It's a pleasure to be here this evening. Good evening to you all and good evening in particular to our lecturer, Professor Freeman, and to Professor Block, whose birthday and service to Wits we celebrate tonight.
Scholars at Wits have made a remarkable contribution to South African knowledge but nowhere more importantly than in the study of fossils and in the study of the skies.
Scholars here have made cutting-edge contributions to examining and understanding South Africa’s remarkable fossil and human genetic heritage. This heritage belongs to every African; it is a source of pride; and Wits has made sure that it is protected and conserved. Understanding the evolution of life is critically important to us all. Research on hominin origins in South Africa has a rich tradition and is recognised as one of the most visible and acclaimed fields of science unique to the subcontinent.
Today Wits is home to the richest collection of hominid fossils in the world. The new Palaeosciences Centre of Excellence is both recognition of this fact and an investment in future research that it is hoped will consolidate South Africa's reputation as a world leader in this field.
Scholars at Wits have also made cutting-edge contributions to the study of the skies. They played a role in our success in jointly winning with Australia the highly competitive SKA bid, and we expect them to play an even greater role in the long-term implementation of the SKA. The SKA holds out two big promises or opportunities.
One is pure scientific achievement. Because the array will be able to look back in time almost to the big bang itself, we can expect new data on how the first galaxies formed, the nature of gravity and the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.
The other is the social and economic impact of such a mega science project. Having been chosen to host SKA, the project has sparked a new sense of scientific achievement across the whole of Africa. This is what excites me most.
We have used our collaboration with the international SKA consortium to attract young people into science and technology careers. We are collaborating actively with some of the best universities and institutions in the world. Our young scientists and engineers have been able to jump to a leading role in many of the areas of development of the SKA, because of the excellent skills imparted by our universities and the expertise and experience that they have picked up from our partners.
Boosting human capital development for radio astronomy specifically, but science and engineering more generally, has always been a critical driver for South Africa’s SKA investment, the great scientific project of the twenty first century. This is important to highlight, since South Africa’s investment is not only boosting the African talent pool but also contributes to enriching the global scientific expertise available for radio astronomy.
Policy-makers, scientists, and civil society advocates often refer to the need for global scientific cooperation to address the many shared global challenges - such as climate change, energy security or pandemic disease - confronting our planet. Yet we will only be successful if we are able to draw on the collective resources and capacities of our planet in a fully inclusive manner. Global scientific endeavour requires the contributions of all regions, especially those like the developing world excluded in the past. We are proud that the SKA project is well positioned to play a pathfinder role for a new generation of global science partnerships.
Emerging economies compete in a global world that is driven by scientific and technological invention and innovation. It’s not possible to do science in a one country. Our societies are too complex. Our science is too conceptually complex. Our technology is too cognitively complex. We are all in the quest for knowledge together. Knowledge ultimately depends on frontier research in our science councils and universities.
Astronomy is an ideal example of a frontier-research field. Research is driven by curiosity. It is essential to understanding matter. It is a foundation for physics, and the exploration of the nature of light and energy.
I look forward to listening to your lecture Professor Freeman and to the follow-on contribution from Professor Block.
Thank you.
