In a striking testament to the power of focused institutional strategy and academic innovation, the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) has ascended to the pinnacle of creative research among South Africa’s universities of technology, securing the top spot in its category and an impressive sixth position nationally among all 26 publicly funded universities. The achievement, confirmed in the latest evaluation released by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), marks a watershed moment for an institution that has long labored in the shadow of traditional research-intensive universities.
The DHET’s annual research output evaluation, which measures accredited publications, master’s and doctoral graduations, and research income, revealed that TUT has not only outperformed its peers in the university of technology sector but has also leapfrogged several established comprehensive and traditional universities to claim a top-tier national ranking. For a university that was formed just over two decades ago through the merger of three historically disparate institutions, the rise has been nothing short of meteoric.
“This is not merely a ranking; it is a declaration,” said Professor Tinyiko Maluleke, TUT’s Vice-Chancellor and Principal, addressing a gathering of faculty members and researchers at the university’s Pretoria campus. “It declares that universities of technology are not second-class citizens in the South African higher education landscape. It declares that creative research—research that solves problems, that innovates, that speaks to the needs of industry and society—is as rigorous and impactful as any other form of scholarship. And it declares that Tshwane University of Technology has arrived.”
Decoding the Rankings: What the Numbers Reveal
The DHET evaluation, which serves as the primary barometer for research performance across the country’s public higher education sector, assesses institutions across three core metrics: research publication units (accredited journal articles, books, and book chapters), research master’s and doctoral graduations, and research income generated from third-stream sources, including industry partnerships and grants from the National Research Foundation (NRF).
TUT’s ascent to sixth place nationally represents a dramatic trajectory of growth. Just a decade ago, the university languished in the lower quartile of the rankings, struggling to build a research culture in an institutional context that had historically prioritized teaching and technical training over knowledge production. The turnaround, according to university leadership, was neither accidental nor overnight.
Key drivers of the university’s research renaissance include:
1. A Strategic Focus on Applied and Creative Research:
Unlike traditional universities that often prize basic research, TUT deliberately positioned itself as a hub for applied research—work that directly addresses real-world challenges in engineering, information technology, the creative arts, health sciences, and the green economy. This focus has made TUT particularly attractive to industry partners and funding agencies looking for tangible outcomes rather than purely theoretical contributions.
2. Aggressive Doctoral and Postdoctoral Recruitment:
Under Maluleke’s leadership, TUT launched a targeted campaign to recruit and retain top doctoral candidates and postdoctoral fellows. The university now boasts one of the fastest-growing doctoral programs in the country, with particular strength in engineering, computer science, and the creative arts. The number of doctoral graduates has more than tripled since 2018.
3. Research Capacity Building and Mentorship:
Recognizing that research excellence requires a critical mass of established researchers, TUT implemented a comprehensive mentorship program pairing emerging academics with experienced supervisors. The university also established an internal research grant system that provides seed funding for early-career researchers to develop competitive proposals for external funding.
4. Strategic Industry and International Partnerships:
TUT has forged partnerships with major corporations, state-owned enterprises, and international universities. Collaborative research hubs in fields such as advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, and digital innovation have not only boosted research output but have also generated significant research income—a key metric in the DHET evaluation.
A New Dawn for Universities of Technology
The significance of TUT’s achievement extends far beyond the institution itself. For South Africa’s universities of technology—a sector that includes the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), the Durban University of Technology (DUT), the Central University of Technology (CUT), the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT), and the Vaal University of Technology (VUT)—the ranking represents a validation of the sector’s unique mission.
Universities of technology have historically struggled to gain recognition in a higher education system that has traditionally privileged the research outputs of comprehensive and traditional universities. The DHET evaluation has often reflected this hierarchy, with institutions like the University of Cape Town, the University of the Witwatersrand, and Stellenbosch University dominating the upper echelons.
TUT’s surge to sixth place—outranking several well-established comprehensive universities—signals a potential reordering of that hierarchy. It suggests that universities of technology, when strategically positioned and adequately resourced, can compete at the highest levels of research production.
Professor Ahmed Bawa, a higher education expert and former vice-chancellor of the Durban University of Technology, described TUT’s achievement as a “bellwether moment” for the sector.
“For years, there has been a debate about whether universities of technology can truly be research-intensive institutions while maintaining their core mission of producing technically skilled graduates,” Bawa said. “What TUT has demonstrated is that these missions are not contradictory—they are complementary. The most innovative research often emerges from spaces where theory meets practice, where the laboratory meets the factory floor, where the studio meets the community. TUT has shown that it is possible to do both, and to do both exceptionally well.”
The Creative Research Distinction
A notable feature of TUT’s rise has been its strength in what the university terms “creative research”—scholarship that encompasses the arts, design, architecture, and creative industries alongside more traditional STEM fields. The university’s Faculty of Arts and Design has emerged as a powerhouse of creative output, with researchers producing not only accredited journal articles but also creative works—exhibitions, performances, designs, and digital media—that are increasingly recognized as legitimate forms of knowledge production under DHET guidelines.
This emphasis on creative research has positioned TUT as a leader in fields that are often underrepresented in traditional research rankings. The university’s work in indigenous knowledge systems, African design aesthetics, and digital storytelling has garnered international attention and attracted funding from global cultural institutions.
Professor Nhlanhla Mkhize, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at TUT, noted that the recognition of creative research is particularly significant for an African institution seeking to decolonize knowledge production.
“Creative research allows us to center African perspectives, African aesthetics, and African ways of knowing in ways that traditional academic publishing often does not accommodate,” Mkhize said. “When our fashion designers, our visual artists, our filmmakers are recognized alongside our engineers and our scientists, we are saying something profound about what knowledge is and who gets to produce it.”
Challenges Ahead
Despite the accolades, TUT’s leadership is under no illusion that the work is complete. The university faces persistent challenges, including uneven research capacity across faculties, the need for continued investment in research infrastructure, and the ongoing struggle to attract and retain top research talent in a competitive global market.
The DHET evaluation also masks significant internal disparities. While some faculties—particularly engineering, information technology, and the creative arts—have achieved world-class research output, others continue to struggle with low publication rates and limited research income. Addressing these disparities will require sustained investment and targeted capacity-building initiatives.
Additionally, TUT’s rise has been accompanied by growing pains. The rapid expansion of doctoral programs has placed pressure on supervision capacity, and the university has had to invest heavily in research support infrastructure to ensure that quality keeps pace with quantity.
Professor Maluleke acknowledged these challenges but expressed confidence that the university’s momentum would continue.
“We are not celebrating a destination; we are celebrating a milestone on a much longer journey,” he said. “Our goal is not to be sixth in the country—our goal is to be among the best in the world. We want TUT to be recognized not just as South Africa’s leading university of technology, but as a global hub for innovation, creativity, and applied research. That is the vision. This ranking tells us we are on the right path.”
Implications for the Higher Education Sector
TUT’s success has implications that ripple across the South African higher education landscape. For the Department of Higher Education and Training, the ranking provides evidence that differentiated funding models—which allocate resources based on research output—can effectively incentivize research growth across the sector.
For other universities of technology, TUT’s achievement offers both a model to emulate and a challenge to meet. The question now is whether other institutions in the sector can replicate TUT’s success or whether TUT will pull away from its peers, creating a new tier of research-intensive universities of technology.
For traditional universities, TUT’s rise serves as a reminder that the hierarchy of South African higher education is not static. With strategic investment and institutional focus, institutions outside the traditional research elite can compete at the highest levels.
Looking Forward
As TUT’s faculty and researchers absorb the news of the ranking, attention is already turning to the next horizon. The university has announced plans to expand its research footprint through new doctoral hubs, increased international collaboration, and a renewed focus on commercialization of research outputs.
A new research complex, currently under construction at the Pretoria campus, will house state-of-the-art laboratories, creative studios, and collaborative spaces designed to foster interdisciplinary research. The university is also in advanced discussions with several international universities to establish joint doctoral programs and research exchange agreements.
For the thousands of students who walk TUT’s campuses each day, the ranking sends a message about the institution they have chosen. In lecture halls, laboratories, and studios across the university’s multiple campuses, there is a palpable sense of pride—and a recognition that they are part of something bigger than themselves.
“When I started my PhD here three years ago, people asked me why I didn’t go to one of the ‘big’ universities,” said Nomfundo Dlamini, a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering whose research focuses on sustainable water treatment technologies. “I told them then that TUT was where the real work was happening. This ranking proves it. We are not just keeping up—we are leading. And we are only getting started.”
For the Tshwane University of Technology, the journey from merger to top-tier research institution has been long, often difficult, and occasionally doubted. But with the latest DHET evaluation, the university has delivered its answer: creative research, applied knowledge, and institutional vision are a formula for excellence. And in the landscape of South African higher education, TUT has firmly staked its claim to a place among the best.
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