Professor Russel Botman, Vice Chancellor and Rector of the University of Stellenbosch,
Vice Chancellors and Rectors,
Deans of Faculties,
Professor Johann Mouton, the Director of the African Doctoral Academy,
Doctoral and Prospective Doctoral Students;
Ladies and gentlemen
It’s a pleasure to address you today. This initiative, the African Doctoral Academy (ADA) supports and advances doctoral training and scholarship on the African continent. It’s hard to think of anything more important in promoting science and technology in Africa at the moment.
Advanced study in disciplines such as science, mathematics and technology is acknowledged worldwide as a key element in building vibrant and sustainable economies and societies. This is true for all countries of the world. Thus far Africa has not fully exploited the opportunities that emerge from committed investment in research and the development of high level skills in all fields. As a continent we must do more to promote science, mathematics and technology; however advances in all fields of study should be part of our policy.
Studying here at Stellenbosch will give you the opportunity to engage, to debate and to learn from some of the most outstanding scientists from here and from around the world. Africa has not always been at the forefront of research and innovation. However, African students have seldom been given the opportunity to benefit from such a doctoral academy.
We hope that what you learn will assist you and others in educating a new generation of African mathematicians and scientists. Economic development and future prosperity does not rest on independent and isolated actions and activities, but requires regional interventions and planning.
The critical importance of science and technology to regional development is set out in the 2005 New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) document: ‘Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action’ (CPA). NEPAD provided us with the opportunity to plan on a continental scale.
The CPA articulates Africa’s common objectives and commitment to collective action in order to promote science and technology for the socioeconomic transformation of the African continent, and its integration into the global economy.
Africa’s commitment to collaboration in science and technology was highlighted at the 2007 Summit of the African Union Heads of State and Government, where members declared 2007 as the year for building constituencies and champions for science, technology and innovation in Africa.
The study of science and technology is not just beneficial to our doctoral candidates in and of itself because to be a PhD or an engineer carries a high status. The study of science and technology is primarily about finding solutions to real problems that we face. We need to find ways, for example, of providing better nutrition and health care for our peoples.
For example, what is the number one cause of death in children under five in the world today? Airborne or waterborn diseases, diarrhoea, AIDS, malnutrition. The number one cause of death in children under five is inhaling smoke from indoor cooking fires - over two million deaths every year. Here is a practical problem that needs an urgent solution. We are looking to our young scientists to find the simplest and best ideas that can change the world for the better.
Research in science and technology has always thrived in a context of collaboration and competition. It has thrived in a community of critical colleagues and the contribution of an individual researcher has always been greatly enhanced by the support from the community of other researchers and scholars.
The doctoral degree has become a proxy both for individual achievement and for measuring the country’s capacity for original research. It’s for this reason that the number of individuals with doctoral degrees per million (or thousand) of a population has been used as a proxy for the strength of an innovation system.
It’s therefore very important that Africans collaborate in producing more PhDs. In the past African doctoral students tended to study abroad. Traditionally, the “brain drain” has been from the less developed countries to the developed countries. However, other directions of student flow are now emerging, such as mobility within Commonwealth countries and South-South or North-South flows.
The African Doctoral Academy is a sign of this new trend. There is real evidence for this in research conducted over the last decade here at Stellenbosch. In 2010, the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) published the PhD Study. Even though the findings of this study cannot be considered as a proxy for the Continent, I hope that you will compare these findings to the situations in your home countries.
Here are some of the findings (the research for the ASSAf study was conducted by Professor Mouton wearing his CREST hat):
- South Africa produced 1 274 and 1 171 PhD graduates in 2007 and 2008 respectively, with up to 29% of these being international graduates, primarily from the rest of the Continent. While these figures may appear significant to some, they are very modest relative to comparable developing countries such as Brazil;
- In 2007, only 12% of doctoral graduates were under 30 years old, with the average age at graduation being 40 years.
- Only a third of all research and instructional staff at universities had PhDs.
And then please note this important finding:
“In terms of job readiness, employers noted lack of i) exposure to international expertise, theories and debates, ii) methodological competence and iii) ‘real world’ relevance as salient weaknesses in the skills and abilities of doctoral graduates.” This comment about the “job readiness” of our graduates is important to ADA.
Stellenbosch University, specifically the Centre for Research on Science and Technology (CREST) and its partners (i.e. the International Political Science Association, Ford Foundation, Universities of Nairobi, Dar es Salam, Makerere and Botswana) are providing a platform where doctoral students are exposed to international expertise, theories and debates.
As doctoral students everywhere are increasingly required to function in an international context, ADA will provide a platform for the internationalisation of doctoral training through opportunities for sharing knowledge and cross-cultural skills.
As I stated earlier, nearly 30% of doctoral graduates in South Africa are international and most of them come from the rest of the continent. We are hoping that South Africa can contribute to minimising the brain drain out of the continent and become a preferred destination of postgraduate studies and research for African students and academics rather than Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
One of the ways in which we are encouraging this brain gain is to invest and initiate global research projects such as the Square Kilometre Array, the recently launched ANDI initiative and work at Wits on a multi disciplinary approach to Human Origins and the Paleosciences. A positive result of the African and global links in these projects has been the successful SKA Human Capital Development Programme, 26% of the grants from this programme have gone to researchers from other countries in Africa.
Taking the cue from the 2007 Summit of the African Union Heads of State and Government, where members committed to building constituencies and champions for science, technology and innovation in Africa, South Africa has established collaborative research platforms throughout the Continent - initiatives such as the Africa Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), African Laser Centre (ALC) and the Southern African Network for BioSciences (SANBIO) and the NEPAD Initiative.
In closing, let me refer to the South African government’s emerging response to the ASSAf PhD Study and to our shortage of PhD graduates. We have identified three important thrusts for human capital development; namely:
- Growing the next generation of researchers and academics, i.e., support more postgraduate students and post doctoral fellows.
- Developing and supporting emerging researchers. i.e., support and translate more new generation researchers into established researchers.
- Supporting and maximising the output of the established researchers, i.e., increase the number of active researchers and ensure that they produce the required knowledge and innovation outputs and supervise the next generation of researchers.
The National Research Foundation had good news for the research community in regard to all these issues last year and can look forward to further good news in the coming year. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s my sincere hope that the objectives of ADA and the Summer School in Research Methods live up to your expectation of what a difference a vibrant research culture can make for the countries and peoples of Africa.
I thank you.
