UJ: Dr Marina Bornman wins prestigious 2015 Norton Rose Fulbright award

Date: Oct 15, 2015 | News

Dr Marina Bornman, Lecturer in the Faculty of Economic and Financial Sciences (FEFS) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), won the 2015 Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa Tax Thesis Competition in the Doctoral category. This is an extreme honour as only three winners, out of 21, have been chosen, each in their respective categories. She received the award on Thursday, 8 October 2015.

With her thesis titled “Principles for understanding, encouraging and rewarding voluntary tax compliance”, she took first place in the doctoral category. This achievement bears testimony to the high quality of Dr Bornman’s work.

“What this award means for me, personally, is that I see it as a token of recognition of something I did well and have put much effort into. I feel greatly honoured to have received the award and I am particularly thankful to my supervisors, family and friends for their support during my studies. I believe the award will boost my self confidence in doing quality research and being a supervisor of note for future Masters and PhD students at UJ,” says Dr Bornman.

The 2015 National Tax Thesis Competition, sponsored by the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) and global legal practice, Norton Rose Fulbright, is now in its 8th year. The Competition is formulated with aims to promote taxation research and highlight the role of taxation in the economy.

“The standard of the papers submitted by all the participating universities continues to reflect the upward trend in tax research in South Africa that we are committed to cultivating,” says Andrew Wellsted, Head of Tax at Norton Rose Fulbright. “We are extremely proud of the quality of innovation and thinking around some of today’s most topical business and tax issues that has emerged this year.”

Faith Ngwenya, Technical and Standards Executive at the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) agrees, “It is clear that the Tax Thesis Competition is contributing to the debate and development of tax policy.”

A total of 21 entries were received in this year’s competition, making the rigorous adjudication process critical when identifying the winners based on the contribution which the research has added to the body of tax knowledge.

Also read: Know your lecturer Marina Bornman – http://taxstudents.co.za/know-your-lecturer-marina-bornman/