Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
Prof A Ströh, Dean
Telephone number: 012 420 3201
Fax number: 012 420 3890
E-mail address: dean.nas@up.ac.za
Message by the Dean
The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences is committed to the production of research outputs of outstanding quality. This is substantiated by the fact that approximately 50% of the University’s Exceptional Achievers and NRF-rated academics come from this faculty. Through these efforts we have also been able to forge strong relationships with industry, which increasingly collaborates with and supports research in the Faculty.
Our bilateral and multilateral cooperation has continued to strengthen in the form of collaborative agreements with institutions abroad as well as many formal and informal international exchanges at the Departmental and individual level. Several projects are in progress in the context of the European Union FP6 initiative, while new opportunities are being explored under FP7.
Over the past three years, the faculty succeeded in publishing more than 250 Department of Education (DoE) units per year in journals with high international standing. Of these publications approximately 90% were published in international ISI rated journals. These strides forward are further reinforced through the current hosting of over fifty Post-doctoral researchers from across the globe. In addition, 122 MSc and 41 PhD graduates were produced.
Our researchers are rated amongst the best in their particular fields and it is pleasing to note that women are at the forefront. Professors Brenda Wingfield, Jolanda Roux and Dr Marieka Gryzenhout received awards for their noteworthy research contributions. Wingfield and Roux received Women in Water, Sanitation and Forestry Awards, while Gryzenhout was one of the recipients of the Women in Science Awards.
The faculty boosts exceptional researchers, many of whom have been awarded and promoted in their personal capacity. Prof Nigel Bennett of the Department of Zoology and Entomology was appointed to a Department of Science and Technology (DST) SARChI Research Chair in Mammal Behavioural Ecology and Physiology. In addition, our P-rated scientist, Prof Alexander Myburg was awarded the prestigious S2A3 British Association Medal (See the article elsewhere in this report.)
Some of the highlights which will impact on future research are noted below:
School of Agricultural and Food Sciences:
The school received considerable international recognition during 2007 when two departments joined projects funded by the European Union’s 6th Framework Programme.
The Department of Food Science is a partner in the MARAMA II project and in January hosted the inaugural meeting of this project’s management consortium. The marama bean is an underutilised legume crop native to the Kalahari Desert and neighbouring sandy regions of Botswana and Namibia and the Gauteng region of South Africa. It forms part of the diet of the indigenous population in these countries. The overall objective of MARAMAII is to improve food safety and diversify livelihoods for poor people in Southern Africa through the development of healthy marama bean products. Prof Amanda Minnaar, Dr Riette de Kock and Dr Gyebi Duodu from the Department of Food Science are collaborating with scientists from the University of Botswana, the University of Namibia, the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), the Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical (Portugal) and the University of Maribor (Slovenia).
On 10 January the EU initiated a major new research effort in meat science entitled “Q-pork chains”. The aim of this project is to improve the quality of pork and pork products. The 51 project partners from 16 European countries and four non-European countries (Brazil, China, South Africa and the United States of America) attended the kick-off meeting in Copenhagen in January, but the formal process only got underway towards the end of June. The Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development is the South African link to this project and participates in Module IV: Integration and Sustainable Management of the Production Chain with Dr Jacques H Trienekens from Wageningen University as the coordinator. The objective is to identify and develop tools for integration and efficient sustainable management of a diversified European production and distribution system.
The research focus of the Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences is on basic and applied topics in livestock and wildlife industries, with the general aim of ensuring sustainable and economically viable production systems. During the past year the department continued with this broad focus and covered among others the following research topics: an initial genome scan for QTL associated with mohair production in Angora goats and scatology as a non-invasive conservation tool for cheetah in South Africa.
Various other research and community involvement projects were undertaken with support from agencies such as the Water Research Commission (WRC), National Department of Agriculture (NDA) and the South African National Parks (SANParks).
School of Mathematical Sciences:
The school strengthened its involvement in the activities of the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS). This facilitated the recruiting of M and D students from Cape Town, where the institution is based. An agreement was reached with the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Italy, who provides the school with funding in the form of research grants for junior members of staff and bursaries for African PhD students. The first visit took place in May/June.
The school hosted distinguished visitors through staff exchange with the following institutions where three of our extraordinary professors (Prof F Delbaen, Prof J Diestel and Prof KR Rajagopal) are based: ETH of Zurich (Switzerland), Kent State University (USA), Texas A & M University (USA), University of Reunion (France) and Linkoping University (Sweden).
Two joint research programmes are in progress with the Department of Statistics at Alabama University, USA. One of the projects focuses on joint research in Statistical Process Control, involving various staff members of the University’s Department of Statistics, which led to mutual visits at Alabama and the University. The other project is on Official Statistics.
School of Biological Sciences:
Since its official inception in January, the University of Pretoria’s Water Institute (UPWI), under the leadership of the head of the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology at the University and SERA Water Task Team leader, Prof Eugene Cloete, has seen unprecedented success towards the achievement of its aim of providing a research and education platform for meeting the water challenges facing South Africa and the African continent in a sustainable manner. As a primary focus, the UPWI’s capacity building initiatives have gained significant momentum with some 45 students currently enrolled at the MSc and PhD level. This includes students from Kenya, Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Nigeria, Canada, Germany and Mozambique.
During the year under review, a biotechnology project coordinated by Prof Henk Huismans in the Department of Genetics entitled “Novel delivery system for animal vaccines based on recombinant virus proteins” was approved for a second three year term with substantial funding from BioPad. The project is aimed at establishing a general purpose vaccine delivery platform targeted at diseases with a large economic importance such as foot-and-mouth disease, African horsesickness and bluetongue. Excellent results have been obtained in the first stage of the project, using a novel vaccine display strategy in which the immunologically important antigens are displayed on the surface of soluble, nano-sized protein complexes.
The second phase of product development will focus on testing the vaccines in disease-susceptible animals followed by challenge with virulent virus.
Prof Nigel Bennett of the Department of Zoology and Entomology was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Zoology, which is published by Blackwells for the Zoological Society of London.
In June, the US Department of Energy (DoE) announced that it will fund a three-year project to sequence the genome of a Eucalyptus tree as a potential bioenergy crop for the future. Prof Alexander Myburg of the Department of Genetics and the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) will be the principal investigator of the project which will involve contributions from more than 130 scientists in 18 countries that are members of the International Eucalyptus Genome Network (EUCAGEN).
School of Physical Sciences:
The school was very active in fundamental research as well as applied and contractual research. Some of the projects are individually described later in this Research Report. What is exciting about these projects is the large number of basic research projects with real practical applications. Several projects are related to the medical field, for example the bone cancer research in the Department of Chemistry and the study of Hyraceum, the fossilised urine and dung of rock hyraces as a treatment for epilepsy by a multidisciplinary group in Physics. In the Institute of Materials, research was done on topics with many technological applications such as polypropylene-based long-life insecticide-treated mosquito netting and solid dosage forms for acaricides. A whole section in this Research Report is devoted to the applied research being done in the Departments of Chemistry and Physics on investigating the fuel elements for the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) being developed and built in South Africa.
During the year under review the Department of Geology launched a new research area, namely precious metal fingerprinting, in cooperation with the South African Police Services’ (SAPS) forensic laboratories with generous supported from the Chamber of Mines. There were negotiations with the international reinsurance company, Benfield, to support a new research centre. The Benfield Natural Hazards Research Centre will be launched in 2008. Research on seismic and meteorological hazards will be undertaken at the centre. This initiative will require expertise from the Department of Geology, the Meterology Unit and the Department of Insurance and Actuarial Sciences.
A DST Chair in Carbon Science and Technology was established in the Institute of Applied Materials. The Institute is an interdisciplinary materials research group at the University with participation from the Departments of Physics, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering. The Chair has been set up to provide research and training in carbon materials, particularly those relevant to PBMR and related industries. The Chair holder and deputies have been appointed and eight post-graduate students recruited.
A forensic laboratory was established in the Department of Chemistry to analyse illegal drugs. The purpose of the laboratory is to support the University’s Hatfield Court initiative by supplying analytical evidence on confiscated material that can stand up to legal scrutiny. A Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) was installed temporarily for this purpose. A position for a qualified person to assist with the analyses has been created. It is planned that postgraduate students will also be trained in this laboratory.
Prof A Ströh
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