UP has remained in the top 1% of institutions internationally in six of the 22 broad ESI fields: Agricultural Sciences, Clinical Medicine, Engineering, Environmental Sciences/Ecology, Plant and Animal Sciences, and Social Sciences. The benefits of UP’s focus on areas of research strength have stimulated crossdisciplinary cooperation, research productivity, recruitment of postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows, as well as external funding. Success in securing external research grants and contracts demonstrates research relevance and the competitive standing of UP at national and international levels. In 2016, our researchers and research partners secured R640m in funding from external funders, considerably up from the R405m in 2014. Closely linked to UP’s research performance is the strengthening of its international profile and visibility. The University’s international profile has continued to grow as demonstrated by several indicators. In 2016, there were 846 international doctoral students compared to 544 in 2012. The number of international postdoctoral fellows also increased – from 78 in 2012 to 125 in 2016, as did the number of international academic staff – from 144 in 2012 to 167 in 2016. Equally important is the growth in international co-authorships. In 2016 a total of 1 021 papers co-authored with international researchers – compared to 643 in 2012 – were published by UP researchers in journals indexed by the Web of Science (WoS). Our student success and throughput rates are among the highest in the
INTERNATIONAL CO-AUTHORSHIPS
FEMALE POSTGRADUATE CONTACT STUDENTS
FEMALE UNDERGRADUATE CONTACT STUDENTS
643
48,8%
57,2%
1 021
50,5%
56,4%
in 2014
in 2016
in 2012
in 2016
in 2012
in 2016
Top from left: Professor Niek Grové (Registrar), Professor Stephanie Burton (Vice-Principal: Research and Postgraduate Studies), Professor Tinyiko Maluleke (Advisor to Vice-Chancellor and Principal). Middle from left: Professor Themba Mosia (Vice-Principal: Student Affairs), Professor Cheryl de la Rey (Vice-Chancellor and Principal), Professor Carolina Koornhof (Executive Director: Finance and Business Initiatives). Bottom from left: Professor Norman Duncan (Vice-Principal: Academic), Ms Patience Mushungwa (Executive Director: Human Capital and Transformation) and Professor Anton Ströh (Vice-Principal: Institutional Planning).
DOCTORAL GRADUATE OUTPUT
200
in 2012
302
in 2016
UP Annual Review 2016 7
MESSAGE FROM THE VICE-CHANCELLOR AND PRINCIPAL
UP Executive