Fifteen disadvantaged postgraduate UKZN students were recently awarded scholarships worth a total of R750 000 from TATA Africa.

The scholarships will aid students to further their studies at the University in their respective fields of Science, Chemistry, Medical Science and Commerce.

Speaking at the event on the Howard College campus, UKZN Vice-Chancellor, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, thanked TATA Africa for their commitment and investment in students.

Professor Patrick Bond of the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) recently spoke at a plenary session in South America, alongside Liberation Theology founder Mr Leonardo Boff and former Bolivian UN Ambassador, Mr Pablo Solon.

The gathering, sponsored by the Coopération Internationale pour le Développement et la Solidarité (CIDSE), was one of many civil society meetings held at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The 33^rd Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is set to ‘wow’ film audiences and fundi’s this year with a myriad of exciting films. The festival will run from 19-29 July and will see 290 screenings in 10 venues across the city- 80 feature films, 40 documentaries, 45 short films and a comprehensive programme of workshops and seminars.

The festival is being hosted by UKZN’s Centre for Creative Arts (CCA) and is being principally funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund.

Director for CCA, Mr Peter Rorvik said a number of important film industry development initiatives such as Talent Campus Durban and Durban FilmMart will take place. . 

UKZN has begun migrating from GroupWise to the new email system, Microsoft Outlook, which will be installed on an estimated 8 000 computers over the next few weeks.

The conversion is being handled by 150 Information Communication Services (ICS) staff members who descended on the Westville campus in teams.

According to Richard Jansen, Acting CIO, the migration was the biggest project undertaken by ICS to date. ‘Lots of work has gone into the preparation for this, particularly over this past weekend.’

Staff and students in the College of Health Sciences were treated to a stimulating public lecture on the Westville campus by internationally acclaimed TB researcher, Professor Gyanu Lamichhane of The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in the United States.

An Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at JHU, Lamichhane’s topic was: “The pathway for biosynthesis of peptidoglycan layer as a target for development of inhibitors. Who will develop them”?

Referring to the World Health Organisation’s Global Incidence of TB between 1999 and 2005, Lamichhane said statistics reflected TB prevalence was highest on the African continent.

This winter will be a little more bearable for the poor and needy in KwaZulu-Natal thanks to the generosity of the UKZN community, who answered East Coast Radio’s calls for support in collecting blankets and cash donations for their Winter Warmth campaign.

The Winter Warmth campaign seeks to assist those in need by providing blankets for the colder months. Staff and students were urged to donate new blankets or make cash donations which would be used to purchase blankets on their behalf.

The School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science hosted an international workshop on Landscape Ecology and Environmental Stability at the Innovation Centre.

The workshop was held under the auspices of the Centre for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science at Rutgers University and the Mathematical Biosciences Institute at Ohio State University (DIMACS / MBI) in the United States. The workshop formed part of the US-African Biomathematics Initiative, which seeks to find solutions to African problems through the creation of long-lasting partnerships between African and American scientists.

Multi-talented drama and media honours student, Mr Kline Smith, won the Best Writer and Best Director awards for his production Mob Feel at the 2012 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

Sponsored for the first time by the South African Post Office, the awards acknowledge and honour the best work on the Festival’s Student Theatre Programme.

The award of Best Director will guarantee Smith a place in the Fringe programme at the 2013 National Arts Festival.  This comes with support and funding to debut a new work for the event. 

Challenges and solutions associated with the training of competent healthcare professionals for the 21st century were discussed when 120 key stakeholders gathered on the Westville campus for the South African Committee of Health Sciences Deans (SACOHSD) 2012 Conference.

The Conference was held under the auspices of Professor Sabiha Essack, SACOHSD Chair and Dean: School of Health Sciences at UKZN.

The School of Engineering has hosted yet another successful Winter School.

The programme, attended by Grades 11 and 12 learners in KwaZulu-Natal, gave insight into the various options offered by the School with a mix of serious academic presentations, practical activities and light-hearted entertainment.

Pupils were provided with a taste of what an Engineering degree at UKZN would involve as each discipline presented the academic and practical components of their respective degrees. 

The Arts and Culture Education Discipline at the School of Education recently held its first Best Lecturer Awards ceremony on the Edgewood campus.

 The awards function was the brainchild of the students who felt their lecturers deserved an award for all the hard work and dedication they put into teaching.

Head of the Discipline, Dr Yolisa Nompula, was among those given an award. She said it was unexpected but proved to be a motivation for her.

Isikole sakwaMathematics, Statistics and Computer Science kanye ne-artSPACE eThekwini sebenikezele ngendawo nezidingo zokudweba  ukuze kube nemidwebo ezokhiqizwa ngenxa yokuhlanganyela phakathi kososayensi nabadwebi.

Lemidwebo ehlanganisa ososayensi abangamashumi  amabili abavela emikhakheni eyahlukene nabadwebi abangamashumi amabili bazobona lemidwebo abayihlanganyele ibukiswa e-artSPACE eThekwini ngoMandulo. UKaren Bradtke nomkhwenyana wakhe uClaus basungula lokhu ngenxa yokuzama ukuhlanganisa ukudweba nesayensi.

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South African HIV patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the public sector treatment programme experienced nearly complete recovery of employment, a UKZN study involving 30 000 people aged between 18-59 over a 10-year period has found.

The study, conducted by researchers at UKZN’s Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies, was published in the July issue of Health Affairs, a leading health policy journal.

Empowering the nation through financial nous was the theme of the KwaZulu-Natal Financial Literacy Association’s (KZNFLA) inaugural conference held on the Pietermaritzburg campus recently.

Titled: “Promoting Financial Literacy: Taking Financial Education to the People”, the conference provided ordinary people with practical skills on how to manage their household and business finances and make informed financial decisions.

The Conference was directed by Professor Krishna Govender, the Vice-Chair of the KZN Financial Literacy Steering Committee, and featured keynote addresses by KwaZulu-Natal’s Finance MEC, Ms Ina Cronjé, the National Finance Minister, Mr Pravin Gordhan and KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Dr Zweli Mkhize.

Two hundred and forty six high school pupils from disadvantaged schools in KwaZulu-Natal who aim to study Accounting and Finance at tertiary level attended a Winter School hosted by the UKZN's Enriched Management Studies Programme (EMS).

The Winter School course on the Westville campus provided Grade 10, 11 and 12 pupils from rural areas such as Jozini, Dundee, Emadadeni and Nquthu with tuition in English, Mathematics, Accounting and Physical Science. The programme adopts an all-inclusive teaching and learning approach by delivering a curriculum with substantial extra learning opportunities to pupils with outstanding potential.