TUT earns seven nominations for SA’s Science Oscars

Five TUT academics and researchers have been nominated for seven awards in this year’s prestigious National Science and Technology Forum-South32 (NSTF-South32) Awards scheduled for 16 July 2026.

Prof Kurien is nominated for the Science for Diplomacy Award and the Innovation Award: Corporate Organisation. Dubbed the “Science Oscars” of South Africa, the NSTF-South32 Awards recognise outstanding contributions to science, engineering, technology and innovation by individuals, teams and organisations.

Full Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Anish Kurien, and Associate Professor in the Department of Information Technology, Topside Mathonsi, have each been nominated for two awards in different categories.

Prof Kurien, a National Research Foundation (NRF)-rated researcher and the Director of the French South African Institute of Technology (F’SATI), received the nod for the Science for Diplomacy Award and the Innovation Award: Corporate Organisation. While Prof Mathonsi, who is also the Head of Department of Information Technology, has been selected for the Management Award and the TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Emerging Researcher. Also nominated for the TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Emerging Researcher is Dr Nangamso Nyangiwe, a Lecturer in the Department of Physics in the Faculty of Science.  

TUT’s highest-ranked NRF-rated researcher and author of more than 300 articles in peer-reviewed publications, Prof Alvaro Viljoen, is up for the Lifetime Achievement Award. Viljoen, whose research expertise is in botanical sciences, is also the Department of Science, Technology-National Research Foundation (DSTI-NRF) Chair in Phytomedicine under the auspices of the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI). Receiving the nod for the Communication Award is Prof Raymond Jansen, a Full Professor in the Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences in the Faculty of Science.

Now in its 28^th year, the winners of the 2025-2026 NSTF-South32 Awards will be announced at simultaneous events in Cape Town and Johannesburg, under the theme “Healthy Ageing”, in line with the United Nations’ proclamation of 2021-2030 as the Decade of Healthy Ageing.

Prof Mathonsi received the nod for the Management Award and the TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Emerging Researcher. Dr Nangamso Nyangiwe is selected for the TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Emerging Researcher.

Prof Alvaro Viljoen is up for the Lifetime Award. Prof Raymond Jansen is vying for the Communication Award.