NITheCS: Building a scalable platform for African scientific research
The National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences (NITheCS) advances research and innovation across multiple scientific disciplines - from Astronomy and Astrophysics to Data Science, Mathematics, and Theoretical Physics.
Their mission is to grow theoretical and computational sciences to drive socio-economic development across Africa.
We're proud to work with NITheCS, an organization that shares our passion for open source software. When Director Prof Francesco Petruccione approached us about migrating from WordPress to Plone, we knew this was a perfect alignment of values and vision.
The challenge
NITheCS needed a platform that could handle their growing content needs more effectively. Their WordPress site struggled with bulk content management and lacked sophisticated event workflows. With numerous seminars, colloquia, schools, and conferences happening across multiple venues, they needed automation - not manual intervention.
What we built
We migrated NITheCS to Plone 6 with Volto, bringing all their existing content into a better-structured system through semi-automatic bulk import. The new platform includes:
- Smart event management that automatically moves events from upcoming to past based on dates
- Custom Volto blocks and listings for events and publications, making it easier for visitors to discover content
- Improved site flow and navigation designed around how researchers and students actually use the site
- A scalable foundation ready for future phases, including user login and member-specific content
The results
The new site delivers better usability and significantly less manual work for the NITheCS team. Content workflows that once required constant human intervention now run automatically. And most importantly, we've built a platform that can grow with them as they expand their reach across Africa.
Visit the site at nithecs.ac.za