About UCT
The University of Cape Town (UCT) is a research-led, strongly internationalized university, and the only one in Africa included in the Times Higher Education Supplement’s Top 150 world universities.
UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, a high school for boys. The College has a small tertiary-education facility that grew substantially after 1990, when the discovery of gold and diamonds in the north – and the resulting demand for skills in mining – gave it the financial boost it needed to grow.
The College developed into a fully-fledged university during the period 1880 to 1900, thanks to increased funding from private sources and the government. During these years, the College built its first dedicated science laboratories, and started the departments of mineralogy and geology to meet the need for skilled personnel in the country’s emerging diamond and gold-mining industries. Another key development during this period was the admission of women.
UTC was formally established as a university in 1918, on the basis of the Alfred Beit bequest and additional substantial gifts from mining magnates Julius Wernher and Otto Beit. The new university also attracted substantial support from well-wishers in the Cape Town area and, for the first time, a significant state grant.
The university admitted its first small group of black students in the 1920s. The number of black students remained relatively low until the 1980s and 90s, when the institution, reading and welcoming the signs of change in the country, committed itself to a deliberate and planned process of internal transformation.
From the 1980s to the early 1990s, the number of black students admitted to the university rose by 35%. By 2004, nearly half of UCT’s 20,000 students were black and just under half of the student body was female. Today UCT has one of the most diverse campuses in South Africa.
The university has 6 faculties – Commerce, Engineering & the Built Environment, Law Health Sciences, Humanities and Science – which are all supported by the Center for Higher Education Development, which addresses students’ teaching and learning needs.
UCT also has more than 80 specialist research units that provide supervision for postgraduate work and is home to more than a third of South Africa’s A-rated researchers – academics who are considered world leaders in their fields.
UCT is an inclusive and engaged research-intensive African university that inspires creativity through outstanding achievements in learning, discovery and citizenship – enhancing the lives of its students and staff, advancing a more equitable and sustainable social order and influencing the global higher education landscape.
UCT is committed to engaging with the key issues of its natural and social worlds through outstanding teaching, research and scholarship. It seeks to advance the status and distinctiveness of scholarship in Africa through building strategic partnerships across the continent, the global south and the rest of the world.
UCT provides a vibrant and supportive intellectual environment that attracts and connects people from all over the world. It aims to produce graduates and future leaders who are influential locally and globally. Its qualifications are locally applicable and internationally acclaimed, underpinned by values of engaged citizenship and social justice.
UCT Job General Requirements
UCT welcomes qualified and talented people to join its workforce. The eligibility criteria vary for each and every position across the University. Although so, there are common requirements in every position. These are, but not limited to:
- Hold a Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctorate / PhD degree in the relevant field of study
- Have experience in the related field
- Possess excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Have excellent interpersonal abilities
How to Apply for UCT Vacancies
To apply for UCT academic and executive vacancies, download one of the provided application forms appropriate for the position you are applying for. Fill it out thoroughly then submit your application as per the advertisement. You can download the application form here:
For candidates wishing to apply for a job at UCT as a research, professional, administrative or support staff, you can download the application form for staff vacancies (HR201). Complete your application and submit it as per the advertisement.
Along with the application form, you will be required to submit the following supporting documents. Additional documents may be required. Please check the relevant vacancy advertisement for further details.
- Covering letter of application
- Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Letter of motivation / statement of interest
- Referees’ reports
- Any other relevant information specified in the advertisement
Submit your application in a single pdf file (max size 10Mb) via e-mail to the address provided on the relevant advertisement. Please ensure the title and reference number are indicated in the subject line.
Pay attention to the application deadline. Make sure you apply for the opportunity on time. Also, fill out the application form completely and correctly, and provide all of the required supporting documents. Applications that are late, incomplete and/or incorrect will not be taken into consideration by the selection committee.
After Applying for a UCT Vacancy
The University’s Employment Equity policy applies at all levels within the University and recruitment decisions are to be committed to the policy.
Successful applicants will be shortlisted and notified for further assessment and selection.
In an open process, shortlisted candidates will be given the opportunity to meet the faculty after which feedback is provided to the selection committee. The form of the process will be determined by the selection committee and could entail one or more of the following:
- A presentation to staff and students of the faculty (which will be advertised internally in the faculty), and/or
- Visits to departments within the relevant faculty, and/or
- A meeting with the Dean’s Advisory Committee
In an open process, the names of the shortlisted candidates are public knowledge in the faculty and each candidate on the shortlist must confirm his/her candidacy and agree to participate in the open faculty process.
If a candidate wishes to keep his/her candidacy confidential, the selection committee may decide to forgo the open process for all candidates, or to proceed in which case the candidate concerned is free to withdraw his/her application before the shortlist is made public.
Shortlisted candidates will then be invited for an interview with the selection committee. Once the interview is complete and the selection committee has made their decision, successful candidates will be informed and offered the position of employment at UCT.
For more information and to search for available vacancies at UCT, please refer to the UCT’s Vacancies web page.
