The night of 3 October 2025 will always be a lovely time to look back on, for all of MUT. This is the first time that two of the University’s divisions collaborated to host the Research and Community Engagement Awards for the year. Before this year’s arrangement, it was just the Research Awards; here we are talking about some very pleasant nights over the years. This time it was double the fun. The awards are when University staff are honoured and thanked for their toils. The Research Awards consider the last two years of performance, whereas the Community Engagement Awards consider the last 12 months of performance.
Dr Anette Mienie, the founding Director of the Research directorate, and the Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Engagement (RIE), said the awards were bittersweet for her. “It was the last research awards event that I attended as an employee of MUT. It was also the first RIE awards, which acknowledged excellence in research, innovation, and community engagement. I hope to attend future events as a guest,” said Dr Mienie, who has a PHD in Molecular Genetics
The Vice-Chancellor and Principal of MUT, Professor Nokuthula Sibiya, an NRF-rated researcher herself, congratulated the researchers and award winners for contributing to the financial sustainability of the University. Professor Sibiya reminded academic staff to produce 0.5 units of research output in accordance with the DHET norm. MUT is currently sitting at 0.48. Professor Sibiya appealed to the administration and support staff to join her in contributing towards research output. This year, Professor Sibiya has already published 12 articles, one peer-reviewed conference proceeding, and has graduated one PhD and three Master’s students.
Professor Sibiya also encouraged support staff to submit nominations for the VC’s Excellence Awards. She also congratulated rated researchers.