UCT Post-graduate studies - Flipbook - Page 50
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BRIGHT YOUNG
POSTGRAD
RESEARCHERS
Almost 30 of the exceptional young people featured on the 2017 Mail & Guardian
200 Young South Africans list are UCT students, alumni and staff members.
Here are a few of their stories about what shaped their research journeys.
XICHAVO ALECIA NDLOVU
Political studies lecturer, UCT
Just 28, Alecia Ndlovu lectures political studies
at UCT while studying a PhD in international
relations, focusing on the effects of political
institutions and party systems on the inclusiveness
and sustainability of development in resourcerich African countries, specifically Ghana,
Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia.
Yet, having come from an underresourced
school, Alecia Ndlovu was not the strongest
student during her undergraduate years.
Determination, hard work and a passion
for learning changed that, and today she
is considered the up-and-coming academic
on comparative and international political
economics in South Africa.
Ndlovu attributes much of her success
to good mentorship.
“A key role in
cultivating curious minds
is to challenge selfdoubt and encourage
boldness in questioning
the status quo.”
– XICHAVO ALECIA NDLOVU
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DR EUGENE LEE DAVIDS
Postdoctoral research
fellow, UCT
Dr Eugene Lee Davids is a
postdoctoral research fellow at
UCT’s Adolescent Health Research
Unit, Division of Child & Adolescent
Psychiatry. The 27-year-old has
achieved significant progress in his
career to date, having been awarded
many prestigious awards and
fellowships.
Davids grew up in Cape Town, and
chose to study psychology based on