Research Leadership
Knowledge leaders are essential in the rapidly-changing and information-rich world of today. UKZN prides itself as being a research-led institution and for the past three years has been rated Number 1 in South Africa in terms of research output. Research underpins the College, which boasts the highest research output of the entire university. Our research division is overseen by our Dean of Research and five Academic Leaders.
Academic Leaders of Research
- School of Agricultural, Earth and Sciences
- Prof Trevor Hill
- hillt@ukzn.ac.za
- 033 260 5235
- School research page
- School of Chemistry and Physics
- Prof Bernard Owaga
- owaga@ukzn.ac.za
- 031 260 7323
- School research page
- School of Engineering
- Prof Akshay Saha
- Saha@ukzn.ac.za
- 031 260 2725/ 2305
- School research page
- School of Life Sciences
- Prof Gueguim Kana
- KanaG@ukzn.ac.za
- 033 260 5527
- School research page
- School Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science
- Prof Rituparno Goswami
- goswamir@ukzn.ac.za
- 031 260 1036
- School research page
Research experts
NRF A-Rated Researchers
A-rated researchers are unequivocally recognised by their peers as leading international scholars in their respective fields, for the high quality and impact of recent research outputs. Acquiring an NRF rating generates considerable acknowledgement and respect for the individual researchers as well as their institutions.
Prof Fernando Albericio
NRF A-Rated Researcher
albericio@ukzn.ac.za | 031 260 3097
Prof Craig Packer
NRF A-Rated Researcher
packer@umn.edu | +44 612 625 5729
Prof Robert Gous
NRF A-Rated Researcher
gous@ukzn.ac.za | 031 260 6805
SARChI Chairs
The South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) was established in 2006 by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the National Research Foundation (NRF).
It is designed to attract and retain excellence in research and innovation at South African public universities through the establishment of Research Chairs at public universities in South Africa with a long-term investment trajectory of up to fifteen years. There are the SARChI research chairs in our College.
Prof Paramu Mafongoya
Chair of Agronomy and Rural Development
mafongoya@ukzn.ac.za | 033 260 6247
Prof Colleen Downs
Chair of Ecosystem Health and Biodiversity
downs@ukzn.ac.za | 033 260 5126
Prof Fanie van Heerden
Chair of Chemistry of Indigenous Medicinal Plants
vanheerdenf@ukzn.ac.za | 033 260 5886
Prof Onisimo Mutanga
Chair of Land Use Planning and Managementy
Mutangao@ukzn.ac.za | 033 260 5779
Directory of Experts
Knowledge leaders are essential in the rapidly-changing and information-rich world of today. Research underpins the College, which boasts the highest research output of the entire university.
We have a number of world-class researchers who are experts in their field and are among UKZN’s top published researchers.
NRF GUIDELINES
NRF proposal workshop 2024
NRF proposal workshop 2022
Research Groups
Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Agromet Weather Station
- African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI)
- African Center for Food Security (ACFS)
- Centre for Transformative Agricultural & Food Systems (CTAFS)
- Centre for Water Resources Research (CWRR)
- Farmer Support Group
- Friends Of Agriculture (FOA)
- Plant Breeding MSC Program for Africa
- Ukulinga Research Farm
Chemistry and Physics
- Astrophysics Research Centre (ARC)
- Catalysis and Peptide Research Unit (CPRU)
- Catalysis Research Group
- Data@Breakfast
- Nanotechnology Platform
- National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences (NITheCS)
- National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme (NASSP)
- Quantum Research Group
- Sustainable Water Energy & Biomass (SUSWEB) Research
Engineering
- Aerospace Systems Research Institute (ASRI)
- Energy, Food and Water Engineering (EFWE) Research Group
- Environmental Fluids Mechanics Lab (EFML)
- High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC)
- Mechatronics & Robotics Research Group (MR2G)
- Particle Technology Group (PTG)
- SARChI Waste and Climate Change
- Science & Technology Innovation Park (STIP)
- Solar Car Project
- Stopforth Mechatronics, Robotics and Research Lab
- Structural Engineering & Computational Mechanics (SECM) Group
- Sustainable Transportation Research group (STRg)
- Thermodynamics Research Unit
- Touch Prosthetics
- Wash R&D Centre
Life Sciences
Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science
Student Research
PhD Graduates
We celebrated our PhD graduates in a series of virtual ceremonies. The College boasts a total of 92 doctoral candidates, 44 at the Pietermaritzburg campus and 48 at our Howard College and Westville campuses, with 29 coming from Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Science; 22 from Life Sciences; 15 from Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science; 12 from Chemistry and Physics; and 14 from Engineering.
Postgraduate Research & Innovation Symposium (PRIS)
The College hosts the annual Postgraduate Research and Innovation Symposium (PRIS), to provide a challenging and competitive environment for postgraduate students to present their scholarly work, via posters and presentations, to an academic audience, while at the same time disseminating knowledge. The event is seen as a highlight of the academic calendar and draws more than 800 attendees.
STUDENT DISSERTATIONS
Research Space is an institutional repository of the University’s publications. It was developed to increase the visibility, availability and impact of its research output. Take a look at publications from our five schools.