2011-NMMU-Research-Report - Research Management - Nelson ...

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In 2011, BERC researchers published four journal articles and
thirteen conference papers, of which seven were international
conference papers and six were national conference papers.
UNITS
Cyclic Peptide Research Unit
Leader: Prof PJ Milne
The Cyclic Peptide Research Unit (CPRU) has an established track record
in terms of research outputs (both at postgraduate degrees and peerreviewed
publications), unfortunately the problem of lack of staffing
has arisen resulting in a slower rate of research outputs. At present,
Prof Milne is the only full-time lecturer in Pharmaceutical Chemistry
and Veterinary Pharmacology and is supervising three PhD students,
two MSc and one MPharm student. He is also the co-supervisor of
two MSc students. This supervision, along with an increase teaching
and administrative load (HoD: Department of Pharmacy) makes it
increasingly difficult to publish research. This is unfortunate, as the
programmes have shown significant promise in identifying potential
active drugs that could benefit the industry and wellbeing of people.
Drug Utilisation Research Unit
Leader: Prof I Truter
NMMU Research and Innovation Report 2011 - Research Entities
The Drug Utilisation Research Unit (DURU) at NMMU promotes,
educates and informs all interested parties about the rational and
cost-effective use of health care resources, with specific emphasis on
the management of medicines. Research outputs of DURU during
2011 included: eight international peer-reviewed publications, seven
peer-reviewed articles in a professional journal, one MPharm student
who graduated and 21 presentations at international conferences.
Ilse Truter was the NMMU Faculty of Health Sciences Researcher of
the Year based on her 2010 research output.
HIV & AIDS Research Unit
Leader: Dr J von der Marwitz
The NMMU HIV and AIDS research entity's most significant
achievement being the successful presentations made at the SAHARA
Conference and the networking with national and international
colleagues involved in HIV and AIDS Research. The Unit appointed
a research associate, Dr L Steenkamp a specialist dietician, who
was instrumental in the facilitation of the nutrition workshop at the
conference. The workshop was also conducted in collaboration with
the PE Hospital Complex. The Unit formed part of the stakeholders
involved in the coordination and planning of the conference and
workshop, which was successfully held in November 2011.
Labour and Social Security Law Unit
Leader: Prof JA van der Walt
The Labour and Social Security Law Unit (LSSLU) continued to present
and expand high-quality training and research output in the form
of articles, seminars and conferences on Labour Law. During 2011,
it specialised in Education Labour Law. It also set the scene for
expansion of research and training in other SADC countries.
Unit for Economic Development and
Tourism
Leader: Prof R Haines
The Unit for Economic Development and Tourism experienced distinct
success during the period under review. It expanded the projects under
its purview, showed a significant increase in terms of the various research
outputs, and has attracted financially substantive projects for the near
and middle terms. It is also providing the secretariat for three significant
local and regional economic development ventures, namely the Eastern
Cape Local Economic Development Education Forum; the HEI Local
Economic Consortium; and the NMB Maritime Industry Cluster. Given
the expansion of activities on most fronts, the question of upgrading
the Unit to a Centre will be accorded serious consideration during the
strategic planning exercise scheduled for later this year.
Coastal and Marine Research Unit
Leader: Dr D du Preez
During 2011, the IECM changed its name to the Coastal and Marine
Research Unit (CMR). This was done in order to better reflect the
goal of the CMR to conduct research in the coastal and marine
environments to improve our understanding of them so that they
can be better managed and sustainably utilised. The goal of the
CMR is to conduct relevant research into the coastal and marine
environments to ensure that these ecosystems will continue to
provide all the amenities and resources for our generation and for
many generations to come. To this end, the members of the CMR
are conducting increasingly collaborative research into wetlands,
estuaries, sandy beaches, rocky shores, mixed shores, Algoa Bay
and offshore into the ocean as far as the Mozambique channel.
The research includes fundamental research where gaps have
been identified through to research related to management and
rehabilitation of over-utilised resources. The members of the CMR
have attracted sufficient funding to drive the research that they are
doing and the CMR has reserve funds of just under R1 million that can
be used to encourage and facilitate further research efforts.