Unisa has a vibrant and dynamic research culture, and its strong transformative agenda encourages a creative approach to new ways of knowing. Here academics and postgraduate students are committed to finding research and innovative solutions that will address important national and global questions, and contribute to the economic, social, cultural and environmental well-being of South Africa and the African continent.
At Unisa, every effort is made to create and nurture an environment where researchers can live their passion, whether they prefer to explore new worlds or apply new ideas to real-world problems. To this end it supports basic, strategic and applied research as well as innovation and commercialisation projects, invests in postgraduate studies and explores brave new frontiers in a number of key disciplines.
The university has a pool of talented researchers of whom more than 235 have received National Research Foundation (NRF) ratings. Annually, the university’s researchers contribute more than 1 323 articles to accredited journals. Unisa also boasts close to 10 700 master’s and doctoral students.
The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) counts 26 Unisa researchers among its membership, while 11 researchers are members of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS).
Three Unisa scientists are in the top five most cited scientists in South Africa.
At the Unisa Science Campus, the focus is on growing research capacity and supporting research activities in the fields of science, engineering and technology, as well as agriculture and environmental sciences. With leading-edge laboratories (facilities not generally associated with comprehensive open, distance and e-Learning institutions), the Science Campus is the place where scientists get to do what they love to do – putting theory into practice.
At the heart of the university and offering exceptional support to researchers, the Unisa Library is the largest academic library in our continent, and one of the best-endowed in terms of information resources and information technology. It is, moreover, one of the largest dedicated distance and open education libraries in the world.
The institution's College of Graduate Studies provides a virtual research platform for postgraduate students in all colleges, thus promoting both interdisciplinary and research excellence.
The university also houses the Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library (TMPL). Containing an exhaustive repository of the documents, papers and artefacts of former President Thabo Mbeki and other African leaders, TMPL is a living library and important African centre of learning, research and discourse for the transformation of Africa.
Unisa has five broad research niche areas:
To provide impetus to research in these focus areas, Unisa has a number of dedicated institutes and bureaux, including the following:
Unisa hosts seven endowed research chairs, and one Unisa-funded research chair.
Last modified: 2023/04/26