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Introduction
Introduction by the
DEPUTY VICE-CHANCELLOR
It is gratifying to report that UCT researchers have delivered
a truly outstanding performance in 2012, and the university
is fortunate to have been able to gather together so many
dedicated people who work so hard to roll back the frontiers
of knowledge, to keep the university at the cutting edge in
so many fields, and to better society in our own country and
beyond our borders.
It is against this backdrop that I have pleasure in reporting on
progress in the past year.
T
he Faculty of Health Sciences became the first faculty from Africa to be listed in
the top 50 of the
Times Higher Education
World University Rankings of Clinical,
Pre-clinical, and Health Universities, an achievement that coincided auspiciously with
the Faculty of Health Sciences’ centenary celebrations. Similarly, the Law Faculty
was ranked in the top 100 of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University
Rankings, the only African law school to have achieved this; and the Graduate
School of Business was ranked by the QS
Global 200 Business Schools Report
as the
top emerging global business school with the most appeal and recognition among
international employers. Our performance in the ranking systems remains a measure
of consistently high international standing and reputation, relative to the thousands
of other universities around the world who are ranked by these systems.
Contributing to our performance in the ranking systems is our high number of
publications in international journals (close to 90% of our journal production), which
influences our international visibility and impact. These figures also feed into the national
publication count system, as recognised by the Department of Higher Education and
Training (DHET), and I am pleased to report that UCT achieved the second-highest
national publication count in 2012, a total of 1 314.40 units for research publications
produced in 2011 (each year’s figures are always for the performance of the previous
year). The national publication count gives recognition to the production of books and
conference proceedings, which also increased during the past year. In addition to this,
we acknowledge the importance of the creative and performing arts as vital contributors
to research and knowledge production, and their impact on society as a whole. Details
of our 2012 research output are provided on the CD enclosed at the back of this report.
We continue to use the National Research Foundation’s (NRF) evaluation and rating
system as a measure of benchmarking our research performance within South Africa.
In the 2012 cycle UCT submitted the highest number of applications in the history of
the NRF (118), resulting in the number of NRF-rated researchers at UCT, totalling 415.
During this cycle, new A ratings were awarded to professors Don Ross and Harold Kincaid
(the first ever in any commerce faculty in South Africa), Jack van Honk (Psychiatry and
Mental Health) and Heribert Weigert (Physics), confirming their status as world leaders
in their respective research fields. The A ratings of professors Igor Barashenkov, Doug
PROFESSOR
DANIE VISSER
Deputy Vice-Chancellor