These researchers received recognition: (Click to view videos)
Creative outputs
Prof Franci Greyling, School of Languages, Faculty of Arts, Potchefstroom Campus
Prof Piet Koornhof, School of Music, Faculty of Arts, Potchefstroom Campus
Community engagement
Dirkie Nell, School of Music, Faculty of Arts, Potchefstroom Campus, for the Musikhane Project
Dr Ansie Kitching, NWU project team, Faculty of Education Sciences, Potchefstroom Campus, for the Rupert Education Foundation project for wellbeing at schools in the Western Cape
Schalk Meyer, Faculty of Law, Potchefstroom Campus, for Law Clinic outreach programmes
Dr Lyn Preston, Dr Doret Kirsten and Wanda van der Merwe, Faculty of Education Sciences, Potchefstroom Campus, for the Potchefstroom Hospital project
Innovation in research
Prof Awie Kotze, Faculty of Health Sciences, Potchefstroom Campus, innovation evangelist
FR Bezuidenhout and Ketlareng Polori, Technology Transfer and Innovation Support, Institutional Office, and Lafras Lamont, Potchefstroom Campus, recognition under the TIA Leaders in Innovation
Prof Wilma Viviers, holder of the World Trade Organisation Chair, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Potchefstroom Campus, international recognition
Dr Danie Meyer and the Vaal Local Economic Development WARRIORS, Vaal Triangle Campus, exceptional incubation project
Dariah de Villiers, Lumegen Laboratories, Potchefstroom Campus, new student business
Business in a bag start-up company, Kgaugelo Maripane and Mzwakhe Sifuba, Potchefstroom Campus, most promising student idea
Prof Wilma Viviers and Prof Ludo Cuyvers, TRADE Decision Support Model, Potchefstroom Campus, international success
Open Collab under leadership of Martilene Orffer, IT, Institutional Office, highest revenue earner of the year
Dr Cobus Kriek, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Potchefstroom Campus, researcher with the most new declarations
Chemical Resource Beneficiation under the leadership of Prof Manie Vosloo, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Potchefstroom Campus, research unit with the most new declarations
Dr Paulus Kruger and Barend Visser, Centre for Space Research, Potchefstroom Campus, top inventor and top technology innovator
Christa North, Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching-Learning, Institutional Office, innovative contribution towards improving the NWU’s management systems
One Button Studio, under the leadership of Dr Marieta Jansen van Vuuren, Lance Bunt and Elne van Niekerk, Department of Academic Development and Support, Vaal Triangle Campus, innovative contribution towards improving the NWU’s management systems
Prof Dawie Malan, Faculty of Health Sciences, Potchefstroom Campus, innovative contribution towards improving the NWU’s management systems
Dr Francois Taute, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Potchefstroom Campus, most promising new declaration and commercialisation transaction of the year (video not available)
The NWU’s tourism academics raked in top honours at this year’s Excellence in Research Awards on 28 October. They took the titles of Most Productive Researcher and Most Productive Junior Researcher for the second and fourth time in a row, respectively.
Many outstanding staff members from other disciplines were also acknowledged for excellence in research, innovation, community involvement and creativity.
Prof Dan Kgwadi, vice-chancellor of the NWU, thanked researchers for delivering excellence in research despite the challenges that the higher education sector has been going through for the past year.
Tour(ism) of excellence
Tourism at the NWU continues to scale one mountain peak after another. Prof Melville Saayman from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences on the Potchefstroom Campus is the NWU’s Most Productive Researcher for 2015. Melville received this honour last year too, demonstrating the consistent excellence of his research.
He is the director of the research focus area Tourism Research in Economic Environs and Society (TREES). Melville’s research has two distinctive focus areas. He does economic analysis of what tourists spend and also looks into the effective management of tourism through policy development, tourism motivation, tourism planning and effective marketing.
As for Prof Martinette Kruger, also from TREES, this was her fourth win as Most Productive Junior Researcher.
Martinette’s research is aimed at identifying the most lucrative market segments at events and is especially useful for event organisers who want to understand the market better and expand on it. She has been researching market segmentation for the past six years.
Hat trick for Theology
For the third consecutive year, the award for the Most Productive Research Entity went to the research unit Reformed Theology and the Development of the South African Society in the Faculty of Theology on the Potchefstroom Campus.
The unit is concerned with debates that relate to the normative function of canonical Scripture and the contribution that Christian communities, through the Christian Church, make toward the development of society globally.
The unit succeeded in continuing to grow its national and international collaborations, increasing postgraduate students and raising its profile as a research entity that makes relevant scholarly contributions within the field.
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