Unisa bags international prize for research
“This recognition affirms our commitment to cutting-edge research and scholarship,” said Unsia spokesperson Edgar Rathelele.
Unisa has bagged an international award for excellence in research at a ceremony in Dubai recently.
This was as it emerged as the winner in the excellence for research impact category at the 2022 Zairi International Awards for Excellence in Higher Education.
“This recognition affirms our commitment to cutting-edge research and scholarship,” said Unsia spokesperson Edgar Rathelele.
He said the university was among 90 applications received from 52 countries across the world.
“Unisa is a centre of academic excellence that is recognised in Africa and internationally that receives invitations to participate in historic and life-changing research work.
“Recently, we were invited to partner with the African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP). This is a coordinated Pan-African effort to generate, analyse and deploy genomics data for the improvement and sustainable use of biodiversity and agriculture across the continent.”
Rathelele said the award was important for the achievement of some of the goals of Agenda 2063 – the African Union’s long-term vision for the continent.
“Unisa is experiencing a steady improvement in global rankings, including the Shanghai rankings and other significant rankings.”
He said the university has also improved its overall ranking in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking to joint position 948.
This was despite an increase in the number of ranked institutions from 1 527 institutions in 2021 to 1 662 in 2022.
“Unisa achieved 30th position out of the 71 ranked African universities. However, it achieved the seventh position for teaching and the eighth position for research.
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He said in the US Best Global Universities, Unisa achieved a joint 851st position out of 1 750 universities.
“I know that some of the public perceptions are that Unisa is losing its position as a centre of academic excellence,” said Unisa principal and vice-chancellor, professor Puleng LenkaBula.
“Nothing could be further from the truth.
“We remain a leader in many academic fields. Our academic programmes and qualifications are fully certified by the Council on Higher Education and recognised by other international quality assurance bodies across the world.”
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