Congratulations to University of Johannesburg’s Applied Chemistry Professor, Catherine Ngila, who was one of Africa’s top five female scientists to be awarded $20,000 (Sh2 million) each for excelling in science research in the year 2016, by the African Union (AU) Kwame N’krumah Regional Awards in partnership with the European Union and Third World Academy of Science.
Prof Ngila attended the prestigious ceremony at the AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa on 24 January 2017 just months after she was named a South African Department of Science and Technology Distinguished Woman Researcher under the Physical and Engineering Sciences category on 11 August 2016.
Prof Ngila said she is humbled by this recognition and she attributes this excellent performance to the opportunities accorded to her by UJ, its Faculty of Science, the Department of Applied Chemistry and Research Office. She would not have gone this far if it were not for her postgraduate students who are the pillar of research and development in any university, she added. “I am also grateful to the Department of Applied Chemistry staff for all the support they have given me over the years since joining UJ in April 2011.
Prof Ngila has a research group of over 30 postgraduates and postdoctoral fellows co-supervised by other colleagues in the Department.
As she bids farewell to UJ, she looks back on the achievements she has made since joining the institution. She says joining UJ was the best decision she ever made in her academic professional career and she looks forward to continued future collaboration with colleagues for various research projects and postgraduate co-supervision.