The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) was formed on 1st January 2004 as a result of the merger between the University of Durban-Westville and the University of Natal. The new University brought together the rich histories of both former universities which encompass disadvantage and advantage respectively. The University aspires to be a positively transformed institution based on a clear understanding of its goals for broad and comprehensive change underpinned by shared values. These values serve as a framework for all its endeavours. We embrace our responsibility as a public institution to support and contribute to national and regional development, and the welfare and upliftment of the wider community, through the generation and dissemination of knowledge and the production of socially-responsible graduates.
The School of Chemistry and Physics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal offers undergraduate and postgraduate studies and has an active research programme. In Physics the range of research interests include the Southern Hemisphere Auroral Radar Experiment (SHARE), Waves and Instabilities in Space Plasmas, Geospace Physics, Atmospheric Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, LIDAR Physics, Molecular Optics, Quantum Information Processing and Communication, Open Quantum Systems, Measurement and Control of Quantum Systems, Simple/Complex fluids and Particle Physics. its biggest strengths lying in the areas of Quantum Information Science, and Space, Atmospheric and Plasma Physics. The Discipline of Physics in Durban is host to the regional node of the National Institute of Theoretical Physics (NITheP) at its Westville Campus.