More than 20 postgraduate students from the Durban University of Technology (DUT), University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), National University of Lesotho (NUL) and Midlands State University of Zimbabwe (MSU) recently took part in the first annual DUT Faculty of Arts and Design Postgraduate Conference recently held in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

“This conference is not about demonstrating your presentation skills but about the ability to communicate clearly to an audience of your research interest your research process, findings and implications of your findings,” said Professor Labby Ramrathan, Associate Professor at UKZN’s School of Education while speaking at the two-day conference, adding that one of the concerns of postgraduate research is that only a small number of research papers are published in accredited journals or books. “Much of the research emanated from postgraduate studies ends up as dissertations filed in library shelves,” he said.  

In his presentation titled: Postgraduate Education: what is it and what does it entail?, Prof Ramrathan spoke about the insight into the terrain of postgraduate education in South Africa, the expectations of postgraduate studies and his experience as a research supervisor.

Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design at DUT, Dr René Smith said the Faculty wants to grow its postgraduate offering. “We have a growing cohort of experienced supervisors and support for staff and students. We are committed to attracting students not only from South Africa, but from SADC and abroad as well,” said Dr Smith.  

Pictured: Dr René Smith Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design at DUT.