EPIDASA > Participating Universities

Participating Universities

The research project on Improving the effectiveness of public information documents on HIV/AIDS in South Africa is part of SANPAD. The project is a joint effort of researchers from three South African and three Dutch universities (The Universities of South Africa, Pretoria and Stellenbosch and the Universities of Tilburg, Nijmegen and Twente).

It will also form part of some of the research projects to be carried out by exchange students from the Netherlands during the next three years. As currently planned, the project will run from January 2003 to January 2006, with a follow-up period for PhD students.

Furthermore, this project will lay a foundation for further collaboration between the South African and Dutch universities involved. Collaboration on this project was started as early as January 2001, itself being a follow-up of the collaboration between the South African and Dutch universities in developing Document Design as a full-fledged scientific discipline in South Africa.

This collaboration will continue in the future, especially by way of exchange students as agreements of co-operation between all the participating South African universities (University of South Africa, University of Pretoria and the University of Stellenbosch) and the Dutch universities (Twente, Tilburg and Nijmegen) have already been signed .

The major output of the project will be 4 PhD’s, a number of scientific articles and a book in which the final results of the research projects will be published.

The following activities are also planned:

A workshop with all the participants in the project will be held at the end of 2003.
A conference will be held at the end of 2004 to which all major role players in South Africa who are involved in HIV/AIDS prevention programmes will be invited.
Copies of all articles and book contributions will be made available for public use as soon as they have been produced.
As a follow-up to the project, the research material generated by the project will be used as a basis for a to be proposed certificate course in HIV/AIDS health communication to be offered via distance education by the University of South Africa.