Page 5 - University of Pretoria Research Review 2017

Foreword
Introduction
DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE
PEOPLE AND CONTEXTS
HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
PLANET AND SUSTAINABILITY
Awards
Lead Researchers
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cancer and non-communicable diseases to precision medicine and the future of science. Our researchers are showing that fundamental research, and translational research with local relevance, go together towards making a difference.
We acknowledge that the success of our multidisciplinary research is
founded on areas of expertise that have been built up over many years.
In 2017, the UP held two centenary celebrations, in fields where we have
sustained high-impact contributions, namely Agricultural Science, and
Theology and Religion. The events that marked these milestones celebrated past research achievements as well as looking ahead to the future directions of research, as featured in this Review. We are especially proud to recognise the University’s flagship Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), which celebrated its 20th anniversary year under the theme
of The Road to Research Excellence, showcasing the impact of world-class collaborative, interdisciplinary research in an area which is key to sustainability.
Along with these highlights of the research at UP, in 2017 our research productivity continued to grow, with increasing numbers of research publications, and upward progress in the international rankings. The impact of our research contributed to UP’s strengthened position, especially in world subject field rankings where we are now ranked (in the QS rankings) in the broad areas of Arts and Humanities, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences and Medicine, and Social Sciences and Management, and notably, in the subject field Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies, UP was ranked in the top 100 globally. Exceptionally pleasing was that UP was ranked 92 globally in the subject field Law, by the Times Higher Education world rankings, and second internationally in the field of Mycology, by the Centre for World Universities.
I wish to express my appreciation to all of our researchers and their research teams, partners, collaborators and funders, for their distinctive and exceptional contributions to the achievements of the University of Pretoria in 2017.