{"id":33627,"date":"2022-08-28T16:56:46","date_gmt":"2022-08-28T14:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spu.ac.za\/index.php\/student-affairs-team-copy\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T10:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T08:52:12","slug":"research-highlights","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.spu.ac.za\/index.php\/research-highlights\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Research Highlights <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Sol Plaatje University acknowledges the significant impact of all research and researchers at our university. In support of this, the university regularly recognizes suitable academic staff and high-quality research engagement in various ways. Both internal and external awards are used as vehicles to recognise both quality and impact in research at a local and global level.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNRF Rated Researchers <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

Dr Chinguno Crispen\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>

Rating: C3\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: Industrial and economic sociology; African Labor History; Labour – Sociological aspects; Labour<\/p>

Prof Ndofirepi\u00a0 Amasa <\/strong><\/p>

Rating: C3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: African Social Philosophy; Africa-centred Thinking; African Indigenous Knowledge Systems to promote African development; Access to Higher Education; African development agenda; African education; African philosophy; African Philosophy, African and Diaspora education; African renaissance studies; Africanisation in education<\/p>

Dr Verkijika Silas\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>

Rating: Y1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Information Systems & Technology; Information Technology; Information Systems; Other information and computer technologies<\/p>

Prof Chaukura Nhamo <\/strong><\/p>

Rating: C2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: Analytical Environmental Chemistry<\/p>

Prof Maringira Godfrey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Rating: C2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: African anthropology<\/p>

Prof Ahmed Mohamed<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Rating: C2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: Arid zone hydrology; Soil erosion; Land degradation; Soil and water conservation; Environmental water quality; Drone UAV data; Earth Observation (Gis and Remote Sensing); Eco-hydrology<\/p>

Dr\u00a0 Shirinda Obed\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>

Rating: C2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: Accelerator and Nuclear Physics; Theoretical Physics<\/p>

Dr\u00a0 Gukurume Simbarashe\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong> \u00a0<\/p>

Rating: Y1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: Anthropology; Sociology<\/p>

Dr Omoruyi Osayuwamen\u00a0<\/p>

Rating: Y2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: Operations research; Business administration<\/p>

Prof Mataga Jesmael\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Rating: C2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: Heritage studies; Literature and Museum Studies; African heritage studies; Histories of Museums and Memorialisation in South Africa<\/p>

Prof Diale Boitumelo\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Rating: C2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: Special education; Neurodevelopment; Career development; Early childhood development; Career psychology; health professional education<\/p>

Prof Ntwaeaborwa Martin\u00a0<\/p>

Rating: B3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: Nanostructured materials and packaging<\/p>

Dr Jombo Simba\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>

Rating: Y2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: Rural Development – Land Reform; Applied remote sensing; Earth Observation (Gis and Remote Sensing); Land reform policy; Environmental GIS; Geographical information system and Remote sensing; Classification; Vegetation mapping; Hyperspectral remote sensing; Satellite mapping<\/p>

Prof Magadlela Anathi\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>

Rating: C2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: Biological Nitrogen Fixation; Legume physiology; Plant Stress Ecophysiology; Cycad Research; Soil Fertility and plant nutrition; Soil microbial ecology; Plant-soil relations<\/p>

Dr Mazorodze Brian\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>

Rating: Y2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area specialisation: Productivity analysis; Economic development – Africa<\/p>

Dr M’pika Massoukou\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Rating: C2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: System dynamics modelling<\/p>

Dr Abimbola Oluwalana-Sanusi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Rating: Y2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Dr Olusanya Michael\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Rating: C2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: Computational intelligence; Machine learning; Data security and networking; Optimization techniques; Data science<\/p>

Prof Hlalele Dipane <\/strong><\/p>

Rating: C2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Area of specialisation: Rural education; Sociology of education; Rural education and development<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAwards and Memberships <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

The 2022 Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Awards\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

Dr Simbarashe Gukurume<\/strong><\/p>

The Excellence in Research Award is conferred to an academic who has augmented SPU\u2019s research visibility, both locally and internationally through their research output. This recipient of this award is Dr Simbarashe Gukurume, has been recognised for producing the highest number of publications for the 2022 academic year. In addition to this achievement, he earned top scores in submissions for research grants at both national and international levels as well as offering his expertise on various panels related to these fields. These accomplishments demonstrate Dr Gukurume\u2019s dedication not only to his area of study but also to exemplifying excellence within the institution.<\/p>

The 2021 Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Awards\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

Professor Ramos Emmanuel<\/strong><\/p>

The recipient of the first VC\u2019s Research award is Professor Ramos Emmanuel Mabugu, who is a full professor in the School of Economic and Management Sciences. He is also the Chair of the School Committee on Research and is a member of the Senate Research Ethics Committee. The award is in recognition of the impact he has made toward SPU\u2019s international visibility through research.<\/p>

Mr Sabata-Mpho Mokae<\/strong><\/p>

Mr Sabata-Mpho Mokae, is a Lecturer in Creative Writing in African Languages at Sol Plaatje University, he is also a novelist and translator. He is the author of a biography The Story of Sol T Plaatje\u00a0(2010)<\/em> and\u00a0novels\u00a0Ga ke Modisa\u00a0(2012),\u00a0Dikeledi\u00a0(2014)<\/em>\u00a0and Moletlo wa Manong\u00a0(2018)<\/em>. In 2014 he was a writer-in-residence at the University of Iowa in the USA where he is now Honorary Fellow in Writing. He has translated two children\u2019s books by Gcina Mhlophe,\u00a0Dinaane tsa Aforika<\/em>\u00a0(Tales of Africa) and\u00a0Semaka sa Dinaane<\/em>\u00a0(Our Story Magic), from English to Setswana.\u00a0As a creative Mr Mokae has won numerous awards, ranging from the following: He has won the South African Literary Award (2011), M-Net Literary Award for Best Novel in Setswana (2013) and the M-Net Film Award (2013).\u00a0In 2019, Mr Mokae won \u00a0a South African Literary Award (SALA)\u00a0for his novel\u00a0Moletlo wa Manong. This prominent academic and creative has recently achieved yet another award, Mr Mokae has won the Multilingualism Award from the\u00a0Pan South African Language Board<\/a>\u00a0(PanSALB) in June 2022.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFuture Professors Programme Participants<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

Phase 1, Cohort 1 \u2013 Dr Crispen Chinguno<\/strong><\/p>

Dr Crispen Chinguno is a Senior Lecturer in Sociologist at the Sol Plaatje University (SPU). He received his doctorate from the University of the Witwatersrand (2015). In the broader discipline, his research falls within the sociology of work, and he investigates trade unionism and social movements on South Africa\u2019s platinum belt. Dr Chinguno won a major fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies\u2019 African Humanities Program, which ran concurrently with a Ford Foundation award. Dr Chinguno is currently a Fellow in the Future Professors Programme.<\/p>

Phase 2, Cohort 1 \u2013 Dr Jeremia Shale Sefadi<\/strong><\/p>

Dr Jeremia Shale Sefadi is an academic, researcher, and senior lecturer in physical chemistry and polymer chemistry. Dr JS Sefadi has over 13 years of academic and research experience emanating from two universities and various interactions at both local and international platforms, professional membership, internal and external academic citizenships. His professional involvement in higher education sector has always been well-defined by an active participation; willingness to reach greater heights; and knowledge-driven project. Shale is currently the head of department (HOD) of Physical and Earth Sciences at SPU. He is also a senate member, school management committee (SMC) member, school promotion committee (SPC) member, school committee on research (SCR) including many review appointments for funding applications. He has been awarded funding grants which include NRF-Black academic advancement programme (BAAP), SPU multi-inter-trans-(MIT) disciplinary seed funding, NRF Thuthuka grant; Eskom \u2013Tertiary Education Support Programme (TESP) grant; S&F – NRF\/DST Innovation Scholarships & Fellowships Programme and the TATA scholarship award all to the value of R 2,034 000.00 million rands so far in his career. His recent successful application into the \u201cFuture Professors Programme (FPP) phase 2 co-hort\u201d is a testimonial to the commitment to knowledge project and research innovation in higher education landscape.<\/p>

Dr Simbarashe Gukurume\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

Dr Simbarashe Gukurume is a social scientist working at the intersection of Sociology and Social Anthropology, at SPU. He has academic training in Sociology and Social Anthropology from the University of Zimbabwe and the University of Cape Town. In the broader discipline, his scholarly work takes an inter- and multi-disciplinary approach to understanding what it means to be young in spaces of protracted socio-economic and political crisis. His research is also broadly interested in asking critical questions about the politics of displacement, urban informality, the anthropology of money, and the geopolitics of sociological and anthropological knowledge production. He is also on the editorial boards of the Journal of Religion and Development as well as Anthropology Southern Africa. Dr Gukurume is currently a fellow in the Future Professors Programme and also an NRF Y1-rated researcher.<\/p>

Dr Ibidun Obagbuwa<\/strong><\/p>

Dr Ibidun Obagbuwa is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology at SPU. She obtained a doctoral degree Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in 2015, a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria in 2006 and a Bachelor of Science Hons. in Computer Science from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria in 1998. Her research interest includes artificial intelligence machine learning, digital image processing, computer vision, health-bioinformatics, networks and optimization. Dr Obagbuwa is currently a fellow in the Future Professors Programme and an NRF-rated researcher.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\nWarning: Undefined array key \"cat\" in \/usr\/www\/users\/spuaczpseb\/wp-content\/plugins\/recent-posts-widget-extended\/classes\/class-rpwe-widget.php on line 176\n\nWarning: Undefined array key \"tag\" in \/usr\/www\/users\/spuaczpseb\/wp-content\/plugins\/recent-posts-widget-extended\/classes\/class-rpwe-widget.php on line 177\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t