The Cape Town Research Group in ''Topology, Algebra and Dynamical Systems'' traces its origins back to the early activities in categorical topology at the University of Cape Town (Cape Town, South Africa).
Under the leadership of Keith Hardie (02-Sep-1929, 19-May-2014) and Guillaume Brümmer (27-Nov-1934, 4-Jan-2023) the group established itself as an international centre of research in categorical topology and topology. Further important contributions were made by Japie Vermeulen (who died on 11 February 2001) and Paul Cherenack (1943-2002).
A long-time association with Bernhard Banaschewski (22-Mar-1926, 31-Oct-2022) and Horst Herrlich (11-Sep-1937, 13-Mar-2015) has seen the development of a strong school in frame (locale) theory and categorical topology within the research group. We were very lucky to acquire expertise and knowledge in general topology from the seminars of Bernhard Banaschewski for decades (until the 2019).
From the point of view of the theory of the quasi-uniformities, Hans-Peter Künzi (1955-2020) was an international leader, who contributed to place our research group at the highest international levels in the area of the asymmetric topology. His qualities were recognized in various ways: from the position of HOD in the years 2012-2016 in our department, to the organization of relevant scientific meetings in South Africa, to the presence in prestigious editorial boards of mathematical journals.
During the period 2014-2024 there was an emphasis on the topological group theory and on the combinatorial topology, thanks to the presence of Francesco G. Russo, who reinforced the systematic presence of visiting scholars and experts within our research group. This contributed to create a recent tradition in topological group theory, producing international visibility in terms of joint seminars with universities overseas and realizing international workshops in topological group theory every 3 years (2017, 2020 and 2023 mostly placed at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences).
Our present research interests cover categorical topology, (asymmetric) analytic topology, frame (locale) theory, locally compact groups, differential geometry, Lie theory and discrete mathematics. More recently we focus on interactions between topology and dynamical systems, investigating topological entropy, Lie groups and random walks.
Our usual ''Seminars of the Tuesday'' are an important moment of interaction between young generations of topologists and international experts, who systematically visit us and are realized since 2025 jointly with University of the Western Cape (Bellville, South Africa), University of Camerino (Camerino, Italy), Woldia University (Woldia, Ethiopia) and Federal University of Technology Akure (Ondo, Nigeria).
From this site you can access information about our members, seminars, meetings and recent activities.
It is also possible to download a selection of scientific contributions, produced by our members in the last years.
Yanga Bavuma and Anneliese Schauerte
Research Group Leaders