Prof Topside Mathonsi earns NRF Y2 rating

A growing research profile built on postgraduate supervision, research leadership, scholarly productivity and work that addresses real-world challenges has earned Prof Topside Mathonsi, Head of the Department of Information Technology (IT) at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), a Y2 rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Prof Topside Mathonsi awarded NRF Y2 rating. The Y2 rating category recognises young researchers who show clear potential to establish themselves as independent researchers, based on the quality and productivity of their recent research outputs. The rating considers research performance and productivity during the doctoral and early postdoctoral stages of a researcher’s career.

Prof Mathonsi has supervised and co-supervised 24 master’s and three doctoral students to completion and continues to mentor postgraduate researchers in areas such as cybersecurity, networking, the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart systems. He has also hosted and co-hosted two postdoctoral research fellows, contributing to research capacity development and the growth of emerging researchers.

His scholarly output includes 24 peer-reviewed journal articles, 12 edited book chapters and 85 conference papers. Beyond his publications, he contributes to the broader research community through editorial and peer-review activities. He serves as an Associate Editor of Sustainable Computing: Informatics and Systems and the South African Computer Journal and contributes to international journal editorial boards and technical programme committees.

His research leadership has attracted significant external funding. His funded portfolio includes the R5.37 million uMngeni–uThukela Water SCADA 4.0 project, R650,000 from the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), and R788,003 from the NRF, supporting research in areas such as smart agriculture, IoT, cybersecurity and postgraduate development.

Prof Mathonsi’s research has also received national recognition. He was awarded the 2025/2026 TW Kambule–NSTF Emerging Researcher Award for his contribution to intelligent technologies that use artificial intelligence and IoT to protect critical resources such as water, agriculture and essential infrastructure.

The award reflects the practical relevance of his research and his focus on developing technology-driven solutions to challenges affecting society and essential services.

His NRF recognition adds another milestone to a research career focused not only on scholarly output, but also on developing postgraduate researchers, building research capacity and strengthening collaboration between academia, industry and other research partners.

For the Faculty of ICT, Prof Mathonsi’s Y2 rating highlights the growing research capacity within the Department of IT and the contribution of emerging researchers to TUT’s broader research and innovation agenda.