Law School Hosts Webinar for University of Venda

Law School Hosts Webinar for University of Venda

The School of Law virtually hosted Mr Edward Lubisi, a Medical Jurisprudence lecturer at the University of Venda and his final-year class consisting of about 40 students.

The purpose of the webinar was to investigate research in Medical Law and to showcase postgraduate programmes offered by the School, with the aim of inspiring students to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees in the field. 

Associate Professor of Law and Academic Leader for Research and Higher Degrees at UKZN’s School of Law, Professor Shannon Bosch, elaborated on the available Master of Laws (LLM) programmes, discussing both full research and coursework options as well as the study formats available, which include full-time (one year) and part-time (two years) courses. Bosch highlighted the significant benefit of full-time research for master’s and doctoral candidates, which includes fee remission. 

Professor Donrich Thaldar, who chairs the Health Law and Ethics Research Interest Group, provided valuable insights into the LLM in Medical Law. Thaldar also serves as the principal investigator for a US National Institutes of Health-funded project focusing on the legal aspects of data science in health innovation in Africa. He discussed ongoing developments related to the project, including the training of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbot on data protection law. 

‘We have also developed astandard data transfer agreement template. Our group worked on this because we’ve become aware that many universities and companies in South Africa which are sharing data with entities abroad don’t have well drafted data transfer agreements to protect their interests,’ he said. 

In closing, Postgraduate Administrator for full research masters, Ms Gina Mshengu, provided valuable insight into the online application process for prospective research students. Mshengu detailed what documents are needed for the application, stressing the importance of a comprehensive research proposal developed under the guidance of a supervisor. 

Lubisi thanked the School of Law for the warm welcome, saying: ‘Thank you very much for opening your arms and welcoming us. I know my students are excited about the information they received.’ 

The webinar proved to be a fruitful exchange of knowledge and marked a significant step towards recruitment of master’s and doctoral candidates at the School. 

Words: Samukelisiwe Cele

Photograph: Shutterstock