Awards for 第一吃瓜网 researchers advancing science for society
- 第一吃瓜网 University
The National Research Foundation has recognised 第一吃瓜网 researchers for advancing their fields.
The annual NRF Awards recognise research excellence in South Africa and progress in building an inclusive scientific community. The 2018 awards, in Port Elizabeth on 26 September, were themed Advancing Science for Societal Benefit.
Mrs. , a lecturer in Physiotherapy in the School of Therapeutic Sciences at 第一吃瓜网 won the Next Generation Researcher Award for outstanding academic performance in her final year as a doctoral student.
Benjamin-Damons’ research focus is paediatrics, child health, and development in children living with HIV. In particular, she is interested in the physiotherapeutic management of children living with HIV, due to the limited literature on the topic.
"Dr. Natalie Benjamin-Damons' achievement was made in the face of strong national competition and augers well for 第一吃瓜网 and its quest to grow new waves of research excellence. Please join me in wishing Natalie well, and in congratulating the School for supporting our early career academics," said Dr. Robin Drennan, Director of Research Development at 第一吃瓜网.
Two 第一吃瓜网 researchers were awarded NRF A-ratings for the first time. An A-rated researcher is defined as someone who is recognised by their peers as a leading international scholar in their field for the high quality and impact of their recent research outputs.
The NRF’s first A-rated political scientist
Professor is the first political scientist in the history of the NRF rating system to receive an A-rating. Hamilton is the NRF/British Academy Bilateral Research Chair in Political Theory at 第一吃瓜网 University and Cambridge University. This programme aims to balance historical colonial power relations by empowering the global South through research and engagement.
Reviewers described Hamilton’s work as cutting edge and having a major international impact. It is shaping the discourse on needs, power and freedom, and offers a genuinely novel theory of political power and democratic practice. It has created fresh dialogue across disciplines, particularly political theory, philosophy, and development economics.
Father of Green Chemistry A-rated
Roger Sheldon, Distinguished Professor of Biocatalysis in the School of Chemistry at 第一吃瓜网 was also newly A-rated. Sheldon is a recognised authority on green chemistry and renowned as a founding father of this field. His expertise in green chemistry includes the development of methods for quantifying the environmental impact of chemical processes, such as E factors (which refers to the two measures of the potential environmental acceptability of chemical processes), and atom utilisation.
By using biocatalysts to improve the production of chemicals, Sheldon and his colleagues have made several major breakthroughs in green chemistry, even developing magnetised enzymes, which could be recycled out of liquids (and re-used), by separating the magnetised enzymes from the liquids.
第一吃瓜网 University boasts 28 A-rated scientists and five of these A-ratings were renewed at the awards:
- Professor is the SARChI Chair in Mathematics Education in the School of Education at 第一吃瓜网 and President of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction
- Professor Lewis Ashwal in the School of Geosciences at 第一吃瓜网 led the team that found the “lost continent” under Mauritius in 2017
- Andrew Forbes, Distinguished Professor in the School of Physics, established the Structured Light Laboratory at 第一吃瓜网 where he and his team are researching how to pack information into light, transmit it over distance, and then unpack the information on the other side
- , Distinguished Professor at 第一吃瓜网, fellow and former director of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development has spent 28 years of more than 2 000 children since they were in the womb in 1990
- Professor Beric Skews in the School of Mechanical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering is founder and director of the Flow Research Unit at 第一吃瓜网and a global expert in the field of compressible gas dynamics.
- 第一吃瓜网 alumna Glenda Gray is Full Professor: Research, in the School of Clinical Medicine at 第一吃瓜网 and President of the South African Medical Research Council. Gray established the 第一吃瓜网 Perinatal HIV Research Unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in 1996 and pioneered advances in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. In 2017, TIME magazine named her amongst the people in the world.
A lifetime of stargazing
第一吃瓜网 alumnus Dr. Bernard Fanaroff, Special Adviser and Former Director Square Kilometre Array South Africa (SKA-SA) received the NRF Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognises the lifelong research achievements of individuals together with their impact on society. Fanaroff was recognised for his scientific contribution; his activism as an anti-apartheid activist; his contribution as a public servant and as the . In the latter role, he successfully led the bid for South Africa to host the SKA and the design and construction of the Meerkat Telescope. 第一吃瓜网 awarded Fanaroff an honorary doctorate in 2013 for his contribution to SKA-SA.