Professor Jonathan Jansen challenges set practices in postgraduate education in SA universities; Calls for a renewal
South African universities must restore the intellectual purpose of postgraduate education, defend the academy's openness, and strengthen the quality of supervision. This was the ...
More degrees, less readiness: Inside South Africa’s postgraduate dilemma
South Africa’s postgraduate education system is producing more graduates than ever before. Yet universities are increasingly confronting a harsher truth: too many students arrive ...
Differentiating postgraduate research by its inclination to academia, industry or societal needs
South African universities must urgently clarify the distinction between master’s and doctoral qualifications if the sector is to safeguard academic standards and strengthen its ...
From curriculum to credibility: National bodies sound an alarm on postgraduate training
Structural challenges within South Africa’s postgraduate education system, ranging from curriculum misalignment to the erosion of evidence-based knowledge, came under sustained scrutiny during World ...
Assessing the scholar, not just the thesis: Senior academics challenge postgraduate evaluation models
How South African universities assess master’s dissertations and doctoral theses is no longer a narrow technical matter. It is increasingly bound up with wider ...
An early-career scientist is chasing a breakthrough in African medicine
It begins in Maseru, Lesotho’s capital, a place surrounded by mountains and memory. Mr Carlos da Silva grew up watching the world change from ...
Senior scholars acknowledge the AECRS programme’s utility, and call for urgent other reforms to address systemic challenges
Senior academics and research leaders have called for deeper reform in South Africa’s higher education system to strengthen postgraduate pathways and improve research leadership. ...
Collaboration is advocated as the preferred strategy for strengthening SA’s pipeline of future scholars and researchers
Universities South Africa (USAf) convened national higher-education leaders, academics and policymakers in Johannesburg during late November to strengthen the pipeline of early-career researchers. The ...
Mentorship models must evolve to support academic success
Senior academics and research programme leads have urged South Africa’s universities to rethink mentorship structures and prioritise models that recognise the social, psychological and ...
What researchers need to know about Open Access publishing, but are afraid to ask
On 30 October 2025, leading voices in scholarly publishing, research funding, and open scholarship practice enlightened southern African scholars on Everything researchers need to ...
Everything Researchers need to know about Open Access publishing: A discussion
The USAf Community of Practice for Postgraduate Education and Scholarship (CoP PGES) webinar on 30 October 2025, titled Everything Researchers Need to Know About ...
What it takes to be a good mentor in a university: Insights from Professor David Hornsby
In a compelling Mentor Masterclass hosted by Thuso Connect, Professor David Hornsby (above), Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President: Academic at Carleton University, Canada, delivered a ...
Senior academics’ insights shared at the postgraduates and AI workshop
Universities and AI are such a hot topic, generating so many differing views and queries that a recent webinar on it triggered a stream ...
Open student engagement about AI would be more beneficial than policing them on its use – a senior Rhodes University scholar advises
Professor Sioux McKenna, a professor of Higher Education Research at Rhodes University, recently led an online workshop titled Future-Proofing Postgraduate Education in the Age ...
Emerging researchers and scholars encouraged to use available support tools for success – USAf CEO
“We cannot claim to have covered all the bases concerning the support and empowerment of early career researchers and academics, but we are getting ...
Postgraduate study leaders from SA universities assemble to share ideas
The round-table layout at the recent colloquium on Exploring Preparedness for Postgraduate Studies was distinct from the typical straight-seat-rows format that people tend to ...
National Plan targets versus sector realities — Dr Nomakwezi Mzilikazi highlights provocative tensions
At the recent Enabling Quality Postgraduate Education (EQPE) colloquium, Dr Nomakwezi “Kwezi” Mzilikazi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at Rhodes University, ...
Targeted PhD numbers raise many questions at a recent colloquium
Numbers are always a key focus in any discussion on postgraduate students: the currently enrolled numbers vs those to which the university sector aspires, ...
Happy students with well-being are more likely to graduate, says Professor Liesel Ebersöhn
The fruit bowl at the University of Pretoria’s Centre for the Study of Resilience is not incidental. It is an intentional part of the ...
AI may not do your literature review, but it will identify the gaps, says Dr Nompilo Tshuma
At the recent colloquium on Exploring Preparedness for Postgraduate Studies, Professor Sioux McKenna of Rhodes University interrupted keynote speaker Dr Nompilo Tshuma as she ...
Research leaders develop an action plan for students and the sector’s well-being
One of the key features of the recent Exploring Preparedness for Postgraduate Studies colloquium was a two-hour breakaway session in which research leaders and ...
Empowering emerging researchers and academics means providing tools they need, not assumed solutions – Professor Stephanie Burton
Creating conducive environments for early career researchers and academics across the institutions of higher learning in South Africa remains a pivotal task. Hence, Professor ...
There are as many models of mentorship as there are mentors and mentees, says Professor Stephanie Burton
In the true spirit of a community of practice (CoP), which meets to share knowledge and information and support on common concerns, the recent ...
Effective mentoring can be about making people independent of any need for guidance
Mentoring does not have an end point – even if someone is on a specific mentoring programme with a cut-off date. “I hope when ...
Early career academics talk about being mentored — what works and what could work better
When Dr Heike Lucht, a research assistant at the University of Pretoria, was paired with a mentor affiliated with Rhodes University (RU) through an ...