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UCT Research Report '11
484
in Professor Kevin Naidoo, Professor Ed Rybicki, and
Dr Will Horowitz. Another notable accolade went to
Professor Kelly Chibale who received the prestigious Alan
Pifer Award from the University of Cape Town for socially
responsive research; and Dr Jeff Murugan (Department of
Mathematics and Applied Mathematics) and Dr Shadreck
Chirikure who were privileged to be elected as founding
members of the new South African Young Academy of
Science (SAYAS).
The recent announcement and associated excitement
that South Africa was awarded the lion’s share of the
SKA bid not only reflects positively on South African
science and technology in general, but also on the
major contributions to the bid made by members of the
Department of Astronomy. As the project rolls out in the
coming years, staff and students of the department, with
two SARChI Chairs in radio astronomy, will be actively
engaged in contributing to the success of the initiative.
This engagement will take place in tandem with getting the
precursor international MEERKAT project on line.
In mid-2011, the first UCT Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor
Mark New, was appointed to head up the African Climate
and Development Initiative (ACDI). A significant number
of staff from the Faculty of Science are actively involved
in this exciting university-wide initiative, with Professor
New holding, in addition, an academic position in the
Department of Environmental and Geographical Science.
A number of new initiatives were set in place in the faculty
during 2011 to further develop our research impact. A
new launching grant system was put into place, to allow
new (and particularly young) appointments to receive
sufficient funding for a three-year period to get their
research careers off to a strong and competitive start. To
strengthen the competitive equity pool of applicants for
future academic positions in the faculty, a number of equity
PhD and postdoctoral fellowships have been created and
awarded. We look forward to the productive involvement of
the recipients with their departments and the faculty.
The Faculty of Science continues to value and place
emphasis on high quality, high impact research, and
numerous formal research groupings, units and centres,
which, together with many individuals, have contributed to
our overall research activity that spanned the pure to the
applied sciences during 2011. The quality and research
performance of the academic staff in the faculty, ably
supported by a range of highly skilled and dedicated
administrative and technical staff, remains something that
the faculty is very proud of, and is well reflected in the wide
range of exciting research activities captured in this report.
Professor Anton le Roex
Dean of the Faculty of Science
Doctoral Graduations
A.W. Andayi (Chemistry)
Synthesis, antimalarial evaluation, B-Hematin
inhibition, and in-silico and in-vitro ADMET profiling of
4-Aminoquinoline – Hydroxypyridinone Hybrids.
Supervised by
Professor K. Chibale and Professor
T.J. Egan
M.A. Altarawneh (Geological Sciences)
Structural setting of the Jordan Northern Highlands:
An integrated study using surface and sub-surface
geological data by utilising GIS technology.
Supervised by
Professor A. le Roex, Professor
Z. Ben-Avraham and Dr G. Viola
C.G.M. Archibald (Botany)
The use of contemporary and historic diatom
assemblages in the derivation of reference state
communities for rivers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Supervised by
Professor J. Bolton
Y. Barshep (Zoology)
Migration and moult strategy of the Curlew Sandpiper.
Supervised by
Professor L. Underhill, Dr P. Tomkovich
and Dr C. Minton
J. Braby (Zoology)
The biology and conservation of the Damara Tern in
Namibia.
Supervised by
Professor L. Underhill, Dr J.P. Roux and
Dr R.E. Simmons
K.S. Brown (Archaeology)
The Sword in the Stone: Lithic raw material exploitation
in the Middle Stone Age at Pinnacle Point Site 5–6,
Southern Cape, South Africa.
Supervised by
Dr D.R. Braun
A. Chaskda (Zoology)
Determinants and consequences of territory quality in
the Bar-Throated Apalis Apalis Thoracica.
Supervised by
Professor P.A.R. Hockey and Dr P.
Lloyd
C. Cohen (Zoology)
The phylogenetics, taxomony and biogeography
of African arid zone terrestrial birds: The bustards
(Otididae), sandgrouse (Pteroclidae), coursers
(Glareolidae) and stone partridge (Ptilopachus).
Supervised by
Professor T. Crowe
B. Cross (Molecular and Cell Biology)
Cloning and molecular characterisation of four
alginate lyase genes from vibrio midae SY9, an enteric
bacterium of the abalone haliotis midae.
Supervised by
Associate Professor V.E. Coyne