The Institute for Advanced Social Research (IASR) was based at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

The International University Exchange Fund (IUEF) was set up at the headquarters of the International Student Conference (ISC) in Leiden, Netherlands, with the aim to assisting refugees. It was later moved to Geneva and adopted a new constitution, setting up a board of Nordic non-governmental organisations, including especially student and youth organisations. Lars-Gunnar Eriksson of Sweden was appointed Director of the IUEF, expanding the organisation and providing scholarships for Southern African students and other activities.
The IUEF also supported programmes inside South Africa, such as SACHED, a distance education programme. Another programme was the "prison education programme" to provide funds for correspondence courses for political prisoners, which was operated in cooperation with the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS).
In 1977 Mr. Eriksson employed and later appointed Craig Williamson, Vice-President of NUSAS, as Deputy Director of the IUEF. However, Williamson at the time was also a Captain in the South African Security Police. The infiltration of the IUEF by Craig Williamson, together with unfolding political events in the late 1970s, led to the dissolution of the organisation in 1981.

After the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, legislation was enacted which discriminated against the non-White section of the population and increased the racial segregation existing at the time of Union. This angered many Blacks and caused a series of strikes by Black workers. By the 1920s responsible Europeans, particularly churchmen, saw the importance of bringing the races together. Native Welfare Societies, consisting of liberal and philanthropic Europeans, were founded which in due course were replaced by Joint Councils, inter-racial in character.

The Joint Council movement was largely the inspiration of Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones and Dr. J.E.K. Aggrey who in 1921 conducted a study tour of education in South Africa on behalf of the Phelps-Stokes Fund of the United States of America. They had seen the value of inter-racial councils in America and persuaded Dr. C.T. Loram, Chief Inspector of Education in Natal, and his friend J. D. Rheinallt Jones, Secretary of the Witwatersrand Council of Education, to establish a multi-racial organisation with the aim of promoting understanding and goodwill between the races. Rheinallt Jones founded the first Joint Council of Europeans and Africans in Johannesburg in 1921 and by 1931 there were in existence thirty European-African Joint Councils' three European-Indian Joint Councils and a European-Coloured Joint Council was in the process of formation. In all eighty Joint Councils were established, many of them continuing to exist side by side with the Institute of Race Relations after it was founded in 1929. By 1951 only two Joint Councils remained, of which only one was active.

During visits to South Africa in the 1920s Dr. Jesse Jones convinced Rheinallt Jones of the need to set up a national body to centralise interracial activities. The project was made possible by finance from the Phelps-Stokes Fund and the Carnegie Corporation. Rheinallt Jones convened an inter-racial conference in Cape Town in January 1929 which revealed enthusiasm for a national organisation. He called together a committee of seven prominent South Africans not connected with any political party - E.H. Brookes, Professor J. du Plessis, Professor D.D.T. Jabavu, Dr. C.T. Loram, T.W. Mackenzie, J.H. Nicholson and J.H. Pim. They met on 9 May 1929 at the house of the Rev. Dr. R.E. Phillips in Johannesburg, resolved to fern a South African Institute of Race Relations and elected C.T. Loram chairman Howard Pim treasurer and Rheinallt Jones secretary.

With the deaths of Mackenzie end Nicholson and the transfer of Loram to a professorial chair at Yale, the Committee was reduced to six but in 1930 Dr. J.G. van der Horst was added and in 1931 Professor R.F.A. Hoernle, Leo Marquard and Senator Lewis Byron. These ten committee members are regarded as the foundation members of the Institute.

The SRC Resource Centre moved to new premises in late 1981 which were equipped with excellent reading, research and seminar facilities. The SRC decided to allocate R1000 to the Centre for the purchase of new books and other materials. It was also decided to provide further financial assistance support for the development of the Centre.

On the 14 May 1984 the SRC Resource Centre was completely destroyed in a fire which raged through the second floor of the Students' Union building.

Nothing remained of its vast collection of press clippings, magazines, books and posters, much of which was specific to student activity at Wits over the previous ten years. Arson was suspected and a police investigation later confirmed this

The Resource Centre began once again to collect material which dealt not only with Student affairs but also with material of a "consciousness raising" nature.

By 1990 every SRC on the affiliated NUSAS Campuses had developed a Resource Centre. The Wits Students' Resource Centre was forced to close down shortly after this period due to lack of funds

As early as 1930, the possibility of establishing a lightning research laboratory was proposed, and later, Bernard Price, who was general manager and chief engineer of the Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company, took steps towards the creation of a geophysical research institute. Price not only championed this endeavour, but also made a personal contribution towards its creation which was co-funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

In 1937, Wits established the Bernard Price Institute of Geophysical Research which was charged with conducting research into, inter alia, seismology, lightning, terrestrial magnetism, meteorology and radio communications. While this institute was separate from the Electrical Engineering department at Wits, many of the research activities were closely allied with Electrical Engineering. In fact, it was intended that the work of the institute would not only be to conduct pure research, but also to serve the electrical and mining industries.

(From "School of Electrical and Information Engineering @ University of the Witwatersrand - History of the School)

The origins of Wits University lie in the South African (Kimberley) School of Mines established in 1896. The School was relocated to Johannesburg as the Transvaal Technical Institute in 1904 and renamed the South African School of Mines and Technology in 1910. It changed its name four times before becoming the University of the Witwatersrand in 1922.

Today the School of Mining Engineering at the University of Witwatersrand is recognised as one of the largest mining engineering programmes in the world.

The IBI was an independent monitoring group, formed to investigate the causes of political violence and to create public awareness around the issue of political violence. It collected evidence of intimidation and violence, and through numerous reports indicated widespread collaboration of South African security forces with the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), homeland authorities and allied vigilante groups.