The
University of Cape Town (
UCT) is a
publicA public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...
research university located in
Cape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
in the
Western CapeThe Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the
South African CollegeThe South African College was an educational institution in Cape Town, South Africa, which developed into the University of Cape Town and the South African College Schools .-History:...
, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the
second oldest extant university in Africa.
History
The roots of UCT lie in the establishment of the
South African CollegeThe South African College was an educational institution in Cape Town, South Africa, which developed into the University of Cape Town and the South African College Schools .-History:...
in 1829 as a school for boys. In 1874 the
South African College SchoolsThe South African College Schools, commonly referred to as SACS, is a primary and secondary education institution located in Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa. Founded in 1829, it is the oldest school in South Africa and one of four schools expressly named by Cecil John Rhodes to offer an annual...
, teaching up to secondary level, were separated from the College, which prepared students for the examinations of the
University of the Cape of Good HopeThe University of the Cape of Good Hope, renamed the University of South Africa in 1916, was created by Act 16 of 1873 of the Cape of Good Hope Parliament. Modelled on the University of London, it offered examinations but not tuition, and had the power to confer degrees upon successful examination...
. In 1918 the South African College was elevated to full university status with the power to award degrees, and renamed the University of Cape Town.
UCT moved to the
Groote SchuurGroote Schuur is an estate in Cape Town, South Africa.Cecil Rhodes took out a lease on the house in 1891. He later bought it in 1893, and had it converted and refurbished by the architect Sir Herbert Baker...
Estate campus in 1928. During the apartheid era, roughly 1960-1990, many UCT students consistently opposed apartheid, and the university was a bastion of liberalism. However, the demographics of the university did not begin to change meaningfully until the 1980s and especially the 1990s. 1987 saw frequent clashes between protesting students and police, with reporting of police presence on the campus being censored by the government. On 24 April 1987 the police entered the campus and this marked the first time since 1972 that South Africa's police services had suppressed a demonstration at a white university.
The UCT crest was designed in 1859 by
Charles Davidson BellCharles Davidson Bell was the Surveyor-General in the Cape, an artist, heraldist, and designer of Cape medals and stamps.-Life history:...
, Surveyor-General of the Cape Colony at the time. Bell was an accomplished artist who also designed medals and the triangular Cape stamp.
Campus
The main teaching campus, known as the Upper Campus, is located on the Rhodes Estate on the slopes of
Devil's PeakDevil's Peak is part of the mountainous backdrop to Cape Town. When looking at Table Mountain from the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, or when looking at the standard picture postcard view of the mountain, the skyline is from left to right: the spire of Devil's Peak, the flat mesa of Table Mountain,...
. This campus contains, in a relatively compact site, the faculties of
ScienceScience is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
,
EngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
,
CommerceWhile business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
, and
HumanitiesThe humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
(except for the arts departments), as well as
Smuts HallSmuts Hall is a men's residence on the upper campus of the University of Cape Town. It was named after Field Marshal The Rt. Hon. Jan Smuts. It provides housing for around 240 students....
and Fuller Hall
residencesA dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
. Upper Campus is centered on Jameson Hall, the location for graduation and other ceremonial events, as well as many examinations. The original buildings and layout of Upper Campus were designed by JM Solomon and built between 1928 and 1930. Since that time, many more buildings have been added as the university has grown. Upper Campus is also home to the main library, The Chancellor Oppenheimer library which holds the majority of the University's 1.3 million volume collection.
Contiguous with Upper Campus, but separated from it by university sports fields and the M3 expressway, are the Middle and Lower Campuses. These campuses, which are spread through the suburbs of Rondebosch,
RosebankRosebank is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa, located between the suburbs of Mowbray and Rondebosch.-Geography:Rosebank is located on the lower eastern slope of Devil's Peak, stretching down to the Liesbeeck River, and on the other side of the river up to the edge of...
and
MowbrayMowbray is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. Its original name was Driekoppen .-Geography:Mowbray is bounded on the west by the M3 freeway, beyond which lies Devil's Peak, and on the north by the N2 freeway, beyond which lies the suburb of Observatory...
, contain the
LawLaw is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
faculty, the
South African College of MusicThe South African College of Music, abbreviated as SACM, is a department of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cape Town. It is located on the University's Lower Campus in Rondebosch, Cape Town.-Study opportunities:...
, most of the student residences, most of the university administrative offices, and various sporting facilities. The state of the art artificial grass soccer field has been approved by FIFA for training for
World CupThe 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
teams. The Upper, Middle and Lower Campuses together are often referred to as the "main campus".
The Faculty of Health Sciences is located on the
Medical SchoolA medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
campus next to the
Groote Schuur HospitalGroote Schuur Hospital is a large, government-funded, teaching hospital situated on the slopes of Devil's Peak in the city of Cape Town, South Africa...
in
ObservatoryObservatory is a suburb in Cape Town, South Africa, bordered by Mowbray to the south, and Salt River to the north. The area is best known as student neighborhood, most of whom attend the University of Cape Town located close by, and for being the home of the South African Astronomical Observatory...
. The
Fine ArtsMichaelis School of Fine Art was founded in 1925, and is the Fine Arts department of the University of Cape Town, also housing the Michaelis Collection named for Sir Max Michaelis who in 1920 endowed the chair of Fine Art at the University. It is located at 31-37 Orange Street in Cape Town on...
and
DramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
departments are located on the Hiddingh Campus in central
Cape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
. The University's original building, now known as the
Egyptian Building, on the Hiddingh campus, was built in the Egyptian Revival style. The only other campus built in this style was the Medical College of Virginia in
Richmond, VirginiaRichmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
in the United States. The
UCT Graduate School of Business is located on the
Breakwater LodgeThe Breakwater Lodge in the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa was built as a prison in 1859. It is now part of the University of Cape Town and a hotel....
Campus at the
Victoria & Alfred WaterfrontThe Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in the historic heart of Cape Town's working harbour is South Africa's most-visited destination, having the highest rate of foreign tourists of any attraction in the country...
.
Organisation
The organisation of the University is defined in the Statute of the University of Cape Town, in accordance with the
Higher Education Act, 1997. Before 2002, it was defined by a private Act of Parliament.
The titular head of the University is the
ChancellorA chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
; this is a ceremonial position without executive power. The primary role of the Chancellor is to confer degrees on behalf of the University, and to represent the University to the rest of the world. The current Chancellor is Ms
Graça MachelGraça Machel, DBE is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. She is the third wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela and the widow of Mozambican president Samora Machel...
, elected for her first 10-year term in September 1999 and re-elected in May 2010.
The executive head of the University is the Vice-Chancellor (or VC). The VC has the overall responsibility for the policy and administration of the University. The current VC is Dr
Max PriceMax Price is the vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He was installed as vice-chancellor on 19 August 2008, replacing Njabulo Ndebele...
, who replaced Professor
Njabulo NdebeleProfessor Njabulo Simakahle Ndebele , an academic, a literary and a writer of fiction, is the former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Cape Town.- Life and career :...
on 1 July 2008. The VC is assisted in his task by a number of Deputy Vice-Chancellors (DVCs) who handle specific portfolios. The
RegistrarIn education outside the United Kingdom, a registrar or registrary is an official in an academic institution who handles student records. Typically, a registrar processes registration requests, schedules classes and maintains class lists, enforces the rules for entering or leaving classes, and...
is responsible for the academic administration of the University, as well as legal matters, and is secretary to the University Council and Senate.
The academic departments of UCT are divided into six faculties:
CommerceWhile business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
,
EngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and the
Built EnvironmentThe term built environment refers to the human-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from personal shelter and buildings to neighborhoods and cities that can often include their supporting infrastructure, such as water supply or energy networks.The built...
, Health Sciences,
HumanitiesThe humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
,
LawLaw is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, and
ScienceScience is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
; each faculty is led by a Dean. The multidisciplinary Center for Higher Education Development rates on a level equal to the faculties. Although the Graduate School of Business is considered to be part of the Faculty of
CommerceWhile business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
, it is run independently and has its own Dean and Director.
Students and staff
, 23,500 students were enrolled, of which 6,700 (28,5%) were postgraduate students. The ratio between male and female students is almost exactly 50:50. Over 50% of the student body is non-white. International students account for 19% of total student enrollment at 4300, representing over 100 countries.
UCT employs approximately 4500 staff members of whom 44% are academic staff; the rest are administrative and support staff. In 2007 UCT had 866 permanent academic staff members. Between 85% and 90% of academic staff hold doctoral or masters qualifications.
Student life
UCT has 36 different sports clubs, including
team sportA team sport includes any sport which involves players working together towards a shared objective. A team sport is an activity in which a group of individuals, on the same team, work together to accomplish an ultimate goal which is usually to win. This can be done in a number of ways such as...
s,
individual sport-Examples:Examples of individual sports include:*Archery*Athletics*Bodybuilding*Badminton*Boomerang*Boxing*Chess*Croquet*Cycling*Darts*Equestrian*Fencing*Figure Skating*Golf*Gymnastics*Knife Throwing*Krav Maga*Judo*Lawn Bowls*Orienteering*Pilates...
s,
extreme sportAn extreme sport is a popular term for certain activities perceived as having a high level of inherent danger...
s and
martial artsMartial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
. The university's sports teams, and in particular the
rugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team, are known as the "
Ikey TigersThe Ikey Tigers are a South African rugby union team from the University of Cape Town in the Western Cape who compete in the FNB Varsity Cup.-History:...
" or the "Ikeys". The "Ikey" nickname originated in the 1910s as an
anti-semiticAntisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
epithet applied to UCT students by the students of
Stellenbosch UniversityStellenbosch University is a public research university situated in the town of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Other nearby universities are the University of Cape Town and University of the Western Cape....
, because of the supposed large number of Jewish students at UCT. Stellenbosch is UCT's traditional rugby opponent; an annual "Intervarsity" match is played between the two universities.
There are more than 80 student societies at UCT; these fall generally into five categories:
- Academic societies for those interested in a particular field of study or studying a particular topic: The most prominent of these include the History and Current Affairs Society (HCA), United Nations Association of South Africa (UNASA) and Students for Law and Social Justice (SLSJ).
- Political societies, including branches of the youth wings of national political parties such as the South African Students Congress (SASCO), the Democratic Alliance Students Organisation (DASO), and the African National Congress Youth League.
- Religious societies, some of which are associated with religious denominations or local places of worship.
- National/cultural societies for students from particular countries or particular ethnic backgrounds.
- Special interest societies (such as RainbowUCT, the universities LGBTI society) for those interested in various activities or issues.
In addition to the plethora of student societies, there are several student organisations dedicated to the development of communities surrounding the University in the Cape Metropolitan Area. Some of the biggest include:
SHAWCOSHAWCO, the Students' Health and Welfare Centres Organisation is a student-run NGO based at the University of Cape Town, that seeks to improve the quality of life for individuals in developing communities within the Cape Metropolitan area....
, Ubunye and RAG. Recently, several students movements have developed, such as the
Green Campus InitiativeGreen Campus Initiative , is a student organisation within the University of Cape Town . It aims to make UCT a sustainable and environmentally-friendly institution. It was started towards the end of 2007 by Susan Botha, who had been working for the Namaqualand Restoration Initiative at UCT...
.
Rankings
The University of Cape Town is the highest ranked African university in the
QS World University RankingsThe QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....
, the
Times Higher Education World University RankingsThe Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an international ranking of universities published by the British magazine Times Higher Education in partnership with Thomson Reuters, which provided citation database information...
, and the
Academic Ranking of World UniversitiesThe Academic Ranking of World Universities , commonly known as the Shanghai ranking, is a publication that was founded and compiled by the Shanghai Jiaotong University to rank universities globally. The rankings have been conducted since 2003 and updated annually...
. It achieved a rank of 156 in the 2011
QS World University RankingsThe QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....
and a rank of 103 in the 2011
Times Higher Education World University RankingsThe Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an international ranking of universities published by the British magazine Times Higher Education in partnership with Thomson Reuters, which provided citation database information...
, making it the only African university in the top 200. Within this same ranking UCT was placed in the top 50 in the categories of life sciences and social sciences. UCT's
MBAThe Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
programme was globally ranked at 60 in 2011 by the
Financial TimesThe Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, and was ranked first in the "value for money" category. In addition to this, The University of Cape Town was placed as the second best business school in Africa and the Middle East in the 2010
QS Global 200 Business Schools ReportThe QS Global 200 Business Schools Report identifies the most popular business schools in each region of the world. It aims to serve employers seeking MBAs at a regional level. It originated in the early 1990s under the partnership Quacquarelli Symonds. The TopMBA Career Guide was made in 1990, and...
. The University also achieved a rank of 141 - 145 in the Russian based Global Universities Ranking
Affiliations
UCT is a member of the
Worldwide Universities NetworkThe Worldwide Universities Network is an invitation-only group of research-led universities that have agreed to carry out research and research training on a collaborative basis...
, the
Association of African UniversitiesThe Association of African Universities was established in 1967 to facilitate co-operation between its members and with the international academic community. It is based in Accra, Ghana...
, the
Association of Commonwealth UniversitiesThe Association of Commonwealth Universities represents over 480 universities from Commonwealth countries.- History :In 1912, the University of London took the initiative to assemble 53 representatives of universities in London to hold a Congress of Universities of the Empire...
, the
Cape Higher Education ConsortiumThe Cape Higher Education Consortium is an association whose members are the four universities in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It describes itself as "A Network of Learning for the Western Cape"....
,
Higher Education South AfricaHigher Education South Africa is an association of the 23 public universities in South Africa. Its function is to form a unified voice for the interests of its members, to form common policy for its members on matters of national importance, and to provide various services to its members.-...
, and the International Association of Universities.
Notable alumni
Five of the University's graduates have become
NobelThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
Laureates:
- Ralph Bunche
Ralph Johnson Bunche or 1904December 9, 1971) was an American political scientist and diplomat who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Palestine. He was the first person of color to be so honored in the history of the Prize...
, American political scientist and diplomat awarded the Nobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
in 1950 for his role in the 1949 Armistice AgreementsThe 1949 Armistice Agreements are a set of agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and neighboring Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. The agreements ended the official hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and established armistice lines between Israeli forces and the forces in...
.
- Max Theiler
Max Theiler was a South African/American virologist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951 for developing a vaccine against yellow fever.-Career development:...
, virologist awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
in 1951 for developing a vaccine against yellow feverYellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
.
- Professor Allan McLeod Cormack
Allan MacLeod Cormack was a South African-born American physicist who won the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on X-ray computed tomography ....
(Medicine, 1979)
- Sir Aaron Klug
Sir Aaron Klug, OM, PRS is a Lithuanian-born British chemist and biophysicist, and winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid-protein complexes.-Biography:Klug was...
(ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
, 1982)
- Professor Emeritus J. M. Coetzee (Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
, 2003)
Notable staff
- Cosmologist George Ellis, collaborator with Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
and winner of the 2004 Templeton PrizeThe Templeton Prize is an annual award presented by the Templeton Foundation. Established in 1972, it is awarded to a living person who, in the estimation of the judges, "has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical...
, Distinguished Professor of Complex Systems in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics.
- Author Andre Brink
André Philippus Brink, OIS, is a South African novelist. He writes in Afrikaans and English and is a Professor of English at the University of Cape Town....
, professor in the English Language and Literature Department.
- Author Breyten Breytenbach
Breyten Breytenbach is a South African writer and painter with French citizenship.-Biography:Breyten Breytenbach was born in Bonnievale, Western Cape, approximately 180 km from Cape Town and 100 km from the southernmost tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas...
, visiting professor in the Graduate School of Humanities from January 2000.
- Professor David H. M. Brooks
David Havard Macleod Brooks was a South African philosopher and professor of philosophy at the University of Cape Town.Brooks was born in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal...
(1950–1996), author of On living in an Unjust Society and The Unity of the Mind.
- Helen Zille
Helen Zille is the Premier of the Western Cape, a member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, leader of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance political party, and a former Mayor of Cape Town.Zille is a former journalist and anti-apartheid activist, and famously exposed the truth...
, former Mayor of Cape TownThe Mayor of Cape Town is the head of the local government of Cape Town, South Africa; currently that government takes the form of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. In the past, the position of Mayor has varied between that of an executive mayor actively governing the city and that...
and current Premier of the Western Cape, former Director of Public RelationsPublic relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
for the university.
Notable research
- Africa Earth Observatory Network [(AEON)] http://www.aeon.uct.ac.za, an Earth Science initiative aiming to promote Earth Stewardship through science, with partners in Germany and France.
- The Department of Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and Applied MathematicsApplied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry. Thus, "applied mathematics" is a mathematical science with specialized knowledge...
is an international centre for research in the fields of cosmologyPhysical cosmology, as a branch of astronomy, is the study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the universe and is concerned with fundamental questions about its formation and evolution. For most of human history, it was a branch of metaphysics and religion...
and topologyTopology is a major area of mathematics concerned with properties that are preserved under continuous deformations of objects, such as deformations that involve stretching, but no tearing or gluing...
.
- The Centre for Rhetoric Studies, the only one of its kind on the African Continent (director: Philippe-Joseph Salazar
Philippe-Joseph Salazar is a French rhetorician and philosopher born 1955, Casablanca, Morocco. Educated at Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris. Alumnus of École Normale Supérieure, Paris and past director at Collège international de philosophie, Paris, founded by Jacques Derrida. Currently...
).
- The Department of Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
is home to the UCT-CERNThe European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
research centre, which is partially responsible for the software design of the High Level Trigger component of the ALICEALICE is one of the six detector experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The other five are: ATLAS, CMS, TOTEM, LHCb, and LHCf. ALICE is optimized to study heavy ion collisions. Pb-Pb nuclei collisions will be studied at a centre of mass energy of 2.76 TeV per nucleon...
experiment at the Large Hadron ColliderThe Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected to address some of the most fundamental questions of physics, advancing the understanding of the deepest laws of nature....
, as well as other activities related to ALICE.
- The Department of Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
is involved in the development of technology for the Karoo Array Telescope (KAT). KAT is a precursor to the Square Kilometer Array, a proposed International project to build the world's largest radio telescope by 2020. Research groups in RFRadio frequency is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals...
design and digitalA digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
design contribute to the RF front-end and digital back-end of the KAT project.
- The Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine [(IIDMM)] http://www.uct.ac.za/depts/iidmm is engaged in research on candidate tuberculosis vaccines, and is developing candidate HIV vaccines matched to the South African epidemic.
- The MRC/UCT Medical Imaging Research Unit [(MIRU)] http://www.miru.uct.ac.za, inspired by the work of alumnus Allan McLeod Cormack
Allan MacLeod Cormack was a South African-born American physicist who won the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on X-ray computed tomography ....
who won a Nobel Prize for the CAT-scanner, studies brain and cardiac function and develops diagnostic imaging tools, one of which has led to the spinout of CapeRayCapeRay Medical Ltd is a privately held company based in Cape Town, South Africa, that develops, manufactures and supplies medical imaging equipment for the diagnosis of breast cancer...
.
See also
- Centre for Curating the Archive
The Centre for Curating the Archive, at the University of Cape Town, began life as LLAREC in the late 1990s as a space in which material, both original and reproduced, created and found, was collected from a variety of archives, museums, collections, storerooms, offices and junk heaps and used...
- List of universities in South Africa
- Education in South Africa
South Africa has a 3 tier system of education starting with primary school, followed by high school and tertiary education in the form of universities and universities of technology....
- Chancellor of the University of Cape Town
The Chancellor of the University of Cape Town is the ceremonial head of the university, representing it in the public sphere and conferring degrees in its name. The Chancellorship is a titular position; the chief executive of the university is the Vice-Chancellor...
External links