launches the South African Research Chairs Initiative
20 September 2007
Ambassadors and High Commissioners
Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, Professor Njabulo Ndebele
The Chief Executive O and President of the National Research Foundation,
Professor Mzamo Mangaliso
The Vice Chancellors of Higher Education Institutions present
The Deputy Vice-Chancellors Present
The Research Chairs
The host Research Chair of the Brain Imaging Centre, Dr. E. M Meintjies
Academic and Professional staff members present
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The South African National System of Innovation is currently in the midst of
great revitalisation. The process commenced with the implementation of the
National Research and Development Strategy in 2002, and has now received added
impetus through the approval by Cabinet of the Ten Year Plan on Innovation. The
aim of the Plan is to ensure that the investment made by government in
scientific research, not only strengthens the effectiveness of the national
system of innovation, but also yields tangible socio-economic benefits for our
country.
The South African Research Chairs Initiative is one of our interventions for
supporting a thriving, efficient and productive innovation system. This type of
an innovation system can only be sustained by an adequate cohort of highly
trained, well-supported and motivated scientists and researchers who produce
the new knowledge on which innovation rests.
The year 2006 ended on a very high note for my department when we announced
the first group of 21 Research Chairs in December. These scholarly men and
women now occupy our eminent seats in research and academia. The centre that is
hosting us today is the location of one of the Research Chairs awarded in the
first round.
By the end of this year, we are planning to award another 51 research
chairs, 16 more than our target of 35. This will bring the total number to 72.
If we continue to receive many more such high quality proposals, we will be
definitely on course for attaining our set target of 210 research chairs by the
end of 2010.
Of the two outcomes referred to earlier, that are knowledge production and
human capital development, I want to start by giving attention to the latter.
Since its inception, this initiative is now supporting a total of 59 Masters
and PhD students, under the tutelage of the 21 Round One Research Chairs. This
is a very good start for this initiative, which is aimed at significantly
contributing to the national effort of producing more high-end skilled people
required to support the development of our economy.
As already mentioned, the new 51 research chairs we will be awarding will
bring the cumulative number of South African Research Chairs to 72. We believe
this injection of new human and material resources into the system will go a
long way in supporting more Masters and PhD researchers and students.
No nation can ever suffer from an over-production of knowledge workers. In
effect, the more you have, the more you will need. One British novelist, Aldous
Huxley, succinctly captures this paradox when he claims that, "Science has
'explained' nothing; the more we know the more fantastic the world becomes, and
the profounder the surrounding darkness". Huxley's statement is, perhaps
inadvertently, better supported by early 19th century French Philosopher,
Ernest Renan's assertion that, "The simplest schoolboy is now familiar with
truths for which Archimedes would have sacrificed his life". Through this and
other similar initiatives, we are now calling upon today's scholars and
researchers to sacrifice their lives for what future generations will perceive
as ordinary truths. And that is how each generation has made its contribution
towards the civilisation of humankind.
The investment we are making is intended to concentrate capacity in a
greater number of people. This is done in the belief that increasing the pace
of knowledge production, together with scientific and technological change will
stimulate sustainable long-term economic growth, and in the process improve the
quality of life of our citizens.
Distinguished Guests, the production of PhDs features prominently among our
priorities. Unlike capital equipment, including the most sophisticated of
industrial machinery, you cannot get a PhD by completing an order form and
passing it onto your procurement manager. The lead time for producing a PhD is
protracted, even with the availability of high quality materials such as good
students, research mentors and supervisors. But once produced, a PhD adds value
to our National System of Innovation (NSI) by bringing in the services of a
knowledge worker who possesses, amongst others, the potential to be an
innovator and entrepreneur. To get closer to the realisation of this potential,
there is a need for a major realignment of our applied sciences PhD curriculum
to include innovation studies, technology management, product development,
technology incubation, project management, and business management. This would
produce a generally innovation literate researcher, and contribute immensely to
the strengthening of South Africa's competitiveness in the knowledge arena.
Thus, Ladies and Gentlemen, today's announcement is the culmination of a
year-long process during which 146 pre-proposals were received. In the
subsequent processes, 108 candidates were invited to submit full proposals,
culminating in the recommendation for the awarding of 51 candidates. Sixteen of
the 51 Research Chairs, that is, 32%, are new to the South African Higher
Education sector, with some coming from outside the country and others from our
own industries and Science Councils. The main aim is to grow a high-level
research capital and productive capacity within the Higher Education
sector.
Through our strategy to reverse the brain-drain into brain-gain, we have
also made serious international forays during this round. Within the 32% of the
externally recruited Research Chairs, 20% come from countries as diverse as
Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, Italy and the
Netherlands. A handful of these are ex-South Africans whom we have enticed back
into the country. This augurs well for our attempts to attract the high-level
human capital we can use to develop high-calibre future researchers and
scientists who can hold their own nationally and internationally.
We have also been monitoring closely the transformational objectives of the
SARChI, both in terms of awardees and the postgraduate student complement under
a Research Chair. It is incumbent upon us to be bold in striving to achieve and
exceed the set transformational targets of this initiative. The target we have
set is that of 60% Black and 50% Women Research Chairs by 2010. In this regard,
it is encouraging to announce that so far 36% of the total Research Chairs are
Black.
The disciplines that have been awarded Research Chairs include the social
and human sciences, on the one hand, and the natural and applied sciences, on
the other. For example, Research Chairs have been awarded in disciplines as
diverse as Poverty and Inequality Research; Urban Policy; Customary Law and
Indigenous Values and Dignity Jurisprudence; Migration, Language and Social
Change; Astrophysics and Space Science; Nanophotonics; and Immunology of
Infectious Diseases in Africa; to name but a few.
In closing, it is with pride and joy that I now confer the award of South
African Research Chair to each of the candidates indicated in the list
contained in your information packs. I congratulate and warmly welcome the new
Research Chairs into a highly esteemed position within our National System of
Innovation. Through their help, we hope to create a world of limitless
possibilities for our nation.
As we trudge along the path to establish the 210, demographically well
represented, Research Chairs by 2010, we must take comfort in the realisation
that success is within our grasp. The targets we have set for ourselves in this
initiative are steep, and the outcomes required of the Chairs are even steeper.
In future, we want to see each Chair supporting a large and vibrant academic
group. We are convinced that this is the only way we will be able to reach
commensurate global targets for PhD trained knowledge workers.
I firmly believe you represent the best, and that your outputs will indeed
exceed our expectations. We wait with bated breath for the calibre and numbers
of young people you will be training towards PhDs and beyond. We sincerely hope
that this effort will make a huge contribution to the general upliftment of the
standard of living in our country. We shall work tirelessly to ensure that you
are well supported.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
20 September 2007
