Research Highlights

Wits is home to 16 NRF A-rated scientists, based on a stringent evaluation of an individual scientist's research record over six years. These scientists are international leaders in their disciplines. 

An internationally respected research institution

Wits is the only university in the country that is ranked in the top 1% in the world in seven defined fields of research according to the 2007 ISI international rankings.

Wits is the proud home of five Centres of Excellence in Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, Strong Materials, Aerospace, Drug Delivery and Antiviral Gene Therapy.

Wits has 35 research entities, six of which are Medical Research Council units. It is also home to 20 prestigious National Research Foundation Chairs in the following areas: Geosciences; Electrical and Information Engineering; History; Chemical and Metallurigcal Engineering; Theoretical Particle Cosmology; Medical Entomology and Vector Control; Fundamental Physics and String Theory; Protein Biochemistry and Structural Biology; the Origins of Modern Human Behaviour; Vaccine Preventable Diseases Bio-inorganic Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Biomaterials and Polymer-Engineered Drug Delivery Technologies.

Wits has a separate palaeoanthropology hub called the Institute for Human Evolution, dedicated to palaeoanthropological research.

Wits is also home to one of the largest fossil collections in the southern hemisphere. New species are constantly being discovered due to our groundbreaking research efforts. In 2008, an international team of scientists led by Wits researchers and students discovered an extinct population of small-bodied "Hobbit-like" human in Palau, Micronesia, an island in the Pacific Ocean. In 2007, a Wits team discovered a new meteorite impact site in the North-West Province.

Wits ambitions are interlinked with those of the city and the region in a country that punches above its weight in the world. Wits co-hosts the R40-million Gauteng City Region Observatory, a high-level research facility that will assist the province to benchmark its performance and further develop a research-based approach to long-term strategic planning related to economic, social and other areas of development.

Wits established the Centre for Indian Studies in Africa, the first of its kind on the African continent, in 2008. The Centre will support research, teaching and public debate about India and its growing presence across the continent.

World-class facilities

The University’s library system comprises two main libraries and 14 divisional libraries. Students have access to over 1,000,000 book volumes; 400,000 journal titles and 46,000 new electronic resources.

In order to create an environment conducive to teaching, learning and research at the highest level, Wits has undertaken an ambitious R1,5 billion infrastructure development programme, which will see its buildings and equipment modernised, renewed and upgraded to world-class standards.

At the forefront of a changing society, Wits is an engaged institution, dedicated to advancing the public good. It fosters intellectual communities and promotes sustainable social and economic development in a globally competitive environment.