my Choice @ Unisa 2012 master's and doctoral qualifications

The colleges
Each one of our colleges and departments at Unisa has specific focus areas for master’s and doctoral students. It is
important that prospective students ensure that their areas of interest and proposed research topics align with the
expertise that is available within these departments. We have therefore included a brief summary of the colleges to
guide your decision-making process.
You are advised to visit the college websites for more information.
College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences
The College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences comprises two schools: the School of Agriculture and Life
Sciences, and the School of Environmental Sciences. Within these two schools are four academic departments offering
master’s and doctoral degrees in more than seven disciplines, ranging from Consumer Sciences to Geography.
Students are welcome in all areas of these disciplines, and master’s and doctoral students enjoy further interaction
with our research units and focus areas. These include Biotechnology for Health and the Environment, Responsible
Consumerism, Agribusiness, Science for Rural Development and ABEERU (Applied Behavioural Ecology &
Ecosystem Research) which provides great advantage to our students as these are transdisciplinary units with
significant international participation and interest. These units were created to conduct basic and applied research to
solve industry-related problems.
This integrated approach has clear academic and practical value, and is in line with Unisa’s education philosophy and
of the approach followed by the National Research Foundation of establishing and supporting research focus areas
involving transdisciplinary research teams.
We pride ourselves on both the number and quality of our postgraduate students and provide many opportunities
for practical application, such as
• close working relationships with government and industry
• partnerships with national bodies like parks boards, research councils and municipalities, as well as
international universities like the University of Lancashire and Liverpool in the UK who work closely with CAES
researchers, creating an opportunity for students to do joint research locally and internationally
my Choice @ Unisa 2012
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