Research
Why a South African community mistrusts big industry and what needs to change
The country hasn’t successfully developed institutional capacity and the government skills to manage industrial risks to communities and the environment, writes Unisa’s Professor Llewellyn Leonard in The Conversation. Risk communication must be viewed as a process for mutual learning and deliberation to inform scientific knowledge Read more
Preserving stories through audiovisual media
As the international community observes World Day for Audiovisual Heritage on 27 October, Unisa experts weigh in on the importance of migrating content to the latest technology when the one in use becomes obsolete. “We ought to make sure that all the footage we own is transferred digitally as we cannot afford to lose such treasures.” Read more
Unisa joins the Digital Preservation Coalition
“Unisa Library and Information Services wishes to align itself with a credible and long-standing body that brings together communities and shares lessons learned,” explains Daisy Selematsela, Executive Director. “By making connections with other world-class organisations, we hope to apply these lessons to our own work in support of the university’s aims.” Read more
Tax researcher taking full advantage of grants
Sharon Smulders, an NRF-rated scholar and professor, says that her research makes a difference for SMMEs by ensuring that starting and running a small business is as easy and as simple as possible so that job creation in SA can thrive Read more
African scholarship and indigenous ways of knowing
The CGS School of Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Studies at Unisa hosted a seminar series to engage on the rich and diverse epistemologies and languages that constitute an important component of the heritage of the world's peoples, and how these relate to decolonising higher education on the continent. Read more
Innovative monitoring for postgrads
Dr Memme Makua, Head of Quality Assurance and Enhancement in the College of Graduate Studies, has been awarded DHET funding for the development of the online M&D Students' Supervision and Monitoring Dashboard - a CGS project to quality assure postgraduate student engagement across all colleges. Read more
What South African women told us about being the main breadwinner
Although society portrays a woman who earns a living as free and empowered, outdated values and stereotypes still promote discrimination against female breadwinners, writes Unisa's Dr Bianca Parry. Read more
Research in a pandemic: It's all about trust
Prof Ames Dhai said at the launch of the Community of Practice for Research Ethics and Integrity Professionals in Gauteng, a joint initiative between Unisa, the DSI, SARIMA and Wits, that rapid review does not mean rushed. Ethical standards and quality of review cannot be compromised, and rapid review cannot mean you curtail important ethical discussion. Read more
Erosion of capacity contributes to corruption
Delivering the keynote address at a summit hosted by the African Institute for Supply Chain Research at Unisa, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Lechesa Tsenoli, said that while the Covid-19 fronting and price escalation was very embarrassing, it also provided an opportunity to learn from mistakes made. Read more
At the proverbial fork in the road
The eighth virtual research seminar held by the UNESCO Chair of Open Distance Learning at Unisa considered the issues involved in moving from challenges to opportunities and asked the question: What will become our "new normal" for teaching and learning in an ODL framework? Read more