Associate Professor Karabo Shale, from the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences has been ranked by the National Research Foundation (NRF) as a C3 rated researcher. NRF describes a C3 rating as an “established researchers with a sustained recent record of productivity in the field who are recognised by their peers as having produced a body of quality work, the core of which has coherence and attests to ongoing engagement with the field and demonstrated the ability to conceptualise problems and apply research methods to investigating them.” 

Apart from the C3 rating, Prof. Shale has taken over the reigns as acting Head of Department for Life Sciences and also serves as an executive member of the Unit for Applied Food Safety Technology (UAFSB). “Prof. Shale has engaged with all aspects of the research value chain such as postgraduate supervision, grants applications, publications and the development of research networks and partnerships. The importance of these activities support the understanding that research is a complex activity straddling many aspects of the social fabric.” said Prof. Laetus Lategan, CUT’s Dean of Research and Innovation. But the accolades do not stop there; Prof. Shale has also received a career award from Medical Research Council (MRC) for 2013/2014. “This award is given to only four candidates in the country. This indicates the amazing quality work done by UAFSB in the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences” said he. “This award is meant to prepare researchers that will address health research priorities in the country”. Later in the edition we will also report on the HELM LEAD Fellowship programme for which Prof. Shale has been nominated. Prof. Shale believes that “better is not good enough; the best is yet to come, for 2013 is the year of dreams” quoting T.B. Joshua.