News

  • RE.SEARCH 13: One Health

    Posted on November 21, 2025

    This edition is curated around the concept of One Health, in which the University of Pretoria plays a leading role globally, and is based on our research expertise in the various disciplines across healthcare for people, the environment and animals.

  • Food security starts with biodiversity

    Posted on October 16, 2025

    The world is five years away from the 2030 deadline to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and we are no closer to ending hunger and food insecurity (SDG 2). Yet food security is just part of the battle – we also need to fight to keep indigenous biodiversity...

  • RE.SEARCH 12: Global

    Posted on August 25, 2025

    The theme of this edition, ‘Global’, illustrates how the University of Pretoria (UP) serves as a globally engaged, continental hub that is driving impactful research through innovation, creativity and sustainability. The research in this issue demonstrates how the research we do today...

  • Fancy a cuppa? UP study finds tea to be as antioxidant-rich as fruit and veg

    Posted on May 21, 2025

    University of Pretoria (UP) researchers have found that the antioxidant content of certain types of tea can be likened to that found in recommended portions of fruit and vegetables.

  • RE.SEARCH 11: Digital Worlds

    Posted on April 17, 2025

    The latest issue of the University of Pretoria’s award-winning RE.SEARCH magazine is available now and reflects a shift towards both a fresher design and outlook. This edition is curated under the theme ‘Digital’, and offers a glimpse into some of the fascinating research...

  • RE.SEARCH 10: Make today matter

    Posted on November 22, 2024

    The articles in this edition showcase work from all nine of our faculties, and underscore our University’s slogan ‘Make today matter’. RE.SEARCH has been named South Africa's top corporate publication as the winner of the 2024 SA Publication's Forum Awards. It is a runner up and...

  • UP researcher discovers two new dung beetle species which don't roll balls or use dung

    Posted on November 13, 2024

    Over the past two decades, field trips in search of dung beetles have taken University of Pretoria (UP) doctoral student Christian Deschodt across Southern Africa. But it was a well-trodden walk to fetch his kids from school, a mere 1,5km from his home near Hartbeespoort, that saw him stumble...

  • RE.SEARCH 9: What if? 

    Posted on August 26, 2024

    RE.SEARCH 9 is our most novel edition yet. In it, we have featured research that encourages us to think afresh, and is doing so, we’ve highlighted new ways of looking at research. You can expect to read about research that has potential and promise for the future but which is still nascent...

  • Arid conditions stimulate plant trait diversity – UP part of worldwide study that offers hope for biodiversity conservation

    Posted on August 16, 2024

    The University of Pretoria (UP) has been part of a groundbreaking international study to understand how plants found in drylands have adapted to these extreme habitats. The results of this large-scale study, which involved 120 scientists from 27 countries, were recently published in scientific...

  • UP scientist issues urgent call for clean-up of toxic Krugersdorp mine dumps

    Posted on July 04, 2024

    Young children in Krugersdorp are breathing in uranium, arsenic and mercury fumes wafting over from abandoned legacy mines, while pollutants are seeping into the groundwater and nearby dams and lakes, cautions Dr Alseno Kagiso Mosai, a water remediation expert at the University of...

  • RE.SEARCH 8: Connect

    Posted on May 07, 2024

    In a world in which there is an ever-encroaching digital footprint and high-tech solutions, it is vital that we reconnect with an outlook of compassion, care and communication. We do this through connection and connectivity. The theme of our latest issue, ‘Connect’, highlights how UP...

  • UP-UKZN study investigates likelihood of farmers choosing compost made of human poop

    Posted on August 24, 2023

    University of Pretoria (UP) researchers lent their expertise to a recent study led by the University of KwaZulu-Natal and found that rural farmers in KwaZulu-Natal are open to buying and using compost made from human sewage as long as they can be sure that it is safe, affordable and works as well...

  • UP researchers decode genome of king protea

    Posted on May 24, 2023

    University of Pretoria (UP) researchers are at the forefront of a very special first for South African plant sciences. They have unravelled the precise genetic make-up of the country’s national flower, the king protea (Protea cynaroides). It is the first plant that’s unique to South...

  • Microorganisms could be the cause of ‘fairy circle’ phenomenon – UP microbiologists

    Posted on March 29, 2023

    University of Pretoria (UP) scientists have posited a theory that could explain the tens of thousands of “fairy circles” that can be seen dotted across the arid landscape of Namibia.

  • UP-led study finds aloe plant could impede life cycle of malaria-carrying parasite

    Posted on February 09, 2023

    Experts at the University of Pretoria (UP) are a step closer to finding a drug that could prevent transmission of the malaria-carrying parasite Plasmodium falciparum by thwarting its life cycle.

  • UP microbiologists discover rich diversity of life in Antarctica’s cold, dry soils

    Posted on December 07, 2022

    The ice-free areas of Antarctica were initially thought to be devoid of life, but with the advent of modern genetic technologies, scientists now know that microorganisms have adapted to living in this extreme environment.

  • UP scientists contribute to a key global study on the effects of grazing in deserts

    Posted on December 05, 2022

    Two University of Pretoria scientists have contributed to the first-ever global field assessment of the ecological impacts of grazing in drylands.

  • UP hydrogeologists use isotopes to pinpoint root of Hartbeespoort Dam’s water hyacinth problem

    Posted on November 21, 2022

    For years now, invasive water hyacinth plants have clogged up the North West’s Hartbeespoort Dam, which lies downstream from Pretoria and Johannesburg. In new research, hydrogeologists from the University of Pretoria (UP) have used the internal workings of the plants themselves to reiterate...

  • UP part of international study that reveals role of termites in earth’s carbon cycle

    Posted on September 28, 2022

    The University of Pretoria (UP) recently participated in an international study led by the University of Miami to investigate termite and microbial wood discovery and decay. Termites release carbon from the wood as methane and carbon dioxide, which are two of the most important greenhouse gases...

  • Smallholder farmers are aware of climate change, but are still struggling to adapt

    Posted on September 23, 2022

    Smallholder farmers are the most in touch with the earth’s changing climate patterns, and they are the most vulnerable to increased temperatures and reduced rainfall.

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