Professor Caroline Ncube is the DSI/NRF SARChI Research Chair in Intellectual Property, Innovation and Development in the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She holds a PhD in IP Law from the University of Cape Town, an LLM from the University of Cambridge and an LLB from the University of Zimbabwe. Before joining UCT in 2005, she lectured at the University of Limpopo (formerly University of the North) and the University of Zimbabwe. Prior to that, she practiced briefly as an attorney.

She currently teaches Intellectual Property (IP) Law at postgraduate level and supervises masters and PhD candidates, primarily in IP law, but also in other areas of commercial law. She is an NRF B2 rated researcher. She has served as an expert for several intergovernmental organisations, regional economic economies and UN agencies. She is a member of the African Policy, Research & Advisory Group on STI and of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Trade and Industrial Development Advisory Council. She also serves on the African Union Scientific Technical Research Commission ASRIC Taskforce on IP Protection in Joint Research and Collaboration During Outbreaks. She is a co-editor of the South African IP Law Journal and serves on the editorial boards of several journals including the Journal of World IP. She is a co-leader of the Open African Innovation Research partnership and participates in several other research projects that focus on open development, access to knowledge and the promotion of a balanced approach to IP Law. She has published extensively on these areas.