Stellenbosch University shines at ‘Science Oscars’

​​​Stellenbosch University brought home three prestigious accolades at the annual National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)/South32  awards, also known as South Africa's Science Oscars, on Thursday, July 31. 

Professor Shahida Moosa, Professor Yin-Zhe Ma, and the Innovation and Commercialisation Division were recognised as winners in their respective categories at a ceremony held in a hybrid format in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Professor Moosa, head of medical genetics at Tygerberg Hospital and professor of medical genetics in the division of molecular biology and human genetics, won the NSTF-SAMRC Clinician-Scientist award for her pioneering work in medical genetics through the Genomics for Health in Africa project.

A first-of-its-kind in sub-Saharan Africa, the project is revolutionising clinical genomics and precision medicine on the continent. It aims to provide diagnoses to the 100 million Africans living with undiagnosed rare diseases and familial cancers.

Professor Moosa said winning a 'Science Oscar', especially in the category of clinician scientist, means a lot to her.

“It's tremendous, especially because being a clinician scientist is something that's very under-recognised, not very well supported, and there is very little understanding for what it means to live in both worlds, in the clinic and in the laboratory.

“It's a recognition of the people, the vulnerable people that I work with, that I serve, families and patients with rare diseases. It's a win for them because for the first time, somebody out there is recognising that the work that helps them is important."

Professor Ma, from the department of physics, received the TW Kambule-NSTF award  for his groundbreaking research on understanding the universe's large-scale structure, contributing to detecting “missing baryons" (or matter that is not directly visible) and pioneering detection methods that investigate how these baryons interact, and their role in galaxy formation and evolution.

He is the head of the astrophysics group at Stellenbosch University and holds the Stellenbosch-Groningen Joint Research Chair in Computational Astronomy.

In response to his latest accolade, he said: “The discovery of the 'missing baryons' in the universe confirms our conjecture that our universe is made out of 4.8% atoms - most of which have been repelled from the centre of dark matter halos into cosmic filaments and voids, and will be recycled back to the cosmic ecosystem. 

“The research I am conducting opens new avenues to connect fundamental physics with astronomical data, and will leave new questions to the next generations."

The innovation and commercialisation division - comprising Innovus technology transfer office (TTO), the LaunchLab, and the University of Stellenbosch enterprises - won the Innovation Award: Corporate Organisation for establishing more than 30 new startups, co-founding the first venture capital fund in Africa dedicated to investing in university technology, and implementing new initiatives to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship.

Reflecting on the national acclaim that her division received, Anita Nel, Stellenbosch University's chief director: innovation and commercialisation, said: “Winning this award demonstrates the significance of the work being done at the division in supporting the University's research outputs and ensuring that impact is delivered, as it is intended, to our society at large.”