DIVISION OF RESEARCH AND INTERNATIONALISATION

DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT & INNOVATION

03 April 2024

TO: ALL INTERESTED PERSONS

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS ADVERTISEMENT: CALL FOR

APPLICATIONS

The Directorate of Research Development and Innovation, within the Division of Research and
Internationalization, is pleased to announce the availability of a limited number of Postdoctoral
Research Fellowship opportunities for 2024. These fellowships will be hosted across seven
faculties of the University. The Directorate hereby invite applications from eligible individuals
who have obtained a doctoral degree within the last five years. The overall goal of the
Fellowship is to enhance the research and innovation culture at the University by allowing
recent doctoral degree holders to contribute to knowledge production in different fields of
expertise. The Fellowship will be awarded on a competitive basis, taking into account the
applicant's research potential. Postdoctoral Research Fellows are sought in the following
faculties:

A) FACULTY OF ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL SCIENCES (MTHATHA CAMPUS)

The following are areas in which Postdoctoral Research Fellows are needed:

1. Finance, Financial Reporting, Financial Stability and Green Finance

2. Environmental and resource economics, and macroeconomics
3. Development Economics
4. ICT use in SMEs and Sustainable Marketing focusing on responsible production and
consumption
5. Applied Management Business Modelling and Analysis Entrepreneurship Forensic and
Neuromarketing
6. Business Management and Entrepreneurship
7. Quantitative and Qualitative Techniques in Business Management
 B) FACULTY OF EDUCATION (QUEENSTOWN CAMPUS)
The following are areas in which Postdoctoral Research Fellows are needed:

1. Mathematics Education: General Mathematics, geometry and measurement teaching

2. Language Education focusing on primary school
3. Science Education
4. Education Management and Leadership: Post-colonial discourse in the management of
Higher Education
5. Educational Psychology: Psycho-social Issues and Teacher Education

C) FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY (BUFFALO CITY CAMPUS)
The following are areas in which Postdoctoral Research Fellows are needed:

1. Engineering Materials and Processing

2. Sustainable Building Materials and Smart Manufacturing
3. ICT for Sustainable Development
4. Water Resources and Environmental Management
5. Engineering Materials and Processing: Water Resources and Environmental
Management
6. Smart Cities and Industry 4.0
7. Building Performance Research
8. Circular Economy in the Built Environment
9. Health and Safety in the Construction Industry
10. Infrastructure Development

D) FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SCIENCES

(BUTTERWORTH CAMPUS)
The following are areas in which Postdoctoral Research Fellows are needed:

1. Small & Medium Tourism Enterprises, Entrepreneurship Education, Leadership and

Strategic Management, Financial Management.
2. Entrepreneurship, Virtualisation, Integration of computers in an organization, Job
satisfaction and leadership, Strategy and Operations Management, Business
Administration
3. Governance and Administration, Operations Management, Operations Management,
and Management Sciences
4. Marketing, Retail, Public Relations.
5. Public Financial Management, Public Strategic Planning, Cooperative Government and
Organizational Development.
6. Public Policy, Public Finance & Budgeting, Local Government, Administration, Public
Sector Leadership and Governance, E-Government and Intergovernmental Relations
and Research Methods.
7. Community & Rural Tourism, Small & Medium Tourism Enterprises and Tourism &
entrepreneurship.
8. Community Tourism, Sustainable Development, Events Tourism, Project
Management.
E). FACULTY OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH SCIENCES (MTHATHA CAMPUS)
The following are areas in which Postdoctoral Research Fellows are needed:

1. Basic Sciences – Biochemistry: Genomics, Proteomics, and Metabolomics.

2. Basic Sciences – Physiology: Toxicity and Efficacy of Medicinal Plants on Communicable
and Non-communicable Diseases.
3. Laboratory Medicine and Pathology: Drug-resistant Tuberculosis, Antimicrobial
Resistance, and HIV-associated Comorbidities and Complications.
4. Clinical Medicine – Obstetrics & Gynaecology: Thyroid function & Iodine deficiency in
Pregnancy, HPV & Cervical Cancer.
5. Nursing Sciences: Enteral Nutrition in Critically Ill Patients; Infection Prevention &
Control in ICU; Nursing Education and Management.
6. Family Medicine & Rural Health: Primary Health Care and Innovation.
7. Public Health: Health Systems, Global Health, and Clinical Governance.
8. Public Health: Health Promotion, Health Behaviour, and Social Change.

F) FACULTY OF LAW, HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES (MTHATHA CAMPUS)

The following are areas in which Postdoctoral Research Fellows are needed:
1. Gender-based violence, with a focus on child sexual abuse
2. Identity politics (race, class, gender and ethnicity) in Southern African literary and
cultural studies
3. Positive psychology (Well Being) and masculinities
4. Globalisation, Development and Human Rights
5. African literary and/or language studies (IsiXhosa or Sesotho)
6. Legal Philosophy or Public International Law

G) FACULTY OF NATURAL SCIENCES (MTHATHA CAMPUS)

The following are areas in which Postdoctoral Research Fellows are needed:
1. Environmental Chemistry
2. Aquaculture
3. Plant Science-Based Cardiovascular Research
4. Aquaculture
5. Statistical Modelling
6. Entomology
7. Sustainable Environment, Health and Food Systems (Plant/Animal/Land/GIS)
8. Marine Biology
9. Renewable Energy Technology-Physical Chemistry
10. Physical Chemistry (Electrochemistry and computational)
11. Physics (atmospheric physics, materials).

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW

• Publishing quality articles that will result in at least three (3) research output units
per year accruing to Walter Sisulu University. Note that the three units per year
must be the total credited to the Fellow's name and not the total shared by the fellow
and his/her co-authors.

DURATION AND VALUE OF THE FELLOWSHIP

• The fellowship is awarded for a period of two years.
• The value of the fellowship is R350 000.00 per annum (tax-exempt)
ELIGIBILITY

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• A doctoral degree obtained in 2019 or later
• Excellent written and oral communication
• High-level computer skills
• Evidence of published research output, or potential to produce high-quality research
that can be published in accredited dissemination channels.

TO APPLY: Please send the applications to Ms Nomafu Sigodi at research@wsu.ac.za by no

later than 17h00, 19 April 2024. The application should include the following:

• Motivation letter, outlining your relevant expertise and experience;

• Full CV listing research publications, conference papers, and other scholarly outputs;
• Certified copies of full academic transcript and doctoral degree certificate;
• Certified copy of ID document or copy of international passport (in the case of
international applicants); and
• Contact details of two academic referees.

Please note the following:

• Priority will be given to South African citizens who meet the above requirements

• Disclaimer: Not all the advertised opportunities may be filled within a given
recruitment window. Some of the opportunities may not be filled at all due to funding
constraints and the non-availability of academic mentors. Furthermore, the University
reserves the right not to make any appointments at all.