RONÉL KOCH
PROFESSIONAL AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS
The section below summarises the awards and distinctions I have received during my time at UWC.
I was accepted for the Developing the Scholar Programme (2024-2026) for Early Career Researchers under the auspices of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation. This programme is funded by the University Capacity Development Programme. It involved a staff exchange opportunity in 2024 (see pictures from the staff exchange to the University of Lisbon below), various workshops, project funding to the value of R40k, as well as coaching (with coach Rosieda Shabodien) and mentoring sessions (with Prof Dirk Visser and Prof De Wet Schutte). Workshops included: Grant writing, SDG workshop, Writing for funding proposal, Supervision, Writing for publication. Please click on the here to download the full staff exchange report.
In the pictures below from the left: Myself with Ana Virgolino who gave me a tour of the faculty at ISAMB. In the middle I visited a wet lab in the faculty with Leonor Santos, where I observed microbiology work firsthand. On the right I am with Prof Margarida in front of the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, the resting place of Vasco da Gama.
In 2023 I was selected for and graduated from the Lead, Empower and Development (LEAD) Programme (formerly known as the Programme for Academic and Professional Leaders (P4APL)) under the auspices of the DVC academic, Prof Vivienne Lawack.
I am very proud to have received a Long-Service Award in 2023 for 10 year service at UWC. I am proudly UWC!
In 2022 I was invited to the prize giving event at my alma mater, Heidelberg High School, to receive an honorary award for the completion of my PhD and my contribution to field of Psychology in Education, specifically sexuality education.
In 2022, with the exceptional support of the University Staff Doctoral Programme (USDP), I proudly completed my PhD in Psychology of Education at the University of the Free State. My research was supervised by Professor Christa Beyers, a leading expert in sexuality education in South Africa.
In 2022, I was privileged to receive the University of Missouri South Africa Exchange Programme (UMSAEP) faculty exchange award (click on the link to view the full report). This award granted me the opportunity to visit my PhD mentor, Prof. Stephen Whitney, from 9–16 July. During the visit, we continued our collaborative work on a sexual consent project we had previously started. In the photos below, I am accompanied by Prof. Whitney and his wife during a campus tour of the Columbia campus of the University of Missouri.
For the 2019 and 2020 academic year I had the opportunity to participate in the “University Staff Doctoral Programme (USDP)", specifically in the "Community Development and Community Education Mentorship Programme” run under the auspices of the DVC: Research and Innovation, Prof. José Frantz. This project is a collaboration between four universities: University of the Western Cape, University of Pretoria, University of Missouri and Rutgers University-Newark. As a selected participant I received fully funded support towards the completion of my doctoral degree, namely: 1) Mentorship by South African and American university academic staff oriented towards degree completion and developing a publication agenda; 2) Professional and academic workshops at Cape Town in January 2019 and Newark, New Jersey, USA in July 2019. Below are pictures of my visit to The university of Rutgers, Newark, USA.
I was selected to be part of the Self-Management Academic Scholar Programme (SMASP) programme to develop academics to enhance their understanding of the competitive environment and equip them with essential self-management skills with the following specific objectives:
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To develop change and resilient academics to deal with the ever changing environment
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To help shape a 5 year career plan for academics
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To develop skills of how to compile a powerful winning CV
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To develop skills of how to influence powerfully
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To empower academics through one on one coaching
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To grow the ability to make more effective contributions to the strategic direction of the University
In 2018 I won the DVC Academic Achievers award as excellent Emerging Lecturer in Teaching & Learning in the faculty of Education.
I participated in the "Developing the research scholar programme" run under the auspices of the DVC: Researchand Innovation from 2018-2020. The first phase of the programme included 5 workshops that I successfully completed, namely: 1) Developing a research profile, 2) Writing a research proposal, 3) Writing for publication, 4) Writing a funding proposal 5) Building and expanding your research network. In 2020 I graduated from Phase 2 for modules completed: career planning and coaching, systematic review part 1, coaching and supervision, systematic review part 2, preparing for promotion.
I received the supervision mentoring UCD Grant offered for the 2018 academic year by Prof Sivasubramaniam.