The plan for the full return to campus of both staff and students took an important step on Wednesday, 18 August 2021, with the constitution of several technical Task Teams to conduct targeted assessments of the ‘COVID-19 lessons’ of the past year-and-a-half and accordingly facilitate preparations for the safe resumption of the normal University system.

The story of how a shy radio astronomer from the Eastern Cape came to be a central character in building of one of the world’s most sensitive scientific instruments involves a series of unlikely events, a startling amount of beer and popcorn, and a team fuelled by the stubborn conviction that South Africa could pull it off.

In an effort to revive and preserve indigenous African languages, Rhodes University has joined a consortium of universities to collaborate in a project funded by the European Union called BAQONDE.

Vice-Chancellor, Dr Sizwe Mabizela invites all Rhodes University Alumni to a Virtual Reunion

Earlier this month, the final year Pharmacy students were vaccinated against COVID-19 at the Faculty of Pharmacy, followed by approximately 200 second and third year BPharm students. Pharmacy students were included in the first cohort eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines, as they perform Work Integrated/Based Learning in clinical platforms as an essential component of their curricula.

Vaccines are ultimately the only way to ensure that we beat COVID-19, yet vaccine hesitancy remains a threat to attaining herd immunity and protecting the whole community. In this series, Virologist at Rhodes University and member of the Provincial COVID-19 Expert Panel, Professor Rosemary Dorrington, will address queries, fears, and misinformation that many of our citizens face.

Rhodes University has joined other universities in the fight against COVID-19 by establishing an on-campus vaccination site situated at its Gavin Relly Postgraduate Village.

Rhodes University lecturer in Human Kinetics and Ergonomics (HKE), Dr Jonathan Davy, has been elected President of the Ergonomics Society of South Africa (ESSA) for a period of three years.