Our latest issue of RE.SEARCH is out and focuses on how the University of Pretoria (UP) is implementing transdisciplinary research to co-create new knowledge to develop solutions and design new futures for us all. 

Transdisciplinary research involves thinking above and beyond traditional academic disciplines and is key to creating new knowledge to holistically solve some of the world’s greatest challenges. Transdisciplinary research has long been part of the University of Pretoria's key strategic vision. This type of research mainly involves transcending the boundaries of traditional academic fields of study and collaborating with experts across disciplines to find new ways of thinking about challenges. In doing so, we are able to dismantle the silos that limit our thinking.

This fourth edition tackles a few interesting questions head on and demonstrates the practical application of our work in different contexts around us, like the creation of the Hatfield Digital Twin City or how our local gardens, such as those at the Future Africa Institute, are promoting insect diversity to stave off the effects of the sixth mass extinction that we are currently undergoing. The Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control is one of the University’s longest-standing transdisciplinary research initiatives, and together with the School of the Arts, it questions whether art can contribute to eliminating malaria. This issue also looks at how we can solve Africa’s hunger and nutritional crises through the InnoFoodAfrica Project, and we introduce research that makes use of novel methods to predict successful surgical outcomes before patients opt for irreversible cochlear implants.

But in keeping with our tradition of ensuring that there’s something to interest everyone, we’ve even looked into the science of braais and what it takes to make a good one! Explore our previous three editions on the landing page to find other stories that may be of interest to you.

Our cover image encapsulates the idea that transdisciplinary research requires us to see the world differently and to understand it from a multitude of perspectives. We hope that by bringing diverse fields together, we are able to provide uniquely African solutions to global problems.  

Simply click on the cover to open the hosting page and then click on the magazine cover again and scroll through the pages to read.