POSTGRADUATE WELCOME AND ORIENTATION 5 – 7 February 2025
WELCOME CEREMONY (All Postgraduate Students) Wednesday, 5 February 2025
08:00– 09:30
Registration & Arrival Please be seated in the Great Hall by 09h45
10:00 – 10:15
Opening Address Mr Jerome September Programme Director & Dean of Students Affairs
10:15 – 10:30
Address by the Postgraduate Association (PGA) Mr Silas Seabi, Chairperson
10:30 – 10:45
Keynote Address Prof. Lynn Morris, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation
10:45 – 11:00
Procession leaves the stage Powering next-generation knowledge from the Global South This is Wits! (A video presentation)
11:00 – 11.45
Postgraduate Research and Development Office Prof. Brett Bowman, Programme Director & Head PGRDO Graduate Online, Learning and Development (GOLD) Prof. Jude Igumbor, Academic Programme Director GOLD (GOLD Video presentation) Wits Doctoral Academy (WDA) Prof. Jill Bradbury, Academic Programme Director, Wits Doctoral Academy (WDA)
11:45 – 12:45
Panel Discussion: In the age of AI will humans still be needed to generate new knowledge? Introducing the Wits Machine Intelligence and Neural Development Institute (MIND) Institute (Video presentations) Chair: Prof. Emmanuel Ojo, Deputy Head of School, Wits School of Education Dr Oluwarotimi Randle, HoD Digital Arts
Great Hall (in person only)