South Africa, Switzerland review successful science and technology cooperation
Science and Technology Minister Derek Hanekom met the Swiss State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation, Mauro Dell’Ambrogio, in Berne on Thursday 16 January 2014.
South Africa and Switzerland enjoy very fruitful science and technology cooperation, backed by high-level interactions at a political level.
The meeting was a follow-up to the meeting that was held in Pretoria in 2012. The achievements of phase I of the Swiss South African Joint Research Programme (SSAJRP) were noted during Thursday's discussions.
The SSAJRP commenced in 2007 with equal resource contributions, supporting research projects in biotechnology and nanotechnology, biosciences and public health, and social sciences and humanities. To date, six MSc, 31 PhD, eight postdoctoral degrees and 16 joint research projects (with an output of 73 exchange visits) were supported. Furthermore, during this phase 71 journal articles were published.
The two ministers acknowledged these positive developments and subsequently endorsed the start of the second phase of the SSAJRP, in which 25 projects were selected for support on the principle of equal resources being provided by both countries for the period 2013 to 2016.
The ministers were pleased to note the success of the science-to-market instruments under the SSAJRP, which include the seed funding call with a focus on industry and academia collaboration and the Swiss South Africa Business Development Programme (SSABDP), which strengthens the entrepreneurial capacity of researchers for the commercialisation of their research projects. The programme is presented annually in three phases, with the last phase being a one-week VentureLab workshop in Switzerland. Thus far, 10 South African companies have been established, with the creation of more than twenty direct jobs.
In alignment with the aims of the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) – a strategic government intervention aimed at strengthening and improving the scientific research and innovation capacity of South African public universities and forging new public-private partnerships to give South African universities and industry a competitive edge – the ministers acknowledged the process for establishing a South African-Swiss Bilateral Research Chair in Global Environmental Health. This process will be completed before the end of 2014 and will be the first bilateral SARChI chair. The two ministers further acknowledged the process of establishing the two Swiss South Africa International Visiting Research Chairs in the domain of migration and diversity.
Minister Hanekom also visited the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) to explore collaboration possibilities. "I was impressed by the research work being done at EPFL; really incredible stuff," said Minister Hanekom following his visit. The Minister indicated that there was a need to explore how South African researchers could get involved by exploring linkages between the computing capacity of the Human Brain Project and that of the SKA.
For more information, please contact:
Tommy Makhode
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