by Kegorapetse | Mar 29, 2021 | Research
Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) is a newly established university providing holistic Health Sciences Education, and is situated at Ga-Rankuwa. One of SMU strategic goal focuses on “Building a foundation of excellence in research, teaching and learning and community engagement”
SMU is inviting postdoctoral fellowship positions in the following schools:
School of Health Care Sciences – HIV/AIDS and older persons, decolonization and Mental Health
School of Pharmacy – Public health aspects of vaccinology, including antimicrobial stewardship
School of Science and Technology – Biochemistry (Medicinal Plants / phytochemistry) and Physics (Condensed Matter Physics: Nanomaterials synthesis and characterization).
School of Medicine – Microbiology (immunology)
The incumbents will be responsible to conduct research on an approved research niche under the supervision of an Established Researcher. Required to publish the research findings and assist in supervising and mentoring of postgraduate research. Incumbents will report to the Head of Department (HOD) and the Principal Investigator (PI): and must meet the following requirements listed below.
REQUIREMENTS:
- South African citizen/ permanent South African residency, strong publication track record and experienced in postgraduates supervision
- Duration of the postdoctoral award is 2 years
To apply, please send an application letter, full curriculum vitae with a list of publications, certified copy of ID/ passport and a two-page summary of research interest to research.admin@smu.ac.za. Closing date: 30th April 2021, late applications will not be considered.
It is the applicant’s responsibility to have foreign qualifications evaluated by the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA). Failure to submit the requested documents/information will result in your application not being considered. The University reserves the right not to make an award or make fewer awards.
by Kegorapetse | Mar 16, 2021 | Research
The South African Family Practice Journal (SAFPJ), after years of applying, has been finally approved and listed with MEDLINE, said Prof Gboyega Ogunbanjo, popularly referred to as Prof ‘O’, the head of the department of family medicine & primary health care, and the editor in chief of the SAFJP.
MEDLINE, which is based in the United States of America (USA), is the biggest database containing journal citations and abstracts for biomedical literature from all over the world. Having the SAFJP listed with MEDILINE for Prof Ogunbanjo, is a dream come true, after years of attempts to list with MEDLINE were turned down because of the strict criteria for admission.
The benefits of enlisting with this database for Ogunbanjo as editor in chief and for SMU are immense. “MEDLINE is the equivalent of a top soccer team playing in the proverbial football premier league. It offers huge exposure and international credibility for researchers”, quipped Prof Ogunbanjo.
The department of family medicine & primary health care is one of the leading departments in as far as research throughput is concerned, at SMU. The secret behind this success, Prof ‘O’ says, is “team work”, as no one, in the department of family medicine & primary health care, is allowed to publish any research work as a lone ranger. Twice a year, we go out to places like Swartruggens in the North West province for a whole weekend for scientific writing workshops facilitated by the head of department, thereby building human research capacity in the department”, he said.
“The results of this human research capacity building programme are bearing fruit – high quality and relevant papers are published in the Department of Higher Education and Training peer reviewed list of journals, having national, regional and international impact,’’ he added.
Prof Ogunbanjo lives a very busy life juggling academic, clinical, teaching, pastoral duties, and still manage to have a normal family life. He serves in various local and international medical science forums in which he is able to advance the African Renaissance Agenda by sharing his experience and expertise where such expertise is required.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has benefitted from the agenda, with many of its family medicine physicians initially trained under the former Medical University of Southern Africa (MEDUNSA), followed by University of Limpopo and currently under SMU, since 1997. Under his tutelage and support from his colleagues in the department, a new breed of family medicine specialists and trainers are training fellow Congolese doctors, in the discipline of family medicine at the Université Protestente au Congo (UPC), Kinshasa, DRC.
The second cohort of locally trained and context-based family medicine specialists will graduate at UPC on Saturday 3 August 2018. Prof ‘O’ concluded by saying that “SMU should have a strategic focus to build long lasting collaborations with other universities on the African continent, as this will be beneficial for our academics and students”
by Kegorapetse | Mar 16, 2021 | All News, Research
SMU and King’s College London had recently established a five year strategic partnership in the research and academic exchange programme between the King’s Centre for Ultrastructural Imaging and the Electron Microscopy Unit of SMU.
Strategic Partnership: Prof Fumni Olonisakin, Vice President and Vice Principal International and Prof Olalekan Ayo-Yusuf, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Postgraduate Studies and Innovation.
The impact of SMU research output will be much greater through the exchange programme. The scope of the partnership entails promotion of innovative use of modern electron microscopy (EM) techniques by working with PhD and Masters students in health sciences research; provide training for PhD and Masters student to operate microscopes and prepare specimens; work with principal investigators to introduce innovative EM imaging techniques to the SMU research community; and provision of a dedicated supervisor for ongoing consultation and support.
“Top staff from King’s college will come and teach SMU Masters and PhD students using the electron microscope machines. To ensure high quality data is collected and prepared for publication, the collaboration will support researchers with experiment design and data interpretation,” said Prof Lekan Ayo-Yusuf, SMU DVC.
by Kegorapetse | Jul 23, 2019 | Research, SMU Media
The Health and Welfare SETA, invite applications from registered employed (part-time), and unemployed (full-time) South African students pursuing Postgraduate Diploma/Honours/B-Tech, M-Tech/Masters, D-Tech/Doctoral and Post-Doctoral studies at South African universities and other accredited higher education and training institutions.
While other areas of study within the sector will be considered; preference will be given to majors / streams and research focus that fall within the following priority areas:
- Veterinary Sciences, Marine Aquaculture and Marine biology
- Nursing Sciences focus – Nursing Education, Health Professions Education, Mental Health Nursing, Maternal and Child Health, Community Health Nursing, Rural Health, and Primary Health Care;
- Social Work focus – Social Health Care, Occupational Social Work and Social Work (in Forensic Practice); Clinical Social Work, Child Protection Law and Play Therapy.
- Psychology focus – Counseling, Clinical, Forensic, Educational, and Community,
- Public Health focus – Clinical Epidemiology, Health Economics, Health Systems (Policy, Planning & Management), Medical Informatics, eHealth, Telemedicine, Biostatistics, Bioethics and Health Law (Medical Law);
- Mental Health focus – Forensic Mental health, Child-Adolescent and Adult Psychiatry, Public Mental Health and Community Psychiatry,
- Health sciences focus – Radiography, Audiology, Speech Language Therapy, Pharmacy, Optometry, Dentistry, and Physiotherapy,
- Medical Sociology, Environmental Sociology, Demography and Population studies;
- Environmental Health/Biology/Chemistry and Occupational Health and Safety;
- Social Welfare focus – Child and Youth Care, Social Services and Development, Poverty and Inequality, Disability care – Rehabilitation and Management,
A special consideration will be given to Honours students undertaking programmes, which will lead to scarce skills specializations, professional registration and licensing. Students with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
Application process: Interested students must complete (type text by using Word) and sign an HWSETA postgraduate bursary application form attached, and submit in a pdf format no later than 26 July 2019. The application must include a proof of registration (a university stamped copy), draft research proposal (where applicable), motivation letter (1 page), required proposed budget (itemized) to complete the research project and a clear certified copy of the South African Identify Document.
Applications must be submitted via email to:jadah.matentji@smu.ac.za.
Enquiries may be directed to Ms. Jadah Matentji at jadah.matentji@smu.ac.za
by Kegorapetse | Sep 16, 2018 | All News, Research
Publish or Perish…..
A University’s worth as a centre for generating knowledge is determined by the number and quality of publications produced, hence the popular phrase “publish or perish” that is used among academics. It is pertinent to note that research quality (which influences its impact) and not necessarily research productivity, also drives quality teaching and learning.
It is in this context that amongst others, SMU has, as its Research Strategic Objectives “Improve research impact and visibility” as well as to ‘Increase proportion of publications in high impact international journals”. To give effect to these strategic objectives, the Office of the DVC-Research, Postgraduate Studies and Innovation (RPSI) had this far, March – September 2018 planned and hosted four (4) capacity development workshops in the form of 4 days per session off campus “Writing Retreats”, targeting Emerging Researchers; PhD and Postdoctoral candidates, not to exclude Master’s students who are staff members within SMU.
The said workshops focused on, amongst others, “Publications Writing Retreat”; “Publications and PhD Thesis Writing Retreat”; “PhD and Grants Proposal Writing Retreat”; and recently “PhD and Thesis Writing Retreat” have proven to be very effective as captured by one of PhD candidate who attended the recent one, who is quoted as saying: “For me the retreat proved to be very useful as I managed to make a few strides and to immerse myself in my research study. The right momentum is building up. So I urge you colleagues not to give up on the seed that has already been planted. Let us nurture it so that we can reap the fruits at the end.”
These workshops were offered using a blend of local (SMU), national (Rhodes University; University of Pretoria) and international (Maastricht University, Netherlands) experts in the field of research, grants application and publications. To harness these and other such related activities aimed at providing continuous support to SMU research community, the office has recently launched an exclusive SMU Research Communique to communicate research related activities and opportunities. Watch the space
by Kegorapetse | Aug 21, 2018 | All News, Research
Media Alert
21 August 2018
For Immediate Release
The members of the media are hereby informed about the SMU’s Research days programme which commences on Tuesday 21 to 23 August 2018, at 8h15, in Clin Path Building (CP) Lecture Hall 3L001. The research event is a premier event of the university in which researchers present and subject their research papers to review by their peers, in various disciplines. Research is part of the core business of the university.
Among other highlights, there will be a keynote address by Prof Ayo-Yusuf, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Post Graduate Studies and Innovation. Prof Ayo-Yusuf is also a National Research Foundation B rated (NRF-B rated) Scientist. Ayo-Yusuf’s title is “Predatory Journals and Questionable Editorial Practices”.
Dr Debra Goff, who is an Infectious Disease Specialist, a founding member of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Programme and Director of Clinical Research for the Department of Pharmacy, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Centre (OSUWMC), Columbus, Ohio, USA, will deliver a presentation entitled “The global value and impact of collaborative research”, on 21 August 2018, at 10h30.
Dr Sechene Stanley Gololo, a senior lecturer, Department of Biochemistry, SMU, will do a presentation on “Towards optimization of health benefits from medicinal plants without genetic modifications”, on 21 August 2018, at 10h30.
Dr Nicola Page, a senior scientist who is head of the Virology Division of the Centre for Enteric Diseases at the National Institute for Communicable Disease (NICD), will present on the title “Gastroenteritis in South Africa – an update”, on 21 August 2018, at 14h20.
A detailed programme of the event is hereto attached with a wide range of interesting titles to enable you to identify a title which will be of interest to you.
Released by the SMU Marketing & Communication
Contact Dr Eric Pule, the Director, Marketing & Communication
Phone 012 521 4563
