Prof Pieter Fourie is working on theorising Health Diplomacy for South Africa and other emerging states. He is also interested in the evolution of Health as a thematic area within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in how Gender finds application in the new multilateral Global Health Governance. In future he intends to do work on the locus of Accountability in the global as well as domestic governance and determination of health outcomes -- specifically in the context of shifting and contested sovereignties.

Prof Amanda Gouws has been selected as a SARChI Chair in Gender Politics as from 1 January 2016.  In this new capacity she will be driving research projects and supervise post-graduate students.  She is currently doing research on the women’s movement in South Africa and its development since 1994.  She is also working on a project on gender and multi-culturalism.  Her students will be doing research on women’s representation in government, women’s mobilisation and a gender focus on policy issues.

Dr Nicola de Jager is a research member of the Transformation Research Unit (TRU). Her research interest include Religion and politics, in particular the influence of Protestantism on democratic development and governance; comparative Southern African politics – democracy, dominant party systems and liberation movements; South African politics.

Dr Derica Lambrechts is currently researching actors related to the illicit abalone industry and the impact of this trade on state legitimacy. She is also starting with a comparative study of Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro, focusing on urban governance and non-state actors.

Prof Janis van der Westhuizen's current research interests include the comparative political economcy of Brazil, Malaysia and South Africa, as well as the interplay between identity and foreign policy.

Prof Scarlett Cornelissen's current research projects include International Relations Theory and Africa; New Regionalisms; TICAD IV and its promises for Japan-Africa relations; Mega-projects and urban revanchism in the South and North.

Mr Gerrie Swart is a part of the South African research team for the Leaders, Elites and Coalitions Research Project, funded by The World Bank.

Dr Ubanesia Adams-Jack's  main research interest is in policy analysis broadly, and more specifically policy implementation. She explores the implementation of gender policy and gender equality promotion in South Africa.

Dr Collette Schulz-Herzenberg currently conducts research in the areas of political behaviour, elections, party systems and democratisation, with a particular focus on quantitative research methods. She also works collaboratively with various scholars in South Africa and globally to implement and analyse numerous nationally representative post election surveys and is part of a global group of renowned scholars that implement the Comparative National Elections Project (CNEP) post election surveys in over 30 countries, including South Africa.