HSRC Seminars

Presenters:  Prof Haroon Bhorat and Ms Natasha Mayet, University of Cape Town

The recently published Student Retention and Graduate Destination: Higher Education and Labour Market Access and Success (HSRC Press, 2009) arises out of an erstwhile HRD (now ESSD) research programme study that addressed three key issues in higher education (HE): why students drop out of HE; what leads students to persist in HE to graduation; and what makes for a successful transition to the labour market.

The first commercial mobile call was placed on October 13, 1983. What has started as a simple voice call has transformed into a cultural phenomena of instant communication and broader and equal access to the world at our fingertips. From the ‘brick' phone of the '80s to today's 3G broadband world, mobile communications has evolved from mere voice communication to a new era of data transmission and democratising communications that are transforming the life, commerce and culture of societies all the way.

Dr Pillay holds a PhD in geography from the University of Minnesota, and an MA in geography (cum laude) from the University of Natal. Prior to heading CSD, Dr Pillay was executive head of the HSRC's Surveys, Analyses, Mapping and Modeling (SAMM), and Urban, Rural and Economic Development (URED), research programmes. Dr Pillay has been in executive management for over ten-years.

You are cordially invited to attend this seminar in the 2010 HSRC Seminar Series.

The notion of "measuring the progress of nations" posited by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has received recent attention from a commission led by notable economist Dr Joseph Stiglitz. The recommendations are well-meaning but trite, until some practical attempts to apply them are considered.

The role of energy sources in the choice of industrial development pathways has not been widely acknowledged outside the energy literature. Yet in fact, energy choices are coming to be viewed as critical.

Newcastle University, UK, started collaborating in Africa in the 1980s on research into the epidemiology, clinical and public health impact, and prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases and their complications.