Research at the University of Fort Hare

The University of Fort Hare (UFH) is committed to the promotion of research as a core university activity and to the building of research capacity. Its research strategy recognizes the need for research to address local, regional and national needs. It seeks ways to engage in a critical dialogue with partners to build research in areas which complement the University’s historical niche as an African university whilst ensuring internationally recognized excellence. The University is supported by several national and international funders that offer competitive research grants to universities. The Department of Research and Innovation (DRI) is responsible for strengthening research and innovation capacity at UFH. To ensure that research conducted at UFH has societal impact, UFH fosters the dissemination and application of research findings. Through DRI, the university has put in place an Intellectual Property and Innovation Office that identifies, protects and eventually commercialises intellectual property emanating from research conducted at UFH. To provide a platform on which academic researchers, postdoctoral research fellows, students and other UFH-affiliated researchers conduct research that is responsive to some needs of communities, UFH established various research entities that are aligned with UFH Strategic Plan 2022-2026. The research entities include the following:

Research Niche Areas

(i) Renewable Energy

(ii) Sustainable agriculture, water usage and impact of climate change

(iii) Infectious Diseases and Medicinal Plants

(iv) Research in Inclusion and Township Economies (RITE)

Research Institutes

(i) Fort Hare Institute for Technology (Faculty of Science and Agriculture)

(ii) Fort Hare Institute for Social and Economic Research (Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities)

Research centres

(i) SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre (Faculty of Science and Agriculture)

(ii) Centre for Global Change (Faculty of Science and Agriculture)

(iii) Centre for Leadership Ethics in Africa (Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities)

(iv) Fort Hare -Centre for Entrepreneurship and Rapid Incubator (Faculty of Management and Commerce)

Research Chairs

(i) AngloGold Ashanti Research Chair in Dairy Science and Technology

(ii) SARChI Chair in Social Change

(iii) SARChI Chair in Sexualities, Genders and Queer Studies

(iv) UNESCO Oliver Tambo Chair of Human Rights