Job Opportunities at University of the Witwatersrand

Minimum Requirements

• A Master’s degree in physiology or a related biomedical science discipline.
• At least one year of teaching experience at tertiary level.
• Evidence of experience in the implementation of digital tools in teaching and learning.
• Demonstrated research ability, as evidenced by at least two peer-reviewed publications, and presentations at conferences.
• Evidence of postgraduate student supervision
• Evidence of academic citizenship such as involvement in departmental or faculty committees or societal engagement.

Key Responsibilities

• Teaching physiology at the undergraduate level to basic medical science and health science students.
• Drive digitisation initiatives in the Department through the implementation of novel teaching and learning technologies.
• Contributing to postgraduate teaching and training.
• Participating in curriculum development, innovation, and teaching enhancement initiatives.
• Engaging actively in research within the field of physiology or related disciplines.
• Supervising and/or co-supervising postgraduate students.
• Publishing research findings in accredited peer-reviewed journals.
• Undertaking relevant academic and administrative responsibilities within the Department.
• Obtaining research funding to support research activities.

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The successful applicant will:

Report directly to the Academic Head Division of Family Medicine

• Serve as a key member of a team of clinical and academic trainers and coordinators in the Academic Divisions of the DFMPC responsible for a coordinated inter-professional training, focused on supporting clinical service platforms for improved care.
• Coordinates designated Family Medicine rotation (as directed by the Academic Head of Division) within the flagship of decentralised medical training in the Graduate Entry Medical Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand School of Clinical Medicine (SOCM).
• Work closely with the respective District Academic Heads, site Family physicians, private General practitioners and other joint academic appointees of Wits/Department of Health (Family Medicine) based within all the Wits Academic Health Training Complexes.

The incumbent will:

• Teach and assess across all the under- and post-graduate training programs in the DFMPC.
• Be supported by an Administrative Assistant and Family physicians, and coordinate the training blocks during the academic year, including student allocation, logbook development and administration, collation of marks and addressing students concerns and feedback.
• Provide ongoing academic and clinical support to students in the training programs, including identification and remediation of academically vulnerable students and mentoring.
• Give inputs and actively participate in the development and revision of relevant training curricula within the DFMPC.
• Coordinate and participate in students’ assessments and ensure that marks are ready for timeous  submission to Board of Examiners
• Work with the Finance Administrator in the DFMPC to develop and administer budgets for the training program(s).
• Visit training sites in all the Academic Health Complexes including extended platforms.
• Liaise with external examiners
• Participate in the exam and curriculum committees for Family Medicine Programmes.
• Participate in and liaise regularly with relevant Committees in the DFMPC and SOCM
• Actively engage in scholarly research endeavours relevant to family medicine and primary care.
• Engage in personal and professional development, supported by the DFMPC team.
• Engage in quarterly performance reviews and management with the Academic Head of Division of Family medicine.
• Perform other academic and research duties as may be delegated by the Academic Head of Division.

Requirements:

• MBBCH or equivalent basic medical degree
• MMED (Family medicine)/ FCFP(SA) or equivalent
• Current registration as a Medical practitioner and specialist Family physician with the Health Professions Council of SA

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Key responsibilities include the following:  

• Teaching and assisting microscopy users, and offer technical training; 
• Consultancy within the microscopy and microanalysis unit;
•  Initiate own research projects

Minimum requirements:

• PhD degree in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Medical Sciences, Engineering, or equivalent;
• Minimum 2 years in microscopy;
• Good understanding of the basic working principles of imaging techniques and microscopy (electron optical, light optical, surface probes);
• Ability to communicate and teach at all levels of technical complexity, with both novice and advanced microscopists;
• Ability to learn and master new techniques or skills e.g. new microscopes and operational software that are introduced over time;
• Ability to conduct their own research projects, including applying for funding and writing scientific proposals.

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Requirements to apply for this position:

• MBChB or master’s degree in the relevant field
• Registration with the Health Professions Council of SA
• Teaching and research experience in a Surgical Speciality
• Minimum 4 years post community service (or equivalent) clinical experience in a Surgical Department
• Sound knowledge and experience of South African Health Services and Surgery
• Understanding of Adult Education and Examination Practices
• Interest in Skill training and Teaching Involvement
• Recommended skills/ qualifications or experience that would be an advantage in your application
• Specialisation in Surgery or equivalent experience
• Postgraduate qualifications in medical/health professions education
• Strong interest in technology-enabled learning
• Strong collaboration skills
• Ability to network
• Experience in drafting of in-person and online training materials
• Willingness to administrate and set relevant questions

Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of the successful applicant will be:

• Training of the Wits undergraduate medical students and postgraduates in clinical, procedural and communication-related competence, with a focus on bedside teaching, in and out-patient consultation and small group classroom tutorials
• Liaison with joint appointees and other trainers to partner in the training of students on the management of surgical patients in primary and emergency first-contact care settings
• Monitoring the resources and training at the relevant sites on behalf of Wits SOCM, with early identification of challenges.
• Liaison with academic and clinical leadership in Surgery, both centrally and on the extended clinical training platform
• Involvement in assessment processes of students' clinical, procedural and communication-related competence.
• Identification of vulnerable students and facilitation of psychosocial support.
• Involvement in research and publication
• Oversight of mentoring programs for students.

Additional Duties

• Liaison with other clinical educators to support their training of students in partnership with site-based clinicians
• Engagement with academic/clinical leadership at facilities on the extended clinical training platform, who are responsible for the governance of staff and students within their respective settings. 
• Involvement in activities of the FHS clinical skills unit and clinical simulation unit to align the quality of learning centrally and peripherally
• Liaison with the university IT-project management team on matters concerning the IT-related environment (connectivity, data, coverage, devices) on the extended clinical training platform on behalf of Surgery and Wits SOCM, with early identification of challenges.

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• The successful candidate will undertake detailed geological mapping in selected areas of the eastern Bushveld Complex that are critical for understanding the emplacement mechanism of the complex, its crystallization and solidification history, and particularly the processes responsible for the formation of its platinum-group element and chromite reefs.
• The work will involve systematic field mapping, careful documentation of stratigraphic relationships, and integration of field observations with existing geological and mining data. The project will focus on key exposures that provide important constraints on the origin and development of the Bushveld layered sequence and its mineralized horizons.

Brief Description

• This position is particularly suitable for a geologist with strong field mapping experience and a research interest in layered intrusions, structural geology, and/or magmatic ore deposits. This position may be particularly attractive to early-career geologists seeking intensive field experience in one of the world’s most important layered intrusions.
• A valid driving license (Code B or greater) is essential, and the candidate must be able to work independently in the field under typical field conditions.
• The position is fully funded for 5.5 months and will be based at the University of the Witwatersrand, with substantial fieldwork in the Eastern Bushveld Complex.

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Position A: Geoscience Associate Researcher (Bushveld Knowledge Curation & Geological QA)

• Supervisor: Prof. Rais Latypov
• Primary focus: Geological validation, controlled terminology/stratigraphic context, geochemical dataset curation, and quality assurance of extracted knowledge.

Position B: Computational Associate Researcher (OCR, Corpus Engineering, Data Pipelines, RAG Workflow and LLM for knowledge extraction)

• Supervisor: Prof. Glen T. Nwaila
• Primary focus: Corpus ingestion, OCR/text normalization, metadata standards, indexing/retrieval workflow, benchmarking, and reproducible pipeline implementation and front-end retrieval API.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

Shared responsibilities (both positions):

• Contribute to building and maintaining the Bushveld corpus (peer¿reviewed papers, theses, technical reports, maps, datasets) with clear provenance.
• Implement quality¿control routines ensuring accuracy, consistency, and citation fidelity.
• Participate in regular review meetings and staged deliverables during the 12¿month project.

Position A: Geoscience AR (Bushveld curation & geological QA):

• Curate and validate geological content (stratigraphic units, lithologies, marker horizons, terminology).
• Curate and structure geochemical datasets including sample metadata and stratigraphic attribution.
• Develop and maintain a controlled vocabulary (“Bushveld ontology”).
• Evaluate RAG outputs and verify that statements are supported by retrieved sources. 

Position B: Computational AR (corpus engineering, pipelines & RAG workflow):

• Design document processing workflows including OCR, text normalization, segmentation, and context preservation.
• Build and maintain metadata standards and reference¿management structures.
• Implement hybrid retrieval systems (keyword + vector search) with source/page traceability.
• Establish benchmarking and QA protocols for retrieval accuracy.
• Maintain modular and reproducible codebase using version control.
• LLM for language processing and knowledge graphs

Required Qualifications

Position A: Geoscience AR

• Degree in Geoscience/Geology (BSc Honours, MSc, or PhD in progress/completed).
• Training or interest in igneous petrology, layered intrusions, or economic geology.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to work independently.

 Position B: Computational AR

• Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, GeoData Science, Information Science, Geoinformatics/GIS, or related field.
• Ability in scientific data management and coding (Python).
• Knowledge of open-source LLMs such as Ollama.
• Strong organizational and reproducible workflow habits.

Desirable Skills

Position A: Geoscience AR

• Familiarity with the Bushveld Igneous Complex.
• Experience working with geochemical datasets and data validation.
• Reference management experience (Zotero, EndNote, etc.). 

Position B: Computational AR

• Experience with OCR workflows and metadata schema design.
• Familiarity with SQL/databases, Git, semantic search or RAG systems.
• Interest in geoscience problems and willingness to learn Bushveld terminology.

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Requirements for Associate Professor level:

• PhD in information systems (IS), computer science (CS), or information technology (IT).
• Proven, up-to-date cybersecurity expertise maintained through continuous professional development, and industry practice.
• Solid evidence of a substantial body of recent research output in high-impact publications, including cybersecurity, or cybersecurity related key IS areas.
• Evidence of successfully graduating Masters students and preferably at least one PhD student.
• Demonstrable experience in curriculum development and course administration, together with substantial teaching experience, at postgraduate and undergraduate levels.
• Experience leading the implementation and or using educational technologies, including online delivery platforms.  
• Evidence of academic citizenship such as leadership and non-remunerated service within the cybersecurity and IS disciplines. This includes active engagement with academic, professional, or governmental bodies; governance roles in professional societies; and sustained contributions to the discipline through editorial work, refereeing, and research evaluation.
• A track record of productive academic administration, academic leadership, staff management and mentoring.

Additional requirements for appointment at Professor level:

 In addition to the requirements at Associate Professor level, the following:

• The candidate must possess a sustained high national or an international reputation as an authority in the field of cybersecurity.
• Evidence of successfully graduating Masters students and PhD students.
• A proven track record of successfully attracting research funding.
• Evidence of authoritative research impact and scholarly standing, which could be but is not limited to a National Research Foundation (NRF) rating or equivalent benchmark.
• Demonstrable evidence of intellectual leadership within the discipline, and the broader academic community.
• A distinguished contribution and standing in relevant professional endeavours or cybersecurity-related industry bodies.
• Evidence of high-level management and leadership skills, supported by excellent interpersonal skills necessary for leading complex academic units.

Expectations of the successful applicant:

• To teach and lead the Cybersecurity MCom programme and teach on broader IS modules.
• Actively contribute to the Division’s cybersecurity research.
• Design and delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate modules, especially in cybersecurity and IS core areas.
• Supervise research students, with an emphasis on cybersecurity aligned topics.
• Academic citizenship, including administrative roles and mentorship within the Division. An NRF rating (or equivalent), or the capability of obtaining one within three to five years.
• At the level of Professor, development of a cybersecurity research area, including the writing of research grant applications and attraction of research funds external to the university.