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Wits celebrates research excellence

- Wits University

Research Office acknowledges exceptional researchers at annual event.

2025 Celebration of Wits Research Excellence annual event 600x300

The Wits Research Office, under the auspices of the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC): Research and Innovation paid tribute to researchers who have been rated by the National Research Foundation (NRF), whose research has translated into innovation, and who have won prestigious individual accolades.

The annual Celebration of Research Excellence event took place at Wits Art Museum (WAM) on Tuesday, 22 July 2025. Professor Lynn Morris, DVC: Research and Innovation, welcomed guests and thanked WAM Senior Curator, Julia Charlton for “a space that embodies the intersection of creativity and intellectual pursuit…[which] offers the perfect setting to reflect on what it means to create, to innovate, and to imagine a better world”. [See selected event photographs here].

The Celebration of Wits Research Excellence was also “an opportunity to celebrate transitions and new beginnings,” said Morris and congratulated Professor Brett Bowman, who in June took the reins as Director: Research Development after doing “transformative work” leading Wits’ postgraduate strategy.

“Thanks to this work, we’re already seeing increased graduation rates, shorter time to completion, increased publication rates, and a stronger postgraduate culture,” said Morris. Bowman assumes the role “in a research office that has been carefully built over more than a decade by our much-admired Dr Robin Drennan,” said Morris, adding — “Robin, you’ve laid a truly exceptional foundation.”

Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, also paid tribute to Drennan, describing him as a “quiet giant” who leaves a “legacy of trust, rigor, commitment and a formidable work ethic – a consummate servant of civil science.”

Vilakazi introduced Bruce Bassett, a newly appointed Distinguished Professor in the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at Wits, who was the guest speaker at the Research Celebration event. Bassett, originally an astrophysicist, is now applying his expertise to health research, illustrating the power of AI to cut across disciplines and stimulate new ideas and ways of thinking.

‘When everything is uncertain, anything is possible’

Basset said that research in AI focuses on Artificial General Intelligence (A.G.I). “We have just achieved A.G.I,” said Bassett. “2025 is the last year that a human being will be the best coder on the planet.” He pointed out that Google’s AI system, Gemini, and OpenAI’s AI model had  won gold in a global mathematics competition on 21 July 2025, indicating that there is “no barrier suggesting AI is going to slow down.” In fact, it doubles every six months, Bassett said, adding that that the founder of Deep Mind [Google’s artificial intelligence research lab) had predicted that “AI may cure all diseases within a decade,” which Bassett himself said, “in 2030, maybe that isn’t so crazy?”

Bassett foresees “a wave of AI-driven innovation, entrepreneurship and research commercialisation” at universities. In the context of disruption, challenges and opportunities inherent in this "brave new world of change", Basset reflected on the words of last year’s guest speaker, Professor Glenda Gray, the self-proclaimed “poster child for failure”. Bassett shared six lessons on the importance of failure in times of uncertainty:

  1. It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission. (Fortune favours the brave).
  2. All rules are made-up and malleable.
  3. Don’t be afraid to change fields dramatically. (Bassett in fact recommends this).
  4. Look for asymmetric opportunities where potential upsides are great than their downsides.
  5. Being really important is not that important, but long-term relationships are very important.
  6. There will be big changes. Plan for when these happen.

“When everything is uncertain, anything is possible,” he said.

Wits’ NRF-rated researchers recognised

As Director of Ceremony, Bowman announced two NRF A-rated researchers: Distinguished Professor in Creative Writing, Ivan Vladislavić, who received an A-rating for the first time, and Professor Isabel Hofmeyr of WiSER, A-rated for the third time.

An A-rating is awarded to researchers who are unequivocally recognised by their peers as leading international scholars in their respective fields, for the high quality and impact of recent research outputs.

Wits’ four newly NRF B-rated researchers were recognised. B-ratings are awarded to those who have international recognition for their research. They are:

A healthy research pipeline

Awardees at the Research Celebration included 26 C-rated researchers. The C-ratings are “a strong sign that our research pipeline is healthy”, said Bowman, since C-ratings are awarded to those who are considered established researchers.

Five Wits researchers were Y-rated, which denotes early career researchers who show potential to become established in the next five years. Wits’ newly Y-rated researchers are:

Bowman also congratulated the very many researchers who received NRF Thuthuka grants, which are often the first grants many academics receive. “While we can’t mention each by name, we see you, we value your contributions, and we’re excited to watch your careers grow,” he said.

Prestigious Research Royalty

Dr Mitchell Cox (Electrical and Information Engineering) and Dr Simone Sterne Richardson (Antibody Immunity Research Unit) both received the rarely awarded P-rating (‘Prestigious Award’). 

P-ratings are awarded to early career academics who show great potential to become A or B rated researchers within five years. Cox and Sterne Richardson were also recognised for being awarded the Royal Society of South Africa’s 2025 Meiring Naudé Medal.

Research-driven innovation

For the first time at the annual celebration, Wits innovators were recognised. Innovators are those researchers who have successfully raised significant funding to translate their research ideas into impact, usually via the Wits Innovation Centre (WIC).

The WIC plays a key role in encouraging, facilitating, and supporting the connection between research and innovation. The WIC inspires an innovation mindset at Wits, drives the innovation support process and actively engages in strengthening research impact, external engagement, commercialisation, and entrepreneurship.

Mr Letlotlo Phohole, Director of the WIC, announced the innovations, amongst which were the Rhisotope project, which makes rhino horn detectable and traceable, to deter poaching; the conversion of cashew nut waste into organic lipid for mRNA, which could transform Africa’s vaccine production; and the development of an organic compound for the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease. 

Singular global excellence

Also acknowledged at the Research Celebration event were Wits winners of major national and international awards. These included:

Professors Andrew Forbes, Shabir Madhi, and Derick Raal were named the 2024 Most Highly Cited Researchers. The annual list of Highly Cited Researchers™ recognises influential researchers who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their fields. Of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers are 1 in 1,000.

Forbes, in the School of Physics, was also acknowledged for winning the 2025 Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award, which is awarded to scholars of the highest calibre who are engaged in cutting-edge and internationally significant research that has particular application to the advancement of knowledge, teaching, research and development in South Africa and beyond.

Professor Helen Rees, Executive Director of Wits RHI, was recognised for being awarded the 2025 Dr Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health, which honours its namesake who was the sixth WHO Director-General. The award is presented to individuals and institutions whose work has profoundly improved public health, especially for the underprivileged.

Professor Sally Archibald, in Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, was lauded for receiving the Royal Society of South Africa’s John F.W. Herschel Medal awarded to those who are outstanding in either a field of research that straddles disciplines or in more than one unrelated field.

Also on the world stage, Professor Lucy Allais in Philosophy and virologist Professor Penny ‘The Neutralizer’ Moore were both elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the US National Academy of Sciences respectively in 2024.

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