Inaugural lecture by Professor McCulloch and other updates

Dear colleagues and students

Professor Mignon McCulloch will deliver the second lecture in this year’s University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Inaugural Lecture series on Thursday, 27 March 2025. Read more about this and other recent developments on campus.

1. Inaugural lecture by Professor Mignon McCulloch (Faculty of Health Sciences)

On Thursday, 27 March 2025 at 17:30 SAST, Professor McCulloch will present her lecture, titled “First Aid for Kids’ Kidneys in Africa and Beyond”, at the New Learning Centre Lecture Theatre, Anatomy Building, Health Sciences campus.

Professor McCulloch’s lecture will highlight the global public health challenge of kidney disease in both adults and children. She will focus on alternative dialysis methods that do not require advanced technology, demonstrating how locally developed solutions in Africa have yielded successful outcomes. Her work underscores the potential to extend these approaches worldwide, ensuring that every child needing dialysis has access to life-saving treatment.

Professor McCulloch leads the Clinical Unit of Paediatric Nephrology and Solid Organ Transplantation (kidney, liver and heart) at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and is a senior lecturer at UCT. With expertise in paediatric nephrology and intensive care, she serves as deputy chair of the Saving Young Lives Committee. Through this initiative, she has played a key role in a dialysis training programme that has equipped 600 professionals with essential skills – saving 450 lives in the process.

• Register to attend the lecture.
• Read the full VC Desk: UCT inaugural lectures for March 2025.

2. Council debates risk of defunding by US Federal Government

At its first ordinary meeting of 2025, the UCT Council primarily focused on the looming threat of defunding – particularly the potential loss of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants. UCT is the largest recipient of NIH funding outside the United States.

The funding risk stems from a major foreign policy shift introduced by the new United States administration. These changes have had widespread repercussions, implemented through presidential executive orders on short notice, affecting global, national and local institutions.

• Read the full Chair’s Desk: Council debates risk of defunding by US Federal Government.

3. Approved UCT Language Policy officially launched

In line with UCT’s Vision 2030 and a commitment to multilingualism, inclusivity and transformation, the UCT Language Policy has been launched.

This policy underscores UCT’s dedication to celebrating diversity and fostering an environment where language is valued as a tool for learning, research and communication.

The revised policy affirms English, IsiXhosa, and Afrikaans as the university’s official languages, while also recognising Afrikaaps (Kaaps), South African Sign Language (SASL), Khoekhoegowab and N|uu as languages for development at UCT.

• Read the full VC Desk: Approved UCT Language Policy officially launched.

4. Welcoming UCT postgrads and supervisors

UCT welcomes all postgraduate students, both those returning and those embarking on their studies this year. Pursuing postgraduate studies comes with considerable challenges. The university remains committed to alleviating academic challenges by providing the necessary resources and support.

Postgraduate students are encouraged to take advantage of the various support services and resources available at UCT. Seeking help when needed is a sign of strength, and the university is here to support students in achieving their academic goals.

• Read the full DVC Desk: Welcoming UCT postgrads and supervisors.

5. ICTS scheduled maintenance on Sunday, 23 March

The UCT community is advised that Sunday, 23 March 2025 will be an ICTS scheduled maintenance slot from 07:00 to 17:00. Unless advised to the contrary, do not expect any on-premise ICT services to be available for the duration of the maintenance slot. Cloud-based services (including Amathuba, email, Microsoft 365 services, and ServiceNow) are not impacted and can still be accessed.

Please remember to consult the scheduled ICTS maintenance slots page before planning any teaching, conferences, meetings, etc that require ICT services. 

For more information, see the article on why ICTS schedules regular monthly maintenance slots.

Communication and Marketing Department

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements