On the evening of 11 October, the tradition of celebrating a new professorship via an inaugural lecture took place once more at Rhodes University, and this time it was for Professor Özlem Tastan Bishop.

On 03 October 2023, Professor Stephen Anthony Prevec delivered his inaugural lecture titled "My four decades of geological pursuit: Are we there yet?" This significant occasion marked the evolution of his academic journey and contributions to Earth Science.

Rhodes University alumna and former Student Recruitment Officer, Tulisa Mondliwa, has received government recognition and a boost for her Afrikare beauty product business. The Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR) recently held awards for top-performing women farmers in the Sarah Baartman district.

Rhodes University Chemistry PhD candidate, Kristen Burgess, has been selected for the illustrious Gates Cambridge scholarship. Burgess is part of the Gates Cambridge Class of 2023, made up of 77 outstanding new scholars from across the world.

Imagine a world where a few drops of your blood, saliva or tears could give you early warning of impending cancer, heart attacks or other dread diseases. This field of ultra-sensitive disease diagnostics is already in the making, and Philani Mashazi, Associate Professor of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry at Rhodes University, is right at the forefront.

Megan Reid, a PhD candidate in the Department of Zoology and Entomology at Rhodes University, has won the prestigious Young Entomologists Essay Prize from the Entomological Society of South Africa (ESSA).

South Africa is famous for its amazingly rich and diverse fossil record. The country’s rocks document more than 3.5 billion years of life on Earth: ancient forms of bacterial life, the emergence of life onto land, the evolution of seed-producing plants, reptiles, dinosaurs and mammals – and humanity.

Recently graduated with her PhD, Dr Yolande Ikala Openda, is a Rhodes university PhD science graduate in Chemistry.

On 13 September 2022, colleagues, Heads of Departments, Deans and students alike gathered in Eden Grove Blue to honour Professor Philani Mashazi's 2021 VC's Distinguished Research Award. Professor Mashazi of the Rhodes University Chemistry Department received recognition for his significant research strides within his field.

Associate Professor Susi Vetter from the Department of Botany was recently elected President of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa (GSSA). The GSSA elects a new incoming President every year who serves on their Council for the following three years (as Vice-President, President, and Immediate Past President, respectively).

Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sizwe Mabizela, today officiated the sod-turning ceremony to mark the commencement of a R90 million state-of-the-art building that will house a global Institute for Nanotechnology Innovation (INI).

Dean of Science Professor Tony Booth officially launched the Rhodes University Transient Array Radio Telescope (TART) at the Waainek (Makhanda) site last week.

Global maize production is worth billions of dollars annually and is key to global food security because it’s a staple food for billions of people. Most maize production relies on natural rainfall, making it vulnerable to changing rainfall patterns.

During the latest graduation ceremonies, a special parallel event was held in which Ms Gabriella Solomons was awarded a bursary contribution from infectious diseases epidemiologists Professors Quarraisha and Salim Abdool Karim for graduating as the top microbiology student in 2021.

Rhodes University officially unveiled its state-of-the-art X-ray facility yesterday, which will better prepare its science students for possible future professions.

Professor Rod Walker from the Rhodes University Faculty of Pharmacy has been named the recipient of the prestigious 2021 Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Award for Community Engagement. He describes this honour as “a wonderful recognition of the many who supported, facilitated and assisted in ensuring the success of the sanitiser project”.

Siphumze Bani is a Rhodes University October 2021 graduate who started his journey at the University in 2013. He has now completed his Masters in Biotechnology (distinction) with an impressive thesis project on water desalination through the Rhodes University Biotechnology Innovation Centre (RUBIC).

On its 72nd graduation ceremony on the 28th of April 2021, Rhodes University will confer a degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) (honoris causa) on its alumnus and notable educator Mr William Smith.

Rhodes University’s Chemistry Department has made history by being the first department in any South African university to join the Green Chemistry Commitment programme.

An initiative that started as a small idea in 2000 at Albany Museum under Nonceba Shoba's leadership has grown into a fully-fledged partnership between Rhodes University and GADRA Education.

Rhodes University’s Director of the DST Institute for Nanotechnology Innovation, Distinguished Professor Tebello Nyokong, has been named an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The Centre for Biological Control (CBC) at Rhodes University began a campaign to inundate the Hartbeespoort Dam (HBD) with the water hyacinth planthopper Megamelus scutellaris, a biological control agent of water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes), between 2018 and 2020.

Two Rhodes University PhD candidates walked away with a first place tie in the national Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition last week.

Rhodes University will lead an international research collaboration that seeks to discover and accelerate the development of new antibiotics. The three-year, £1.5 million project, funded by the Newton Fund through the Antibiotic Accelerator Initiative of the United Kingdom (UK) Medical Research Council (MRC) and South African (SA) MRC, aims to discover novel compounds from natural sources that have the potential to be developed into new antimicrobial compounds to combat drug-resistant bacterial pathogens.

A research team from Rhodes University and the Port Elizabeth Museum has discovered a new species and genus of snake, and have named them in honour of two reptile scientists (herpetologists) from the Eastern Cape.

In an attempt to prepare academics for the professoriate level, the Department of Higher Education, Science and Technology (DHEST) has launched a Future Professors Programme (FPP).

Friday 14 February 2020 was a Friday like no other for high school learners when they were treated to a Rhodes University Maths Experience (RUME) at the Barratt Lecture Theatre complex.

Early detection methods of childhood-impacting diseases are generally either unavailable, unreliable or too expensive in developing countries. A partnership between Rhodes University’s Biotechnology Innovation Centre (RUBIC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Global Innovation Centre (GIC), will see these challenges being addressed.

Rhodes University academics are assisting grade 11 Stutterheim High School pupil, Konwaba Putsu, to realise his dream. The 17-year-old Konwaba has aspirations of discovering what can be done to stop cancer from spreading in the body.

Rhodes University academics are assisting grade 11 Stutterheim High School pupil, Konwaba Putsu, to realise his dream.

Rhodes University academics, international researchers and project industry partners recently met at Morgan Bay Hotel to develop work plans and protoype plans for advancing sustainable aquaculture technologies that reduce the carbon footprint of fish farming practices.

Rhodes University's Research Associate, Dr Andy Moore, has been involved in a ground-breaking new study that has revealed Southern Africa as the birthplace of modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens), who lived in a "homeland" in the region for 70 000 years before some migrated due to a shift in climate.

Learners won a record 14 gold, 11 silver and 24 bronze medals, together with a total of 34 merit awards, at the Regional Final Eskom Expo held at Rhodes University this year.

Rhodes University’s Professor Adrienne Edkins has received close to 2 million rand from the UK Government to tackle HIV-related cancer as part of an international initiative to understand and treat HIV related cancer.

Four Rhodes University PhD Chemistry students were awarded the top position in the 2019 Hult Prize Challenge for their electronic and electrical waste management system.

Dr Philani Mashazi, a senior lecturer within the Department of Chemistry at Rhodes University, was recently awarded an amount of R3.5m from the National Research Foundation’s National Equipment Programme.

Rhodes University SARChI Chair for Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Eukaryotic Stress Response Professor Adrienne Edkins, has been awarded a 2018 Newton Advanced Fellowship grant of £101 000 (which is close to R2 million) from the Academy of Medical Sciences.

The 2017 Vice-Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award recipient, Mrs Joyce Sewry presented her lecture titled ‘The Magic of Water’ on 3 October 2018 at Rhodes University’s Eden Grove Blue lecture theatre.

Grahamstown Science Café, which has been running once a month since March this year at Café Divine in New Street, consistently draws an assorted crowd of all ages.

For Christian Nkanga, getting an education, furthering his studies and working with top researchers was a dream come true.

It is difficult to know where to start the story – so far – of Tebello Nyokong.

Several students, staff and alumni from Rhodes University are among this year’s Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans for 2018.

Dr Dudley Shallcross and Mr Tim Harrison visited.....

The ANNUAL EASTERN PROVINCE SACI POST-GRADUATE CHEMISTRY SEMINAR took place at Rhodes University on Friday October 20th 2017....

In June 2017, Rhodes University purchased a last generation of Quadrupole Time-of-Flight (Q-TOF) Mass Spectrometry system (Bruker Compact)...

As part of the student recruitment strategy, the university hosted schools...

Congratulations to all staff members who have recently successfully completed a qualification...

The 2016 Barker Lecture was given by Prof. Zhen Shen of Nanjing University and was entitled, “Theranostics based on near infrared region luminescence imaging and photodynamic therapy”.

Prof Nyokong’s Nanotechnology Research Group have been recognized as the most productive research group (for 2015) by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) together with the National Laser Centre.

Miss Jessica Anne Harris, a MSc Chemistry student supervised by Professor Nyokong, is the proud 2016 South African Women in Science Awards (WISA) winner.

Internationally renowned Rhodes University medicinal chemistry and nanotechnology expert Professor Tebello Nyokong and her students have been praised for their publication of 63 peer reviewed papers in one year.

Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma has congratulated renowned South African scientist, Professor Tebello Nyokong after winning the African Union (AU) Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Award.

An internationally renowned scientist from Rhodes University has won a prestigious African Union (AU) award for her cutting-edge research in nanotechnology.

The African Union (AU) has bestowed one of its highest scientific honours upon agricultural engineer and postharvest technology expert Prof Umezuruike Linus Opara of Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

President Jacob Zuma has congratulated distinguished South African scientist Prof. Tebello Nyokong, following her winning on 30 January 2016 of the African Union (AU) Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Award

A distinguished Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Nanotechnology, Professor Tebello Nyokong has been named winner of this year’s AU Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Award at the ongoing AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Distinguished Professor Tebello Nyokong of Rhodes University was awarded an African Union Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Award (AUKNSA) on Saturday, 30 January 2016.

Students from Namibia who are studying toward their Rhodes Education degree recently spent two weeks on campus for contact time.

She is the winner of 2015 SOUTH AFRICAN WOMEN IN SCIENCE AWARDS for MSc

Young Eskom Expo for Young Scientists winners won bursaries to study science at Rhodes University. Students from Victoria Girls High School predominated in the regional finals of the Expo held at the Pharmacy and Chemistry Department at Rhodes, Saturday, August 1st 2015.

Nhlakanipho Mkhize, better known to his friends as “Colin” is a proud Lilian Ngoyi Alumnus who has recently been awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University in the UK from September 2015.

Graduation News

Rhodes University’s Bsc second year student, Aphelele Ntlantsana received the Conrad Dylan Cambray Award for 2015 recently.

FameLab 2015 - Registrations now open!

INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed Rhodes University chemistry professor Tebello Nyokong is one of 12 scientists who were picked by United Nations secretary-general

Dr Klein of the chemistry department tells how we can make chemistry safer.

The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) hosted the 2014 EC SACI postgraduate seminars at the NMMU Conference Centre on the 24th October.

Having the newly launched Time-Of-Flight-Secondary-Ion-Mass-Spectrometer (TOF-SIMS) located just down the hallway from them in Rhodes

THE UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, has appointed Rhodes University professor Tebello Nyokong as adviser of a proposed technology bank and science

RHODES University's Prof Tebello Nyokong has been appointed to a highlevel panel to advise on the organisational and operational aspects of the UN's proposed innovation supporting mechanism on technology and science.

WORLD-renowned Rhodes University scientist and professor Tebello Nyokong has been appointed to a United Nations science and technology advisory panel.

Keeping you up to date with the current events in the chemistry department.

On Saturday 8 Nov, the Khanya Maths and Science Club ended its year, with the annual prize-giving. Learners from grades 8-11 were awarded science-related books and certificates in recognition of their attendance on Saturday mornings.

O'Donoghue is doing his BSc Honours in Chemistry and has been involved in leadership positions at an academic, sporting and university society level.

As part of her Masters in Chemistry, Nxele spent two months in Japan's University of Tohoku, Sendai-shi and was also able to attend this year's NanoAfrica, an international conference focuses on nanotechnology work.

Professor Beverley Glass, currently the Chair of Pharmacy in the College of Medicine and Dentistry at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia and an old Rhodian recently visited Rhodes University and delivered a research lecture in the Department of Chemistry, entitled Sunscreens: Photostability, Formulation and Skin Penetration.

Once again the department of chemistry hosted its annual Barker lecture, which was well attended with an audience drawn from across the departments at Rhodes.

The Chemistry Department has introduced a new programme to supplement their Khanya Maths and Science Club

The winners of the Rhodes University Math Experience

Researcher Professor Tebello Nyokong is generating international interest in refining photodynamic therapy techniques used to treat cancer.

The Chemistry Department presents the Graduation Newsletter for 2014. Its is filled with the latest news, events and equipment. Dr Mashazi goes abroad 2014: The year of Crystallography Is There Life After Retirement? Find All these articles in this years Chemistry Graduation Newsletter

The Department of Chemistry Welcomes all our new 2014 Honours students.

A Rhodes University professor, Tebello Nyokong, who has made significant strides using

Rhodes University’s Distinguished Professor Tebello Nyokong will discuss the use of combined therapies to fight cancer in Africa at the yearly General Meeting of The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) on Thursday 3 October 2013, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Professor Tebello Nyokong, who recently won the National Research Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award, has big plans for science in Africa, writes Oliver Roberts.

Scientists at Rhodes University in Grahamstown have developed a simple dye that may hold the solution to pranksters who flash green lasers at aircraft, temporarily blinding the pilot and putting lives at risk.

Scientists at Rhodes University in Grahamstown have developed a simple dye that may hold the solution to pranksters who flash green lasers at aircraft, temporarily blinding the pilot and putting lives at risk.

Her father had often told her: "You can do anything. Dont ever stop." It was a lesson well learnt – today Prof Tebello Nyokong is one of South Africas top scientists in the fields of chemistry and nanotechnology.

South Africa’s leading researchers were honoured yesterday by the National Research Foundation (NRF) here at its 28th annual awards ceremony, held in the Boardwalk Hotel.

At a ceremony here the National Research Foundation honoured Professor Tebello Nyokong of Rhodes University for her lifetime of contribution in her subject field.

THE National Research Foundation (NRF) has awarded highly acclaimed Rhodes University academic Professor Tebello Nyokong a rare A-rating.

The Africa-Arab State 2009 L’Oreal-Unesco Award for Women in Science recipient and Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Nanotechnology, Tebello Nyokong, has been honoured by her own institution for her outstanding scholarly reputation and productivity.

Ms Megan Coates and Ms Sekai Tombe of Rhodes University Chemistry Department were recently commended and awarded prizes for superior presentations of their work at the fourth international Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NanoAfrica 2012) conference.

Dr Matshawe Tukulula is living testimony to the success and impact of the Khula Project, an extraordinary initiative created by Dr Ken Ngcoza of the Rhodes Education Department, Mrs Joyce Sewry of the Chemistry Department and Mr Reuben Maselwa of Eastern Cape Department of Education.