Media statement on the launch of 54 new Research Chairs by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe
The Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe, announced new research chairs as part of the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) today in Pretoria, 7 March 2014.
The SARChI programme is a national knowledge and human development intervention, led by the Department of Science and Technology and managed by the National Research Foundation.
The programme was established in 2006 to strengthen scientific research and innovation capacity of South African public universities, enabling them to produce high-quality postgraduate students and research and innovation outputs. It aims to create a critical mass of world-class scholars who will train future generations of scholars and graduates to support a South African knowledge-based economy.
SARChI also seeks to drive strategic partnerships within the National System of Innovation (NSI) and the international research community, with the aim of creating a vibrant culture of excellence in research, thus strengthening research capacity to advance the frontiers of knowledge. This new knowledge will afford South Africa a competitive edge internationally and contribute towards growing the economy of the country and improving the quality of life of South Africans.
Announcing the new research chairs at the Sheraton Hotel, Deputy President Motlanthe said the framework used to allocate research chairs took its cue from the five priorities of government, namely, improving education, healthcare, creating decent work, fighting crime and corruption, and rural development and land reform, with the understanding that research chairs are intended to support scientific research and innovation generally, and have to do so unfettered by the dictates and prescripts of government.
"The imperative for the research chairs to derive research-driven solutions that ultimately contribute to a better life for all South Africans still remains, and cannot be wished away. The initiative has brought changes in the country's higher education system and its impact has been felt at individual, institutional and system levels," he said.
The Deputy President said he was confident that the newly appointed chairs would improve South Africa's international research and innovation competitiveness, while responding to the socio-economic challenges facing the country.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Derek Hanekom, said in his address that the SARChI initiative was already 'bearing fruit': "The Research Chair in Drug Discovery, hosted by the University of Cape Town under the leadership of Prof. Kelly Chibale, has, in collaboration with the Medicines for Malaria Venture based in Switzerland, discovered a compound that not only has the potential to become part of a single-dose cure for all strains of malaria, but might also be able to block transmission of the parasite from person to person. The team has also developed and identified a candidate suitable for pre-clinical development. The compound will be the first-ever clinical candidate researched on African soil as part of a modern pharmaceutical drug discovery programme."
The appointment of 54 new research chairs brings the current total number of awarded research chairs to 157, representing a cumulative investment of just under a billion Rands. This has translated into the creation of about a thousand new jobs in the NSI, in part by providing a much-needed stepping stone for associate researchers and postdoctoral students.
Taking into account the relevance and significance of research areas of interest to key government strategies, SARChI cover various disciplines, which include the natural and agricultural sciences, engineering and applied technology, health sciences, humanities and social sciences.
For more information, please contact:
Tommy Makhode
Cell: 082 379 8268
