Prof Oluwafemi Oguntibeju in the Department of Biomedical Sciences has maintained his C3 National Research Foundation (NRF) rating.

Oguntibeju’s rating application outcome was confirmed recently by the NRF in an email to the university, and the new rating will be valid from January 2018.

While he was expecting an improved rating, he says he’s happy about having maintained his previous rating.

He says the rating will put him in good stead for additional funding for his research on diabetes and medicinal plants.

“I secured an NRF grant last year to support postgraduate students who are mainly South African.”

He adds that the quality of his research has improved and that he is grateful for the grant that made all of it possible.

“CPUT is proving to build positively on its NRF-rated researcher cohort every year, we deliberately choose to celebrate every new rating that our researchers obtain simply because it is directly aligned with CPUT’s vision, its institutional strategy, and in particular, its RTI Blueprint 2020 in which we commit, amongst others, to build a reputation for research and innovation,” says Prof Dina Burger, Director: Research.

“Every NRF-rated researcher is a significant contribution to our increasing reputation for research and innovation and, in so doing, we are gradually becoming an institution that will contribute to the development agendas of South Africa, Africa and beyond.”

Written by Kwanele Butana
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A leading researcher at CPUT in the Faculty of Applied Sciences, Prof Victoria Jideani, has two patents under her belt.

While this NRF-rated researcher has a patent for dietary fibre from the Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterenea), she also has a patent for probiotic yoghurt produced from a Bambara groundnut milk beverage and the method for the production thereof. The latter may lead to an exciting new business venture for the university.

“Indigenous knowledge (IK) associated with Bambara groundnut (BGN) in South Africa is not documented,” she explains, adding that, “Despite the BGN rich IK and nutritional profile, not much is known about its nutraceutical potential.”

She says that this knowledge system is at risk of becoming extinct because of the rapidly changing natural environment and fast-paced economic, political and cultural changes. 

“There is an urgent need to document the IK and establish a relationship between it and the BGN nutraceuticals.”

“One of my publications on BGN paved the way for international collaboration between the South African Association for Food Science & Technology (SAAFoST) and the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) in America.”

Her article “Should the BGN remain underutilized?” was published in the August 2015 issue of FST Magazine, which is published by SAAFoST and subsequently republished in Food Technology (USA) by IFT as “Utilizing BGN in Value-added Products” in 2016.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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