Shaping tomorrow
Driving global change
Wits is an academic thought leader driving the global change agenda. Through our Global Change Institute – and by exploring new ideas across a range of disciplines – we will address future challenges at the intersection of sustainable development and the digital era. Our ambition is to understand how these new developments will impact on people’s lives, so that we can place South Africa and Africa at the centre of a braver new world. The majority of the world’s population growth over the next century will happen in Africa; and so questions around the sustainability of our planet need to be answered locally. South Africa and Africa are currently not sufficiently attuned to the challenges that this growth will bring and we urgently need to find contextually relevant solutions.
“The next decades are critical for the success of the ‘modern project’, in other words the sustained increase in average human wellbeing that we have witnessed over the past two centuries. How the world and South Africa navigates the challenges of balancing human needs with the ecological capacity of the planet, where the current mismatch is manifest through the global climate, biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation, resource depletion and the accumulation of wastes, will determine our long-term future as a species and civilisation”. - Professor Bob Scholes, Director, Wits Global Change Institute.
Through the future of mining
Wits and mining have always been intertwined. Our University started life as a Mining School in the late 19th century; and it has been at the forefront of research in the sector around the world. Through the Wits Mining Institute, we will develop the knowledge to shape mining in the 21st Century, ensuring the growth of a major economic sector locally and globally. We have unique expertise in deep level mining, in mining safety and in the rehabilitation of mines.
“The Wits Mining Institute conducts and facilitates multidisciplinary research and within every project, encourages partnerships to ensure a sustainable business model. Its flagship programme is the digital mining laboratory (DigiMine), where its focus is to conduct tests, research and development for transferring surface digital technologies into the underground mining environment. It also identifies and develops skills required to operate 21st Century, technologically-intensive mines, which feed into a programme for developing modern skill-sets at artisan, technician and professional levels for the mining sector.” - Professor Fred Cawood – Director, Wits Mining Institute
Building the next generation
Throughout our history, Wits has produced local and global leaders across civil society, business, health and politics. We have transformed lives by taking people from marginalised communities and turning them into global leaders in society. The future of our country and our continent depends on our ability to continue producing the next generation of leaders. We will enable the best and the brightest to access our institution so that they can continue Wits’ tradition of making an impact on our world. To meet the needs of the National Development Plan, Wits has been driving up our postgraduate numbers. Postgraduates now make up 37% of our student body and this will be increased to 45% by 2023, primarily in the laboratory disciplines and natural sciences. To facilitate this, we need to provide scholarships, expand facilities, and increase availability of equipment to encourage and facilitate more scientific research. Talented postgraduates are vital to the creation of the new generation of scientific professionals that will allow us to remain competitive in the 21st century.
“The fourth industrial revolution raises many questions for universities to consider. This epoch requires us to push the boundaries of teaching and learning, and at Wits we create the space to have conversations across social, academic, industry and community boundaries. It is essential that we bring our ideas to the fore and reshape these conversations in ways that resonate with who we are, where we are located and what this means for us and our futures.” - Professor Ruksana Osman, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic
For the future of humanity
We will examine the outlook for ‘human-ness’ in a changing digital world, and consider Africa’s place in our shared future, through the Wits Institute for Socio-Economic Research (WiSER). Globally recognised for its work, WiSER shapes global debates in the public humanities and how we engage with our society. From exploring Africa’s history to its future in the digital humanities, it is an intellectual powerhouse on Africa, in Africa. We will also encourage Africa’s best minds, present and future, to return to the continent so that we can own our future and shape the global agenda from an African perspective.
“In the same way that Wits led the continent in responses to the burden of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and TB, where our researchers came up with ground-breaking research and solutions, we can find the solutions to address sustainable development in the digital era.” - Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Vice-Principal and Vice-Chancellor Designate