The last few months have seen a number of researchers from TRADE honoured with awards in recognition of their contribution to the research profession as well as their ability to bring often poorly-understood topics to the attention of local and international audiences. 

On 21 July 2016, at the TRADE-WTO awards function, Dr Carike Claassen received the award for the best PhD thesis, titled ‘The state of decoupling before and during the Great Recession’; Ms Danielle Le Clus-Rossouw, Prof Wilma Viviers and Prof Elsabe Loots jointly received the award for the best research paper, titled ‘Is there a link between BRIC foreign direct investment and SADC export performance?’; and Ms Roxanne Snyman received the award for the most promising Honours student in International Trade during 2015. These annual awards are designed to recognise quality research outputs that address some of the most talked-about topics in WTO circles. 

On 11 August 2016, Prof Marianne Matthee was named Second Runner-Up in the Distinguished Young Women Researcher category (Humanities and Social Sciences division) of the Department of Science and Technology’s SA Women in Science Awards. Prof Matthee’s particular research focus is export opportunities and dynamics at the firm level, an area that has attracted relatively little research yet has important policy implications. 

On 21 October 2016, at the Agricultural Writers SA awards ceremony, Prof Flippie Cloete (who has since left TRADE) received the ‘Agriculturist of the Year’ award for North West Province. This was in recognition of the significant contribution he has made to South Africa’s game industry in the form of economic consultancy regarding game management in the country. Prof Cloete is also a member of Game Industry South Africa’s Presidential Advice Committee. 

On 28 October 2016, at the North-West University Excellence in Research Awards ceremony, Prof Wilma Viviers received the individual award for international recognition as well as a joint award for international success together with Prof Ludo Cuyvers in acknowledgement of their pioneering work on the TRADE Decision Support Model (TRADE-DSM™). One of TRADE’s flagship services that has been developed over a 10-year period, the TRADE-DSM™ streamlines the process of export market selection by pinpointing specific product-market combinations with the best chances of export success, using a high-volume information filtering methodology.

Archive newsletters

Issue #3/2017

Issue #2/2016

Issue #1/2015