2010 RESEARCH REPORT University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg RESEARCH REPORT 2010 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 4 MESSAGE FROM THE FOCUS VICE-CHANCELLOR 19 +Wits: A player on the world stage AND PRINCIPAL 32 +Wits' global village 43 +Wits researchers publish in highly Prof. Loyiso Nongxa ranked journals 49 +Major grants boost Wits' research 6 MESSAGE FROM capacity 52 +Central services strengthen Wits' THE OUTGOING research DEPUTY VICE- 55 +NRF A-rated researchers 60 +Ethics committees ensure CHANCELLOR: responsible research RESEARCH FACULTY REPORTS Prof. Belinda Bozzoli Commerce, Law and 9 RESEARCH OVERVIEW Management 64 +Message from the Dean 66 +HIV stigma and discrimination in the workplace WITS RESEARCH REPORT 2010 2 RESEARCH REPORT 2010 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 103 <Advanced drug delivery technologies offer hope to patients with life-threatening diseases 106 <Coping with climate change 110 <Knowledge creation and a neglected infection 113 <Passionate about understanding HIV Humanities 116 <Message from the Dean 121 <Understanding students’ experience of learning 124 <Develop or decline 127 <The Apartheid Archive Project 130 <Reality: Hunger on the rise worldwide 133 <Legacies of violence live on in prisons Science 136 <Message from the Dean 138 <Mathematics: The ultimate chicken-egg discipline 141 <Chasing the elusive Higgs boson 69 +Seventeen years of the ANC in political 143 <A mighty revealing mouse power 147 <Potential breakthrough in Alzheimer's disease 72 +Unpacking the rules of the game and metastatic cancer 75 +The global domestic 150 <How the earth works 152 <Australopithecus sediba: A significant Engineering and the Built palaeoarchaeology find Environment 156 WITS ENTERPRISE (Pty) Ltd 78 <Message from the Dean 83 <The reclassification of lightning activity 86 <Green energy project in southern Africa: 160 WITS HEALTH CONSORTIUM A mining investment approach 89 <In vitro evaluation of the physiochemical effects of drugs 165 RESEARCH, PUBLIC 92 <South Africa's first lady of coal LECTURES, CONFERENCES Health Sciences AND EVENTS 96 <Message from the Dean 100 <Getting a grip on pneumonia 172 IN MEMORIAM 3 Message from the Vice-Chancellor and Principal The year 2010 was a remarkable year for research at Wits. One of the most important discoveries that add to the human evolution record – the 1.98-million year old Australopethicus sediba fossils – was presented to the world in April 2010 and made headlines in 99 countries. Another legendary researcher, Prof. Phillip Tobias was honoured by the National Research Foundation for his lifetime contribution to the Anatomical Sciences. Both these achievements produced by these renowned researchers are indicators of the local research produced at Wits that demands global attention. Wits is a leading research-focused, publicly engaged institution committed to advancing the public good. It is one of only two universities in South Africa ranked in two separate international rankings in the world. The University's strong research track-record is reflected in part in the 23 fields of study where Wits ranks in the top 1% of the world. The University's publication record shows a very high level of international collaboration – a substantial percentage (44.8%) of all papers published by Wits academics in ISI accredited journals have at least one international co-author. Wits is the natural home for talented academics, researchers and students and unashamedly values intellectual excellence. Home to 14 world-renowned NRF A-rated scientists and 16 South African Research Chairs, Wits also boasts a diverse, dynamic complement of excellent thinkers and researchers who are leaders in their respective fields. The onus falls on us to exploit the University's competitive advantages by building aggressively on existing research niche areas and strengths and nurturing new avenues, where we can produce groundbreaking research. Research undertaken at Wits has extraordinary and unusual local and international influence and magnificent potential based on our location. We have identified our strongest strategic research areas and we have plans to build on them aggressively, with focus and ambition in the coming years. We wish to focus in particular on building nodes of excellence in the following areas: Evolutionary Sciences, Global Change and Sustainability, Mining and Minerals, Energy, Molecular Biosciences, Population, Health and Society and the Study of Cities. Intellectual excellence, international competitiveness and local relevance is imperative in this age of innovation and Wits has to react swiftly and accurately to reach its research goals. Widening our global footprint through strategic networks to attract and retain distinguished scholars in niche and strategic fields is of utmost importance, as is our contribution to society through research, teaching and social engagement. WITS RESEARCH REPORT 2010 4 To achieve the objective of being a gateway for research and intellectual engagement on the African continent, Wits is developing an internationalisation strategy that will project Wits as a world-class centre and a preferred destination for global intellectual talent. We will pursue intellectual elitism as an approach which will nurture world leaders in their respective fields of engagement and graduates – through professional development and educational programmes - that compare with the best globally. Strong collaborative links with leading academics within Africa will expedite the process of becoming globally competitive, enhance regional innovation, and position Africa as one of the centres of global knowledge combined in novel ways, to anticipate production in its own right. our emergent world today and to help us The next few years should see the start of craft desirable futures. Through research a whole new era of research for Wits in and innovation and the production and which we are geared towards further mobilisation of highly specialised inspiring successful leaders, distinguished knowledge, we will be able to tackle the achievers and advancing frontiers in challenges of the 21st Century and in so knowledge generation. doing, leave a legacy for future generations. It is up to us to produce highly specialised forms of knowledge, Prof. Loyiso Nongxa 5 Message from the outgoing Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research I hope that you will enjoy reading our Research Report for 2010, which is the last of my seven years in office. It had some notable high points, probably none higher than the announcement of the Australopithecus sediba discoveries, which focused the attention of the world's media on the University on 8 April. Given the breadth and depth of research at Wits, no single publication of this sort can hope to cover all that happens at Wits. We do profile some specific success stories. The rest of the report is intended to be indicative of the sort of research undertaken at Wits and to indicate where to look for further information. In 2010, the University was home to 14 National Research Foundation (NRF) A-rated scientists, 16 South African Research Chairs (SARChI), five Medical Research Council (MRC) Units or Groups, two Department of Science and Technology(DST)/NRF Centres of Excellence (one joint with Stellenbosch University) and one Department of Trade and Industry (Dti) Centre of Excellence. Our publication output, at 890 Department of Higher Education and Training units, was up over 3% on the average of the three preceding years. The year brought news of success in five National Equipment Programme (NEP) applications to the NRF and a second new South African Research Chair in Mathematics Education. The University was the beneficiary of a number of major grants from overseas funders, including an award of nearly $10 million (R68 million) from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a four year maternal health project – to my knowledge, the biggest single research grant ever awarded to the University. Other substantial awards included $2 million (R14 million) over two years from the Carnegie Corporation for the training of doctoral students in the Faculties of Science and Health Sciences and substantial awards from the AW Mellon Foundation for Chairs in South Africa-Indian Studies and African Art. An award of just over €300 000 (R3 million) was received from the German Research Foundation for a three year project on hepatitis. All of this confirms the University's place on the world stage, a theme which is picked up elsewhere in this report. Domestically, the University received NRF funding for six major items of equipment, five under the NEP and one under the National Palaeo-equipment Programme. In total, these six awards brought R12 million into the University. WITS RESEARCH REPORT 2010 6 The dti/NRF Technology and Human Resources for Industry Programme brought in R10 million in government funding and R19 million in private funding for 13 projects. A grant of more than R2 million was received from Anglo American for improving HIV treatment in rural areas. Internally, the University Research Committee (URC) was given more than R14 million in its 2010 budget for equipment. Just over R12 million of this was earmarked for items of major equipment, some of which were funded in partnership with the NRF's NEP. The balance was invested in items of minor research equipment, costing not more than R200 000 per item. It is the University's intention to provide similar sums in future URC budgets, to keep abreast with state-of-the-art equipment, particularly in the Science, Engineering and Health Science sectors. The University has in place an active programme of recruiting postdoctoral fellows from around the world. In 2010, some 80 fellows were at work at the University for at least part of the year. We are grateful for the financial assistance of external donors such as the AW Mellon Foundation, the Claude Harris Leon Foundation, the NRF and the Hillel Friedland Trust in supporting this programme. Wits has continued to feature in the top 300 universities worldwide, as defined by the Shanghai and Times Higher annual surveys, one of only two South African universities to still do so.