News

  • 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...

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

    Posted on September 25, 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...

  • 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...

  • UP researchers discover optimum way to monitor blood oxygen levels in immobilised rhino, boosting efforts to combat poaching

    Posted on August 14, 2024

    New research by scientists at the University of Pretoria (UP) has shown that pulse oximeters, originally designed for humans, can be used more effectively to monitor the blood oxygen levels of rhinoceroses who are under anaesthesia and immobilised – by attaching them at an unusual site: the...

  • 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 researchers find environmental toxins poison epigenetic inheritance

    Posted on February 09, 2024

    In a study that signals potential reproductive and health complications in humans, now and for future generations, researchers at the University of Pretoria and Canada’s McGill University and Université Laval have concluded that toxins in the environment, notably DDT, modify the sperm...

  • RE.SEARCH 7: Just Transitions

    Posted on November 23, 2023

    This edition explores the theme of ‘Just Transitions’ which is generally characterised by ideas of sustainability and the greening of the economy, and supported by the ideas of resistance, rethinking and restructuring society for a better and more equitable future. As one of the most...

  • Research shows there are more warm-bodied sharks than previously thought

    Posted on November 15, 2023

    New research arising from a collaboration between scientists at the University of Pretoria (UP) and Trinity College Dublin has shown there are likely more warm-bodied sharks out there than previously thought.

  • UP researchers close in on the secret to aging

    Posted on October 23, 2023

    The quest for immortality has long fascinated humans, and inspired countless tales – now, in two new studies published in the journals Nature and Science, University of Pretoria (UP) researchers, along with a team of global experts known as the Mammalian Methylation Consortium, are a step...

  • UP-linked study reveals climate-smart water storage strategies adopted by Great Zimbabwe in Middle Ages

    Posted on October 11, 2023

    A study involving the University of Pretoria (UP), along with academics from Great Zimbabwe University, University of Cambridge in the UK and Aarhus University in Denmark, has revealed how Great Zimbabwe – the largest city in Southern Africa during the Middle Ages – stored water in...

  • RE.SEARCH 6: Open

    Posted on July 26, 2023

    This issue features research from all of the University of Pretoria's nine faculties and our business school, the Gordan Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and shows how our research is opening a new world and a better future.

  • 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...

  • 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.

  • RE.SEARCH Issue 4: Transdisciplinary

    Posted on November 28, 2022

    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.

  • UP-US study maps roaming habits of elephants in Southern Africa to boost conservation efforts

    Posted on November 24, 2022

    A new series of maps drawn up by Emeritus Professor Rudi van Aarde of the University of Pretoria (UP) and Dr Ryan Huang of Duke University in the US details where African elephants prefer to roam in Southern Africa.

  • UP scientist joins call to protect Southern Ocean

    Posted on November 02, 2022

    The Southern Ocean around Antarctica needs urgent protection – for the sake of the rest of the world. This marine wilderness is threatened by climate change and commercial fisheries, says University of Pretoria (UP) macro-ecologist Dr Luis Pertierra, an expert on the natural value of the...

  • 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...

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