specifically help staff during the ongoing pandemic. It includes creating the Employee Assistance Programme, coaching services, webinars and having informal support groups.
• The University also incorporated more flexible and contextual HR measures to address performance management; expectations regarding different categories of staff; leave and e-mail practices.

Click here to watch a recording of the staff assembly.

Click here to download the presentation.​

​Women continue to get the short end of the stick in the workplace. Through her research, Prof Anita Bosch, holder of the Women at Work Research Chair at the University of Stellenbosch Business School, helps advance gender equality and level the playing field for women in the workplace.

As part of South Africa's Women's Month celebrations, she tells us about how her work is making a difference in the lives of women.

Can you tell us more about your research?

My research focuses on the intersection between gender and work, and I also aim to bridge the divide between academia and practice. I use a women's lens to view workplace phenomena in order to uncover new ways of introducing equality — the removal of subordination of women — and renewal into workplaces. When we view work from a woman's perspective, other life dimensions such as family and caregiving are easily introduced, as society allows us to associate these issues with women.

The same consideration is not always given to men. In this way my research is not only beneficial to women's workplace equality, but also to men. It is also so that women are viewed as an anomaly or that the social reproduction responsibilities that women have are not accepted at work. Issues such as maternity, caregiving, emotionality and feminine traits are not comfortably integrated with paid work. Joan Acker, a notable work-and-organisation feminist, stated that the workplace favours 'ideal' workers who are regarded as individuals that are disembodied, available 24/7, and without care obligations. This definition does not fit any human being; however it is an unspoken ideal that we have for employees and it is certainly a state of being that women cannot attain. Women are therefore by default not 'ideal' workers.

My research aims to question taken-for-granted assumptions about paid work, such as the 'ideal' worker, in order to uncover socially constructed impediments or unobserved and unfair workplace practices towards women. More recently my research has focused on policy interventions to initiate remedies towards workplace gender equality, such as gender pay transparency, so that employers and government can reconsider and replace limiting beliefs, practices and structures.  

Why or how did you become interested in this specific area of research?

I was trained in business science, more specifically in human resource management and organisational behaviour. I've always been intrigued about the functioning of businesses and how people make money. In the initial stages of my career I was fortunate to take up a number of positions that provided me with an opportunity to explore being part of a team and eventually to lead teams. In fact, I have been in leadership positions for more than 22 years and really enjoyed the excitement and thrill of doing my work well, learning and reaching goals.

In my early career, I did not believe in discrimination or barriers towards the advancement of women. I thought that I just had to work hard, put in the hours, get relevant experience, and then I would receive recognition in the form of job promotions. My opinion about this changed when I had to make a choice about starting a family. All of a sudden, I realised that I had to base my choices on different criteria than my male peers and that social expectations of me as a woman were indeed different from them.

I also noticed that, at work, I was held to the same criteria, structures, practices and standards as what they were, even though, as a grouping, my male peers' lives were structured very differently from that of their female peers. I felt cognitively trapped as I knew that men and women were treated in the same way, which I thought was fair since I believed that the way in which business and organisations operated was largely fixed. By implication, since my social reproduction roles were different from those of my male peers, I started wondering whether I was meant to be at work, or to do the jobs that men could.

Fortunately, my viewpoint changed when I started reading about the topic in order to make sense of my experiences. I came across the work of Joan Acker, Sandra Bem, Alice Eagly, Oyèrónké Oyĕwùmí, Amandag Gouws, Dorit Posel, Evangelina Holvino and the very witty Gloria Steinem, to name a few. My awareness grew as I realised that workplaces are structured by human beings, and that the organising of work can indeed change without jeopardising the financial viability of an organisation. Researching gender and work in order to propose new ways of organising employment, became an ideal which was worth my effort and attention.

Why do you think this is such an important area of research for South African women?

There's a lot of rhetoric about women and men's workplace equality in South Africa. Lots of misinformation. So, I think that for South African women specifically, its timely and important do work that leads to evidence and improved understanding. We do South African women a disservice if we don't engage intellectually with their lived experience at work. When there are inaccuracies circulating in the media and limited perspectives in academia, we polarise women and men and sow disaccord. At this point men usually start disengaging.

So I think, more broadly speaking, my research area is important because I don't want to keep polarising women and men with inaccurate information. I also don't want to polarise people by not acknowledging societal differences and the impact that these have on women's careers. In sum, I want to acknowledge the importance of women in the economy and the important role that they play in both business and society, in spite of the fact that their social roles are different from those of men. I want to ensure that women can participate fully in the economy without discriminatory impediments.

What would you consider the greatest impact of your research on women in the country?

I've produced a great number of public reports to inform managers, leaders, employees and the general public of ways in which the workplace can incorporate gender equality. These reports reach consulting houses, companies and boardrooms. My teaching has also reached a great number of students who themselves hold important roles in the private sector. I was recently invited to make a presentation to the National Council of Provinces in Parliament about gender pay transparency mechanisms. I trust that the policy guidance that I provided may come to good use in future legislative changes. Gender equality is a life's work and therefore the greatest impact is yet to come.

Do you have any message for the next generation of women researchers?

What I can say is, if you are to enter the field of workplace gender studies, expect resistance. When you feel most discouraged, seek refuge, pull back a bit and regroup. You will feel the pressure and disapproval of many people and at the same time you will get support from many women. Your message may not necessarily be easily embraced. Also acknowledge that you don't know it all and that you might have a blind spot.  When this happens, retreat, listen and engage with the disruption, and after reflection, trust yourself. Once you do that, you come to respect diverse opinions and learn to treat others and yourself with dignity.

The Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Stellenbosch University, Prof Wikus van Niekerk, received the distinguished honour to be elected an Honorary Fellow of the South African Institution of Mechanical Engineers (SAIMechE). SAIMechE is the senior body representing the discipline of mechanical engineering in South Africa and was established in 1892. 

The President of the SAIMechE, Prof Debby Blaine, says: "On 4 August 2020, SAIMechE held its first virtual, 129^thNational AGM. As President, I had the pleasure of announcing the election of our Dean, Prof Wikus van Niekerk, as an Honorary Fellow of the Institution. The grade of Honorary Fellow of SAIMechE is granted to 'a person intimately connected with mechanical engineering science or practice whom SAIMechE specially desires to honour for exceptionally important services rendered to the Institution or to mechanical engineering'. An Honorary Fellow must be nominated by two Fellows of SAIMechE and then receive a unanimous vote by the National Council in order to be elected. Council may only elect two Honorary Fellows in a year. This year, 2020, it was SAIMechE's privilege to elect Prof Bob Tait formerly at UCT and our own Prof Wikus van Niekerk as Honorary Fellows."

She continues: "Prof Van Niekerk has been a long-time member of SAIMechE and served as National President for the 2016-2018 term. He continued as National Treasurer for the 2018-2020 term. His contribution to engineering, and specifically mechanical engineering in South Africa is undisputed. He has contributed significantly to the fields of noise and vibration as well as renewable and sustainable energy, he held the SASOL Chair for Vehicle Engineering at the University of Pretoria, was the founding Director of the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies (CRSES) at Stellenbosch University, and has been a leading advocate for renewable and sustainable energy in our country and globally. He has always been a strong supporter of young engineers and their career development, especially encouraging minority groups in mechanical engineering to participate in leadership positions.

"It was with great honour that Past President and Honorary Fellow Stefan de Nagy Koves Hrabar proposed his nomination, which I seconded. We are delighted that Prof van Niekerk's hard work and dedication to excellence and equity has been recognised by this honour. Wikus has once again made us proud."

Regarding his Honorary Fellowship, Prof Van Niekerk notes: "It is an honour to accept this award from the Institution. I am convinced that the SAIMechE will prosper in the years to come with a group of young and dynamic leaders taking over the reins."

Photograph:

Prof Wikus van Niekerk.

​

In recent months, amidst a global coronavirus pandemic, the persistence of structural racism and bias in all spheres of society came under the spotlight once again through the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

In an effort to address some of the issues raised by this global movement, the Social Justice Café at Stellenbosch University (SU) recently held a virtual discussion on social justice and unconscious bias.

The keynote speaker during the discussion was Nene Molefi, CEO of Mandate Molefi HR Consultants and an internationally acclaimed thought leader in diversity and inclusion, value-driven leadership and transformation. The other panellists in the discussion included Fanelesibonge Ndebele, Co-curriculum Project Coordinator and senior LLB student at SU; Thembalethu Seyisi, a third-year LLB student at SU and a board member of the Cape Town based NPO, Salesian Life Choices; Daniele-B von Ziegler Smith, a student and writer for Matie Media at SU; and South African activist and high school learner Zulaikha Patel.

The Social Justice Café is an initiative created by Prof Thuli Madonsela, Chair in Social Justice in the Law Faculty of SU.

The aim of the cafés is to engage with young people on social justice issues and human rights-inspired democracy and action for inclusion, rooted in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and National Development goals, with a view to harnessing the youth dividend in ending poverty and reducing inequality by 2030.

During the discussion, facilitated by Madonsela, the speakers shared personal anecdotes related to incidents of bias against them or that they have perpetrated against others. 

According to Molefi, everyone in society has a bias, and it is important to be aware of that bias so that it can be addressed and dealt with.

“Whenever we have conversations about unconscious bias, we must be aware that it cannot be used as an excuse for conscious bias. There should be inclusion and a call to action, which includes being constantly vigilant and using your leverage to amplify the voices of the excluded," says Molefi.

Smith agreed with Molefi's sentiments and added that “as a white privileged female" she too had to be open to “unlearning many things" in order to be a better ally to those who have been marginalised in society.

“In our quest for mindfulness, we need to be open to learning and, more importantly, unlearning. We should also speak out against friends or family who are racist, homophobic and prejudiced against others."

At just 13 years old, Patel introduced the world to the power of her conviction when she and other black schoolmates marched against Pretoria High School for Girls' anti-black hair policy.

Patel, now 17, reiterated the importance of having open discussions and addressing the “root cause of conscious and unconscious bias" that is still prevalent because of “our very recent racial past.

“The lack of conversations in privileged communities about their privilege and its impact is problematic. The only way to truly address the issues related to unconscious bias is by having constant open conversations about it," said Patel.

Both Ndebele and Seyisi agreed with Patel's sentiments of having open and honest conversations. According to Ndebele, there should be a “level of accountability that accompanies how we deal with unconscious bias" and that everyone needed to check themselves regularly so that their unconscious bias did not become oppressive to others.

The next Social Justice Café discussion will take place on Wednesday 2 September 2020.

For more information, visit https://socialjustice.sun.ac.za/. 

​“Mask wearing is not just about protecting yourself. It is also about protecting others, about being a responsible citizen and about looking out for those most at risk of serious consequences from COVID-19," said Prof Stan du Plessis, Institutional Committee for Business Continuity Chair at Stellenbosch University (SU).

Du Plessis explained that it has come to the University's attention that there are some students and staff who are not wearing their masks in public spaces on campus. “This is worrying, not only because of the fact that it is compulsory to wear a mask in public, but also because not doing so puts other, vulnerable lives at risk."

In response, the university has launched a campus-wide campaign to remind students why they should be wearing their masks. Various posters, banners, stickers and other communication have been put up on campus, reading everything from “Wearing is caring. Mask up!" to “Do it for your Gogo. Do it for your Auntie. Do it for your Oupa. Do it for your Ma. Do it for your Chommie. Do it for your Mommy. Do it for your Bru. Mask up!".

This follows recent government regulations that made mask wearing in public compulsory.

“Our purpose with this campaign is to convey the proven importance of mask wearing in the fight against this pandemic, and encourage our staff and students to 'Mask up'," said Du Plessis.

Need more motivation to wear a mask? Watch this video to see a demonstration of how face coverings and masks minimise the spread of coronavirus.

Protect yourself and others from the spread COVID-19

(Source: World Health Organisation)
Of course, a mask on its own is not enough to prevent the spread of the virus. Further reduce your chances by taking these precautions:

• Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands.
• Avoid crowded places.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
• Make sure you, and the people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene.
• Stay home and self-isolate even with minor symptoms such as cough, headache, mild fever, until you recover.

The Faculty of Science has a number of events planned for National Science Week which this year is taking place from 27 July to 31 August.

South Africa's National Science Week (NSW) is an annual celebration of science, engineering and technology, attracting thousands of learners and members of the public to workshops, science shows and lectures, which are held at universities, schools, science centres and public facilities countrywide, led by the Department of Science and Technology. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of these events will take place online.

Here is a summary of the Faculty of Science's events:

Rethinking gender in mathematics – Monday 10 August 2020, 12:00-13:00

Dr Eugenia Cheng will be the guest speaker at the African Women in Mathematics (AWI) seminar on 10 August. Dr Cheng is an accomplished mathematician, pianist and writer of several books, including A Mathematician's manifesto for rethinking gender, How to bake Pi (2015), Beyond Infinity (2017) and The Art of Logic in an Illogical World (2018). Cheng is scientist in residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is honorary fellow at the University of Sheffield and honorary visiting fellow at City University, London. Learn more about her in this in-depth biographic interview on the BBC's Life Scientific. The aim of the online African Women in Mathematics seminar is to showcase African women mathematicians, while featuring international speakers of interest. It provides a forum for women mathematicians from across Africa to meet regularly, be inspired, and to meet peers from across the world. The annual seminar is hosted by Stellenbosch University's Department of Mathematical Sciences.

Anybody with an interest in mathematics and gender are welcome to attend the online seminar. Register at https://forms.gle/ZSHRuYyqNVukCM7i9

From Invention to commercialisation: an entrepreneurial journey with nanofibers – Tuesday 11 August, 17:30-18:30

Dr Eugene Smit, CEO of the Stellenbosch Nanofiber Com pany, will share his journey from scientist and inventor to entrepreneur and businessman. The webinar is co-hosted by the Stellenbosch University Launchlab and the Faculty of Science.

Register at: https://bit.ly/2PgtYjm

Building long-term immunity against COVID-19

Are antibodies our body's only defence for building immunity against re-infection with COVID-19? Not at all, argues emeritus professor Dirk Bellstedt, a biochemist and immunologist from Stellenbosch University. In this online Science Café, he talks about the different strategies our immune system can employ against infections, as well as recent research which shows that there is indeed a good indication of building up of cellular immunity after a COVID-19 infection. Contrary to prior reports, this means that our immune system is capable of fighting off the virus, and that these mechanisms will offer protection against re-infection. It is therefore time to put the prophets of doom and gloom to rest, and augers well for those working against time to develop a new vaccine.

More about the speaker

Dirk Uwe Bellstedt is an emeritus professor in the Department of Biochemistry at Stellenbosch University. For the past 35 years he worked in the field of evolutionary biology, including viral evolution. His research into the development of  methods for the detection of immune responses to vaccines in experimental animals and ostriches have led to optimal vaccination schedules again Newcastle Disease Virus and a vaccine against mycoplasma infections. This research field is continued under the leadership of one of his former doctoral students, Dr Annelise Botes. Since the 1980s, immunology as a field expanded massively, with Nobel Prizes awarded in 1984, 1987, 1996 and 2018 for breakthroughs in the field. These developments have given immunologists significant insights into the current COVID-19 epidemic.

Format: MS Teams Meeting

Register here:  Join Microsoft Teams Meeting

Science Café Stellenbosch is an initiative of SU's Faculty of Science to promote the discussion of scientific issues in the public sphere. Follow us on Facebook or join our mailing lis​t science@sun.ac.za 

Dr Karen du Preez, a clinical researcher with the Paediatric TB Research Programme at the Desmond Tutu TB Centre, recently received a grant of nearly R9 million ($540 000) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States for a project which will help to provide more knowledge about tuberculosis meningitis in children.

Du Preez, who is currently in the final stages of her PhD, said the awarding of the grant is an "incredible opportunity".

"Despite tuberculosis (TB) being a treatable and preventable disease, it is still one of the top 10 causes of death in young children globally. TB meningitis (TBM) is a very serious form of TB. The symptoms are often non-specific, which can cause delays in diagnosis and lead to poor outcomes (death or life-long disability). Young and HIV-infected children have the highest risk of developing TBM," she said.

Her project is entitled Interdisciplinary and multi-level approach to estimate the disease burden and outcomes of childhood tuberculosis meningitis.

Du Preez successfully applied for a Fogarty Emerging Global Leader Award from the NIH. The purpose of the award is to provide research support and protected time (three to five years) to an early-career research scientist from a low- or middle-income country (LMIC) who is in a junior faculty position at an LMIC academic or research institution.

She said she was very excited about the grant. "This award provides me with the opportunity to not only do really important research, but also to develop specialized research skills in spatial and mathematical modelling. It also gives me the opportunity to build a research network with local and international world experts, which will be an extraordinary resource for me when leading future research projects and funding applications."

This is a career-development grant, and a successful application relies on identifying appropriate mentors that is willing to support the applicant. "I'm extremely privileged to have a team of world experts, both locally and internationally, who are willing to support and mentor me for the duration of this award. I have been working at the Desmond Tutu TB Centre, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health since 2008, and the mentorship I have received from Professor Anneke Hesseling and the support I have received from the department has been instrumental in my successful application."

Du Preez said her research will be conducted over five years, and has three aims. "TB pro​grammes are not required to routinely report data on TBM, and we have no idea how many children are affected or how much TBM contributes to TB mortality in children. Our first aim is therefore to estimate how many children in the world develop TBM every year, and how many of the TB deaths in children are due to TBM, using mathematical modelling. 

"Secondly we will use routine TB data from South Africa, to understand differences in where children with TBM are treated and reported at a national level. We will also use this data to identify predictors of poor TB outcomes in children with TBM. This will help us to identify where in South Africa interventions to improve diagnosis and outcomes are most needed.

"Lastly, we will work closely with routine health services in Cape Town using multiple data sources to identify all diagnosed and undiagnosed children with TBM over a two-year period. All identified children will be eligible for enrolment in an observational cohort study that will collect data on diagnostic certainty, disease severity, comorbidities, outcomes and missed opportunities for both TB preventive therapy and earlier diagnosis of TBM. This could help us to develop diagnostic algorithms to assist with earlier diagnosis, and identify opportunities for targeted interventions to improve TBM prevention and care.

She said the grant funding will primarily cover staff and activities specifically related to the research project, as well as career-development activities.

The annual Stellenbosch University (SU) Hackathon, where innovation and entrepreneurship are encouraged amongst Stellenbosch students, went virtual this year over the weekend of 31 July to 2 August 2020, with more than eighty students participating in one of two challenges to win a share of the R30 000 prize money.

Hosted by Innovus, SU's technology transfer office responsible for the commercialisation of the University's intellectual property assets, this was the third annual Hackathon, and students could take part in either a Fintech Coding Challenge or a Data Science Challenge. This year the sponsors were Capitec, Entersekt and Explore. The theme of the Hackathon was to develop solutions that can help small businesses to function effectively in the new normal post-COVID-19 environment. Students collaborated from their homes across the country, and some from residences in Stellenbosch. 

“We challenged the contestants to think outside the box and not just to emulate existing solutions, but rather try to think of the challenges that small businesses are facing in the new remote economy and that no one is solving yet", says organiser Camille de Villiers, technology transfer officer at Innovus. As always, business and technology mentors, including engineers, data scientists and developers, from the sponsoring companies were available over the weekend to assist students.

Camille said thirteen student teams took part in the Data Science Challenge. They were challenged to identify ways in which data can be used to provide actionable insights into small businesses. “Teams were required to supplement the available data from small businesses with additional open-source datasets (e.g. weather, traffic, and relevant location-based services such as ATM's) to build out specific insights for the small businesses."

Winning with data science

The winning data science team, Designated Derivers with Ulrich Kotze, Niel van Zyl, Claudia di Santola and Thamu Mnyulwa, created an application called CAPITEC/AIR. This App provides Automated Industry Reports (AIR) for small businesses to assist them in making better buying decisions. 

CAPITEC/AIR makes gaining insights from analytics more accessible and intuitive when you can pinpoint events and trends on a map, quite literally. It makes it easier to understand critical information and take action. 

The runner-up team was Gemmer Koekies (with Murray Louw, Marco Ribeiro, Retief Louw and Jaco Luus) and an honourable mention was also made to Yeet It In Orange (with Michael Burke, DT Rodwell, Samuel Kingwill and HJ Schutte). The Judges were Prof Kanshu Rajaratnam, Director of the School for Data Science and Computational Thinking, SU, August Carstens, Manager: Data Science at Capitec Bank, Coetzee Smit, Head of Digital: Mercantile Bank, and Jaco Jansen van Rensburg, Lead Instructor: Explore Data Science Academy. 

Fintech winners

Nine student teams took part in the Fintech Challenge. The teams were challenged to use their coding skills and imagination to design and build a disruptive FinTech-inspired software solution that can help small businesses and their consumers transact and thrive in the new remote economy. 

The solution needed to include some mobile capability. 

The winning team for the Fintech challenge were Horizon 12 , with Troy Verwayen, Justin Abrams, Tieg O'Sullivan and Thomas Theron. They created a mobile application called Skillchain, which is a remote recruitment tool intended to be used by small businesses to recruit vocationally uncertified workers into the formal economy using smart contracts and blockchain to deliver its service. 

The runner-up team was KickASS, with Abdullah Karbanee, Sarah Meinie and Summayah Alimudin. An honourable mention was also made to Quaranteam, with Lauren Abrahall, Paul Geldenhuis, and Henru du Toit.

Judges for the Fintech Challenge included Prof Ingrid Woolard, Dean: Economic and Management Sciences, SU, Amrei Botha, Head: Customer Experience at Capitec Bank, and Richard Bailey, Senior Vice President: Engineering at Entersekt. 

Innovus

Camille says Innovus hosts the SU Hackathon to bring talented student programmers, designers, builders, statisticians, scientists and engineers together to learn, build and share their creative ideas while solving industry-relevant problems innovatively. “Innovus believes that hosting the SU Hackathon every year contributes to the creation of an entrepreneurial and innovation culture across the SU campus."

“These activities lead to valuable educational and career development experiences for students, which augment classroom teachings and enhance the Stellenbosch experience for the student community. The events while also have a positive impact on the local developer and innovator community in Stellenbosch through encouraging the sharing of innovative ideas and networking between industry and academia within the community.

The SU Hackathon can be regarded as a local collaboration between SU and the locally-based sponsors, Capitec and Entersekt, who set the challenge guidelines and provide mentorship for the students. Local industry's involvement in the Hackathon provide students with real-world insights into what companies are looking at when investing in or implementing new ideas and technologies.

Lead Mentor for the Fintech Challenge and Manager of Innovation at Capitec, Francois Dempers, adds to this: “you can be the best coder and build the best solution, but if you can't convey your idea and deliver at your pitch, then the idea won't make it… this event prepares you for the real world." For this reason, the 2020 SU Hackathon also included a pre-event Masterclass on Value Proposition and Pitching, facilitated by Anton Pretorius from Sologix. Camille says that the students this year really took this advice on board and overall the pitches (and creativity of the solutions) were of a significantly higher standard this year.​

​​The town of Stellenbosch will soon be the scene of a uniquely South African art response to the COVID-19 pandemic. And, as a result of this initiative, bursary students in the 'missing middle' category studying at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University (SU), are set to benefit.

From Friday, 7 August, exciting artworks will be displayed at a number of sites around town. Aptly named - Masked Masterpieces - masks will be superimposed on famous South African artworks that will be displayed outdoors in supersized format, providing a powerful visual reflection of the challenges of our time.

The artists' stories will be displayed on plaques alongside the artworks, as will information about the artworks, where the original artworks can be viewed and how to make a study donation by way of a SnapScan code or bank transfer. These donations will be administered by SU and will assist in funding bursary students who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The art installations that will be on display until December, will be entirely funded by the private sector: the Beck Family Philanthropy, the Fuchs Foundation, Investec, the Norval Foundation, the Rupert Art Foundation and Strauss & Co.

“At the start of the lockdown in South Africa, our Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Wim de Villiers, made it clear that the University has two overriding priorities: to ensure that students can successfully complete their academic year and to maintain the sustainability of our institution. This initiative, run by the Development and Alumni Relations Division (DAR), in collaboration with our partners in the private sector, is therefore in direct response to his statement," says Pieter Swart, Director: Major Gifts and Transformational Giving at DAR.

Maties who are set to benefit from this initiative will be selected from the 'missing middle' category of students. “We are introducing innovative ways to ensure that none of our students is left behind in the wake of COVID-19. With the economic effects of this pandemic, we expect that even more of our students will move into the 'missing middle' category — unable to access state funding and yet incapable of affording the costs of university studies because of the impact of COVID-19 on their household income," he adds.

According to Swart, Masked Masterpieces will not only help students in need but will also showcase and promote South African masterpieces, while educating the public on the fascinating artists who have created these works.

Sites where the public will be able to view the masked works include the gabled wall of the Distell building on the R44, the wall next to the GUS gallery in Dorp Street, the Dorp alley in Bird Street, the Stellenbosch taxi rank in Bird Street, and the gabled wall on the corner of Drostdy and Plein Streets.

“Masked Masterpieces demonstrates in practice the innovative mindset that underpins a truly novel initiative that simultaneously manages to educate, to promote the arts and to raise funding for deserving students who are challenged by the impact of COVID-19," explains Dr Riaan Els, CEO of the Fuchs Foundation.

• pieterswart@sun.ac.za
  
• 082 612 7852

Two new lice species and six new chigger mite species, collected by a postgraduate student and a researcher from Stellenbosch University (SU) respectively, have been named and their discovery announced. It just goes to show how rich the diversity of parasites in South Africa are, and how many are still waiting to be discovered, says Prof Sonja Matthee of the SU Faculty of AgriSciences' Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, who collected and named the chigger mites.

The two new lice species were discovered by JC Bothma from Bellville, during his MSc studies in Zoology. At the time, he was researching the evolutionary relationship between parasites and their hosts in terms of the lice found on four South African mouse species. Bothma, who obtained his degree cum laude last year, sampled mice and lice from more than twenty localities in the country and discovered the two new species in the Fraserburg area.

News about the new lice species recently appeared in the Journal of Parasitology. Lice expert Prof Lance Durden from Georgia Southern University in the USA conducted the technical investigations and description of the new species.

He has been working regularly with Prof Sonja Matthee on various projects since 2003. He was visiting Stellenbosch University in 2018 to present a lice identification course for her students when Bothma showed him some of the lice he found during a fieldtrip in the Karoo.

Among them were two unknown species, barely larger than 1 mm each, which Bothma had removed from a pair of Grant's rock mice (Micaelamys granti). At this stage, the Stellenbosch team already knew that the lice were genetically distinct from any other known louse species found on rodents in South Africa. Durden took them back to the USA, where he went through the step-by-step process of analysing and describing the new species.

The species are named Hoplopleura granti and Polyplax megacephalus. The two blood-sucking parasites spend their whole lifecycle - from the egg stage to adulthood - only on the body of a Grant's rock mouse.

Hoplopleura granti is so named because of its host, Grant's rock mice. Polyplax megacephalus was named for its fairly large ("mega" in Latin) head ("cephalus"), compared to most of the other 550 lice species found worldwide.

Bothma conducted his studies under the guidance of molecular ecologist Prof Conrad Matthee from the Department of Botany and Zoology in the SU Faculty of Science, and Prof Sonja Matthee of the SU Faculty of AgriSciences.

Prof Sonja Matthee also recently collaborated with a Russian colleague, Prof Alexandr Stekolnikov of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, to identify six new chigger mite species. She found the mites on field mice near Hoedspruit in Mpumalanga. The announcement about the new species was made in the journal Systematic and Applied Acarology.

Chigger mites are at less than a millimetre by no means easy to spot or to identify. They fall into the larger Arachnida class to which spiders, ticks and scorpions also belong.

Chigger mites are to be found on hosts during their larval stage, and then fall off the host to continue developing through their different live stages in the vegetation. Larvae that feed on hosts such as humans, livestock and pets can cause irritating, itchy bites.

Most of the 80 South African chigger mite species described (there are 440 known species worldwide) are to be found in KwaZulu-Natal, but few surveys elsewhere in the country have been done.

Two of Prof Matthee's mentors were honoured in the naming of the new species, Ascoschoengastia ueckermanni and Schoutedenichia horaki. They are the South African acarologists (mite and tick experts) Prof Eddie Ueckermann from North-West University and Professor Ivan Horak from the University of Pretoria. Both have been retired for several years (currently Ueckermann is 69 years old and Horak 86) but are still engaged in research in their respective fields. A third species, Trombicula walkerae, was named after the late Dr Jane Walker, who was an expert on Africa's tick species, and among others helped write guides on tick species to be found in Botswana and Kenya.

Fleas, lice, mites and ticks are all external parasites that occur on the bodies of host animals and feed on their blood at some point during their life cycle. Internal parasites include tapeworms, flatworms and roundworms. For every animal species, there is usually a specific set of parasites that are very unique to them.

Prof Matthee believes more effort should be made with surveys on the distribution of parasite species and their description, as each plays a unique role in ecosystems. Further, parasites make up a significant part of biodiversity on earth as more that 50% of all animal species are either parasites or exhibit some form of parasitism as part of their lifecycle. Because some can also transmit diseases to humans and animals, it is therefore necessary to know where in the country different species occur.

"Parasite research is a very neglected field of study in South Africa," says Prof Matthee, who has been involved in such work for the past two decades. "There is a shortage of local experts and that is why we regularly use overseas colleagues to help us describe new species."

One of Prof Matthee's former doctoral students, Dr Andrea Spickett of the Agricultural Research Council's Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, surveyed the internal parasites found in 13 mice species across South Africa as part of her studies. In the process she found at least 13 unknown species of worms. These must first be formally studied to confirm whether they are perhaps new species.

Photo:

Prof Sonja Matthee from Stellenbosch University collected six new species of chigger mites and helped name them. JC Bothma, who discovered two new lice species near Fraserburg. The chiggermyt Schoutedenichia horaki which was named after Professor Ivan Horak from the University of Pretoria.

​The inspiring community and research work that the Institute for Life Course Health Research (ILCHR) does resonates with the vision of SU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences to enhance health and health equity with and for the communities it serves.

 The institute, based in the Department of Global Health and led by Prof Mark Tomlinson and Prof Sarah Skeen, conducts research on infant, child, adolescent, maternal and family well-being, health and development in low resource communities.

“We are interested in testing solutions and doing three things," Tomlinson said. “We want to deliver cutting-edge research that prioritises the well-being of children, adolescents, families and people across the life course; work with communities to develop interventions; and share the knowledge that we generate as effectively and as broadly as possible."

 “Underlying all of this is a commitment to being part of the solution to the deep and profound inequality that exists," he adds.

 The ILCHR works throughout South Africa, with research teams based in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape and the OR Tambo district in the Eastern Cape. They also run projects across Africa and South Asia, and collaborate with international agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on programmes on nurturing care to improve early child development, maternal and child health, child and adolescent mental health and development, and maternal mental health.

Early events, later repercussions

It is now widely recognised that events in utero and in early childhood have long-term health impacts. Research has revealed the developmental vulnerability of a child in the first 1 000 days of life (conception to two years), especially in terms of neurodevelopment. Intergenerational factors are also significant. Tomlinson explains: “We're starting to realise that one predictor of an infant's growth is the grandmother's nutritional status. And that a young woman's health – her nutrition, whether she's getting regular medical check-ups – is key in the health of the baby she's not even pregnant with yet."

This is also true of the mother's mental health. “Research 30 years ago was mainly focused on postnatal depression and its impact on the mother and her child. Then we realised antenatal depression (depression during pregnancy) is as important, as is chronic depression across the life course," Tomlinson stated.

No full inoculation against adversity

 As a result, there's been a worldwide push for a focus on, and investment in early-childhood interventions. This has been hugely successful. It is, however, important to remember that nothing can completely “inoculate" a child against developmental disruption. “We've found that interventions sometimes have small positive impacts, and that impacts sometimes 'wash out' over time (i.e. become invisible in the long run). Sometimes, they fade and then re-emerge later," says Skeen. “One can't expect just one short programme in the early years to change the outcomes of people's lives, especially in conditions of extreme poverty."

Continued investment is needed – including, and perhaps particularly, in adolescence. “While brain development is incredibly fast, with lots of synapse pruning in those first 1 000 days, we now know that an enormous amount of brain development also happens in adolescence," says Tomlinson.

Current research suggests that certain adolescent interventions are particularly successful, especially those focusing on interpersonal skills and emotional regulation. However, such findings have come mostly from high-income countries. The challenge is to adapt these interventions for use in low-income settings. The ILCHR is working with the WHO on guidelines for such programmes and exploring targeted prevention measures for adolescents at risk of depression and anxiety, substance abuse, aggression and self-harm.

 Building a foundation for later interventions

The ILCHR is also doing important work in testing interventions for younger children, including the Mphatlalatsane study in Lesotho and the Philani and Thula Sana (“Hush Baby") randomised controlled trials in South Africa. All have involved community health workers making home visits to mothers during pregnancy and during their children's early years.

The Mphatlalatsane study, completed in 2018, focused on a group-based intervention on nutrition, HIV testing and language development. The Philani study is tracking the impact of a home visiting programme run by a non-governmental organisation in Khayelitsha. During the Thula Sana trial, the ILCHR tracked children for the first eighteen months of life, again at 13 years, and then later re-enrolled the group into an intervention for adolescents. Tomlinson explains: “We're trying to determine when interventions are most effective: Does a second intervention at age 17 give a significant reinforcing boost to an early intervention implemented in the first six months?"

 Challenges of long-haul research

 Life-course studies can be expensive and time consuming: Thula Sana has run for 18 years; the Philani study has lasted eight years. They're logistically tough as well – data collectors sometimes need four wheel drives or even donkeys to access rural villages in the Eastern Cape and Lesotho. The work is also conceptually challenging. Mental health is difficult to measure, as are adversity, violence and poverty.

Finally, there are many different factors that may or may not have an effect, depending on the individual child and specific environment concerned. Some children struggle when faced with “the smallest environmental insult … but if that same child were in a really good environment, they'd thrive," Tomlinson concludes.

​​​In celebration of Women's Day and Women's Month, female researchers write in opinion pieces for the media about how women in South Africa overcome many challenges they face in different spheres of society. Click on the links below to read the articles.

• Prof Juliana Claassens: Department of Old & New Testament (News24)
• Dr Linda Zuze: Research on Socio-Economic Policy Group (News24)
• Prof Nox Makunga from the Department of Botany and Zoology (Mail & Guardian)
• Prof Amanda Gouws: Department of Political Science (News24)
• Delecia Davids: Department of Curriculum Studies (City Press)​
  

This series brings together scientists, practitioners and societal actors who use the frameworks of complexity and resilience thinking in their daily work to make sense of the complex dynamics of change and transformative processes. There will be a special focus on how these ideas and practices are used in current times and how local and regional processes and perspectives are being shaped by applying the theoretical concepts and tools for fostering more resilient organisations, communities and decision-making strategies.

In this webinar we will explore opportunities and possibilities for systems change in African entrepreneurship. While the dominant discourse on African entrepreneurship is about achieving momentum (sustained traction) and maturity (local intensity and density), there are emerging views that locals have a poor sense of control (human agency) in determining the directionality of the future of entrepreneurship. Data collection exercises in three African countries viz. Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana look to validate or invalidate these emerging claims through stories of not only entrepreneurs but also support organisations and policymakers.

Thursday, August 13th from 13:00—14:00 (GMT+2)

This webinar will take place online
Register in advance:
https://maties.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hsE96IYpS_GW2G8GCwQzqQ​

Discussants:

Phumlani Nkontwana (CEO Fuata Africa, PhD candidate Stellenbosch University)

Dr John van Breda (CST)

Moderator: Dr Rika Preiser

​LEARNING & TEACHING ENHANCEMENT SEMINAR, 06 AUGUST 2020
held virtually on MS Teams, from 13h00 – 14h00

Dr Karin Cattell-Holden, senior advisor at the Stellenbosch University (SU) Centre for Teaching and Learning, was the presenter at the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Seminar on the 06^th of August 2020. The topic of her presentation was “Can 'excellence' turn? Rethinking teaching excellence awards for the public good".

In this seminar Dr Cattell-Holden discussed the individualist focus of the teaching excellence awards at SU and proposed a re-contextualised approach to the awards in response to the call for social justice in South Africa. She argued that conceptualising excellent teaching in post-colonial South Africa should be linked to excellent learning and should emphasise the ideological and unequal contexts in which teaching and learning take place. Excellent teaching / learning should include a twofold collaboration between 1) academics and students to advance the relationship between teaching, learning and society, and 2) university management, academics and society regarding the social responsibility to deliver graduates who can function effectively in a democratic society.

Dr Cattell-Holden commenced her talk by unpacking the discourse of 'excellence', where after she shared her construction of the notion of 'teaching excellence'. She then delved into the idea of higher education in service of humanity, arguing, like Eshleman (2018)[1], that “We serve humanity first and foremost". Next, she moved on to teaching excellence as a form of value for the public good. She proceeded to the theme of teaching excellence awards, arguing that the conceptualisation, recognition and awarding of 'excellent teaching' should include a focus on 'excellent learning', with both discourses emphasising the ideological and unequal contexts in which students and teachers function. This was followed by tracing the discourse of 'excellence' at SU through several institutional documents. Against this thorough background she spoke about the SU Teaching Excellence Awards, and how it could be linked to the private good. She suggested that shifting the individualist focus of excellent teaching to collaboration would not only enhance the value of the teaching excellence awards but also contribute to reclaiming teaching at SU as a public good.

She concluded her talk by suggesting interesting ways for re-envisioning the SU Teaching Excellence awards for the public good. These include, amongst others, introducing the student voice, broadening the awards by introducing interdisciplinary teams and projects, and replacing the current individualist perspective by more inclusive criteria.

Dr Cattell-Holden's power point and a podcast of the session, is available here.

For more information about the topic, feel free to contact the presenter, at kcattell@sun.ac.za
The next Learning and Teaching Enhancement Seminar will take place on 09 September 2020.

​[1] Eshleman, K. 2018. Emergent EDU: Complexity and Innovation in Higher Ed. EDUCAUSE Review, 7 May.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning expertise on the African continent is set to get a major boost, thanks to prestigious scholarships to be awarded for postgraduate studies in the fields of applied mathematics, statistics, electrical and electronic engineering and computer science at Stellenbosch University (SU).

SU is the first African university to be awarded these scholarships by DeepMind, a London-based world leader in artificial intelligence research and its application in the real world. DeepMind was established in London in 2010 and its DeepMind Scholarships are part of a wider initiative by the company to broaden participation in science and support the wider research ecosystem, including in Africa.

Five scholarships will go to SU students who wish to pursue a two-year MSc in Applied Mathematics or Computer Science or an MEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Three further scholarships will go to SU students who have been accepted to study towards a PhD in Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mathematical Statistics or Statistics.

These scholarships will be available to students from all over sub-Saharan Africa who wish to pursue research related to machine learning, with recipients selected by the University to commence their courses in 2021. The DeepMind Scholarship programme gives talented students from      groups currently underrepresented in machine learning, including women, the support that they need to study at leading universities. Fees are paid in full and recipients are provided with guidance and support from DeepMind mentors.

“DeepMind was one of the major sponsors of the Deep Learning Indaba hosted by Stellenbosch University in 2018 and we have been building a relationship with DeepMind ever since," says Willie Brink, Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics and coordinator of the DeepMind Scholarships at SU.

“These scholarships are evidence of both DeepMind and the University's commitment towards growing machine learning and AI expertise in Africa and increasing diversity in these fields. I have seen tremendous talent and passion for machine learning and AI research from students all across our continent and we look forward to welcoming the DeepMind Scholarship recipients to postgraduate studies at Stellenbosch University."

According to Prof Wim de Villiers, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of SU, the DeepMind Scholarship Programme will help the University to cement its reputation as a world-class institution.

“This is an endorsement of the quality of SU's offering on machine learning and artificial intelligence. I have no doubt that these scholarships will help us deliver sought-after graduates equipped to help our country, our continent and the rest of the world meet future challenges." 

“I'm absolutely delighted to announce DeepMind's first scholarship programme on the African continent. Despite the wealth of talented students in Africa, relatively few pursue advanced study or research-focused careers in AI and machine learning. To ensure that AI is a technology of global benefit, increasing African participation is vital," says Obum Ekeke, University Relations and Education Lead at DeepMind.

“In addition to financial support, scholarship recipients will have opportunities to attend global conferences and industry events and learn directly from mentors within DeepMind. In doing so, we hope to complement the brilliant efforts of the Deep Learning Indaba and others to create lasting connections and support the development of machine learning and artificial intelligence across Africa. We look forward to welcoming the first cohort of DeepMind scholars at Stellenbosch University very soon."

​Prof Soraya Seedat from the Department of Psychiatry at Stellenbosch University (SU) proves that a clinician scientist can successfully straddle the fields of scientific research and clinical patient treatment. Wearing these two hats, she contributes to an international knowledge base on gene-brain-behaviour mechanisms, as well as provides effective treatment modalities, particularly for women. As if this is not enough, she also ensures that 80% of the researchers on her trauma research programme are women, thereby contributing to a more gender-balanced scientific community.

Prof Seedat tells us more about her work.

Tell us more about your research.

For the past 20 years, my research has straddled the cross-cutting theme of psychological trauma, especially continuous violent trauma exposure, and the interplay of risk and resilience across the human lifespan. My research programmes focus on several psychiatric disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders and neuroAIDS. The types of trauma that I am most interested in are childhood maltreatment, rape, and intimate partner violence. These are ubiquitous in South Africa, as well as in many other countries of the world, and have long-lasting negative mental and physical health sequelae. 

The studies that I conduct are on the intersection of biological and environmental mechanisms of causation of the aforementioned disorders, and treatments for them. Environmental factors that are not well understood are the gender, ethnic and cultural disparities that contribute to the development of these psychiatric disorders. I host research programmes funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), more specifically the South African Research Chair in PTSD and the MRC Genomics of Brain Disorders Research Unit. I am also passionate about training early-career researchers on the African continent.​​

Why or how did you become interested in this specific area of research?

I became interested in research on anxiety disorders during my training as a registrar in Psychiatry. I moved from Durban to Cape Town to train in Psychiatry at Stellenbosch University.

SU's Department of Psychiatry has always had a very strong research culture, with outstanding, internationally acclaimed researchers and research mentors (such as Profs Robin Emsley and Dan Stein). 

My first research study, which I conducted during my training, was on hoarding behaviour in patients diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. I developed an instrument to assess hoarding and was fascinated by the narratives of the patients I encountered – the reasons, motives and triggers that they endorsed for their hoarding behaviour, and the common phenomena of early-life trauma and recent stressors in their lives. I was also energised by the diversity of research activities, including clinical trials, that were ongoing in the Department of Psychiatry at the time. I knew that I wanted to be a clinician scientist right then and there.

Soon after completing my training, I joined the MRC Unit on Anxiety Disorders as a postdoctoral fellow, set up an adolescent trauma research clinic, which still continues today, and embarked on a series of studies on posttraumatic stress disorder in adolescents and adults. 

Why do you think this is such an important area of research for South African women?

Women and young girls in South Africa are disproportionately affected by sexual trauma and intimate partner violence. This is a scourge at the core of the intersecting epidemics of HIV, maternal and youth illnesses, and other non-communicable disease in the country. Trauma is a risk factor for a variety of psychiatric disorders among women, and women with pre-existing mental illness are more vulnerable to affliction by severe trauma. In women, sexual trauma often goes unreported because of the shame, guilt, fear and stigma. The mental and physical stigmata are often hidden, resulting in a clinical diagnosis being made and treatment being offered far too late. Early diagnosis and delivery of effective and accessible treatments are crucial in our setting. 

What would you consider the greatest impact of your research on women in the country?

On one level, my trauma research programmes have given me the platform to recruit and retain women scientists, and support them in their research careers. This has been extremely rewarding. More than 80% of researchers in my programmes are women. I have enjoyed the privilege of supporting women researchers and growing their expertise in trauma-related research in South Africa and on the African continent. On another level, because much of my research has focused on women (such as trauma and PTSD in adolescents, adults and HIV-infected populations), I have contributed internationally to the knowledge base on gene-brain-behaviour mechanisms and effective treatment modalities. 

What would your message be for the next generation of women researchers?

Now, more than ever, South Africa needs more women in science, and a more gender-balanced scientific community. For far too long, women researchers have endured structural, organisational and interpersonal challenges (such as mistreatment in the form of gender discrimination, bullying and gender derogation) that our male colleagues have not had to contend with.

As the current and next generation of researchers, we need to speak up and ensure that we have equal opportunities, a sense of belonging and inclusion, and that we are acknowledged for our contributions.

My advice to young researchers is to actively reach out to other women researchers who can help lift them up in their careers. Connecting and networking with other researchers (both women and men), on the African continent and internationally, early on in your career will give you an added advantage. Collectively as women researchers, we need to celebrate and embrace other strong, competent, successful and inspirational women.