Page 4 - University of Pretoria RESEARCH REVIEW 2018

Foreword
The University of Pretoria is proud to be closely focused, through our research, on our place in Africa and the contributions we make to our collective futures.
Each year the University publishes a Research Review that showcases a selection of people and projects that make up the vibrancy of our varied research contexts, and of the ideas and questions that are being pursued at UP. While only a selection of UP’s research endeavour can be presented, the theme narratives illustrate both the diversity of people and knowledge fields, and the synergy in contributing to new understanding of our the social and natural worlds.
The profiles included in the 2018 Research Review are grouped under five broad themes, each theme illustrating different dimensions of the nature and process of research that deliberately collapse disciplinary silos and institutional structures, while acknowledging the unique strengths that each knowledge field brings to the specific issues being investigated. The themes and sub-themes are: i) Texts and context – ways of seeing; ii) Technologies, tools and big data – visualising the unseen; iii) Biodiversity and biotechnology – identifying the patterns; iv) Health and place – finding solutions; and v) Markets and development – acting in context.
In broad terms, research is about ways of knowing, and methods or techniques used in pursuing specific questions or problems. The profiles included in this Review illustrate both the distinctness and the confluence between different knowledge fields. What ties this all together, and is a recurrent theme throughout the Review, is the role
of research in examining the world in which we live – from the humanities and the sciences, to new technologies and tools used in the process of research. In short, the Review celebrates the new ways of seeing, analysing and understanding, and the actions emerging from the University.
The University has a wealth of academics and research teams who have excellent projects and have produced noteworthy results. Our objective, each year, is to foreground emerging researchers, as well as research leaders and teams, and in this combination, to capture the immense talent we have at UP.
With Africa’s people already representing around 20% of the world’s population and growing, the future of the world is predominantly African. A deliberate dimension in this Review is therefore to foreground the future research leaders who need to ensure that the impact we have today
will build the research, innovation and development capacity that Africa needs, to address the
big challenges faced by Africans. I would like to extend my congratulations to the Vice-Principal, Professor Stephanie Burton, for her leadership role in research, and her contribution to the development of our future research leaders.
Professor Cheryl de la Rey, former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria (2009–2018) was the custodian of 2018. I wish to acknowledge my predecessor’s immense contribution to the University, and finally, all the researchers whose work are profiled in this Review.
Professor Tawana Kupe,
Vice-Chancellor and Principal, University of Pretoria
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