Key upcoming virtual events and other updates

Dear students

This campus announcement aims to inform the UCT community about recent developments on campus.

1. Key upcoming virtual events

The university will host two key events in the next two weeks – the VC's Open Lecture and a webinar on decolonialisation and decoloniality.

The VC's Open Lecture will be presented by Professor Stephen J Toope, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. His lecture is titled “Global partners, global leaders” and will take place on Wednesday, 16 September 2020 at 17:30 on the Microsoft Teams online platform.

• Read the VC Desk: VC’s Open Lecture: Professor Stephen J Toope.
• Register online to attend the lecture.

UCT will also host a webinar that explores decolonialisation and decoloniality at the university. Discussions will look at decolonisation in the context of UCT’s Vision 2030. The webinar will be held on Tuesday, 22 September 2020 at 10:00 on the Microsoft Teams online platform.

• Read the VC Desk: Decolonialisation and decoloniality webinar.
• Register online to attend the webinar.

2. Scholarship opportunity with Schmidt Futures

UCT students are encouraged to participate in the Reimagine Challenge 2020 by Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative by Google CEO Eric Schmidt. This scholarship opportunity is an exciting challenge that invites university students to submit their ideas about ways to drive social change. The challenge is open to all university students at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and the winners will receive up to $25 000 in scholarships for themselves, as well as a matching amount for their universities. The deadline is 25 September 2020.

• Read the VC Desk: An exciting scholarship opportunity for our students with Schmidt Futures.

3. Unleashing the New Global University series

In June, UCT launched a series of webinars under the theme Unleashing the New Global University. On 24 August, the fourth of these “challenging conversations” saw academics from Ghana, South Africa and the United Kingdom reflect on the question: “Postgraduate researchers: can we rethink the international experience?” Hosting the event, Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng outlined the benefits of mobility for postgraduates.

• Read the news story: Postgraduate studies – Rethinking the international experience.

The series was concluded on 7 September, with the final session focusing on the topic: “How does changing the medium change the way of doing things?”

4. Update on UCT COVID-19 cases

As at 8 September, UCT has a reported 99 cases among non-health sciences staff members, with 83 recoveries. The reported students’ cases remain 35, with 10 of these being Faculty of Health Sciences students on clinical platforms. The university has sadly lost nine staff and one student to the pandemic.

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements