Research Focus Areas

Research Focus Areas

The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences rates among the most diverse and best science faculties in South Africa.

The Faculty contributes substantially to the building of research and teaching capacity in South Africa by producing highly skilled graduates, as well as generating new scientific knowledge through its research publications. A significant number of its scientists are evaluated internationally and acknowledged by the National Research Foundation (NRF) as researchers of high international standing – and in some cases as world leaders in their fields.

The Faculty is proud to host half of the A-rated NRF researchers and 40% of all the NRF-rated researchers at the University of Pretoria. Here we constantly push the frontiers of knowledge and develop new technology that will help the Faculty to stay abreast with the challenges of a constantly changing world.


NAS NICHE RESEARCH FOCUS AREAS:

AGRICULTURE: wide-ranging expertise in crop breeding, pre and post-harvest applications, crop pests and pathogens, animal breeding, animal welfare, agricultural economics and extension, food production, consumer adoption, sensory evaluation, African crops, food systems and food security. 

BIG DATA AND DATA SCIENCE: Bioinformatics and computational biology, mathematical modelling in bioengineering and biosciences

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES: Hazards modelling, environmental modelling, sustainable environmental management  and biodiversity conservation 

INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Human (Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, malaria) and veterinary diseases (ticks and tick-borne diseases, rabies, Helminths, African Horse sickness, bluetongue disease, etc)

PHYSICAL SCIENCES: Radio astronomy, biophysics, green chemistry, drug discovery, separation science, renewable energy

TRADITIONAL MEDICINES AND NATURAL PRODUCTS: Bioprospecting, medicinal plant science

Click here for research areas for postgraduate students in the different departments of the Faculty.

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