Future SA-Norway Cooperation: Instruments and Funding Schemes

Royal Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research Delegation to SA: Building Future

Partnerships

Gansen Pillay and Andrew Kaniki

Workshop 17, Watershed, Cape Town2 November 2018

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NRF in the Public R&D System

“If we can land a man on the moon, why can’t we solve the problems of the ghetto?”

Professor Richard R Nelson (1974)“Intellectualizing about the moon-ghetto metaphor: A study of the current malaise of

rational analysis of social problems.” Policy Sciences 5: 375

The Moon and the Ghetto

SAAO Nobel 2018

Southern African Large Telescope (SALT)(The largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere)

MeerKAT RA: World’s biggest and most sensitive radio telescope

Astronomy in SA: A Geographical Advantage - SKA

World’s Biggest and Most Sensitive Radio Telescope

Clearest picture yet of the centre of the Milky Way taken by the MeerKAT. Picture: EWN

Our “Moon” and our “Ghetto”

SAAO Nobel 2018

“It all seems impossible, until it is done” – Nelson Mandela

Current Developments

• DST Draft White Paper (WP) on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI)

• 2018 National Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Foresight Exercise

• National Plan on Post-School Education and Training (NPPSET) - DHET

The National Development Plan (NDP)Vision 2030

“No political democracy can survive and flourish if the mass of our people remain in poverty, without land, without tangible prospects for a better life. Attacking poverty and deprivation

must therefore be the first priority of a democratic government.” RDP 1994

The NDP aims to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. SA can realise these goals by drawing on the energies of its people, growing an inclusive economy, building

capabilities, enhancing the capacity of the state, and promoting leadership and partnerships throughout society.

Science Granting Councils’ Initiative (SGCI) in SSA

Manage research

Design and monitor research

programmes based on the use of robust STI indicators

Support the transfer of

knowledge to the private

sector

Establish partnerships with other

science system actors

Goal: The NRF in collaboration with its international partners strengthens the capacities of SGCs in Africa to support research and evidence-based policy making that contributes to economic and social development.

SIDA

Selected International Engagements

• The GRC is a virtual organization, comprised of the heads of science and engineering funding agencies from around the world, dedicated to promote the sharing of data and best practices for high-quality collaboration among funding agencies. The GRC has a long-term objective of fostering multilateral research and collaboration across continents to benefit both developing and developed nations..

• NRF: SA’s adhering body to the International Science Council (ISC). ISC was recently formed through amerger of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Sciences Council(ISSC). The ISC is led by a South African. Several South Africans sit on many of the InternationalUnions and play leading roles.

• FE is a major international research platform providing the knowledge and support to acceleratetransformations to a sustainable world. Launched in 2015, FE is a 10-year initiative to advance GlobalSustainability Science, build capacity in this rapidly expanding area of research and provide aninternational research agenda to guide natural and social scientists working around the world. The NRFis responsible for hosting the FE-Africa office.

• IIASA is a multinational organisation (24 countries). The NRF has over the years made significantinvestments in Systems Analysis: SA-YSSP; SASAC; SARChI.

Belmont Forum (BF)

• BF: High level group of the world’s major and emerging funders.• Aim: Strengthen engagements among the research funding agencies.• NRF is an active participant of the Collaborative Research Actions (CRAs) of the BF in which SA researchers

are funded. SA is funded for CRAs including Coastal Vulnerability, Fresh Water Security, Food Security andLand Use Change, e-Infrastructure, and Transformation to Sustainability.

• Oceans sustainability (opened 29 October 2018).• Migration: Possible collaboration with RCN.

• The NRF currently advances and upholds RE in the execution of its mandate through:

• its robust and transparent peer-review processes for awarding research grants, bursaries and scholarships;

• an evaluation and rating system which benchmarks South African researchers against the best in the world;

• meaningful monitoring and evaluation processes that demonstrate the levels of impact of its investments; and

• provision of exceptional expertise and large-scale National Research Infrastructure Platforms (NRIPs) for high-end cutting edge science.

• The pursuit of excellence is also undertaken in other mandates of the organisation which include the promotion and awareness of, and engagement with, science and the facilitation of strategic partnerships.

Passion for Excellence: An NRF Value

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Instruments and Funding Schemes:Research and Innovation Support and Advancement (RISA)The responsibilities of RISA are, inter alia, to promote and support research throughfunding, human resource development and the provision of high-end researchequipment in order to facilitate the creation of knowledge, innovation anddevelopment in all fields of S&T, including indigenous knowledge, and therebycontribute to societal benefit.

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Grants Management & Systems Administration (GMSA): Implement management and administration of research grants, scholarships and bursaries, and investments in research infrastructure on behalf of the funding directorates of the RISA business unit of the NRF.

RISA Directorates

Human and Infrastructure Capacity Development (HICD):Develop institutional research capabilities and leading-edge research infrastructure in parallel with the appropriate HCD to drive the transformation of the work force and to contribute to R&D strategies within the National System of Innovation (NSI).

Reviews and Evaluation (RE): Responsible for the establishment of robust, fair and transparent peer review processes for the adjudication of research proposals, equipment grants and scholarships and for the review of NRF’s investments in the NSI and the rating of individuals .

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HICD

GMSA

RE

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Research Chairs and Centres of Excellence (RCCE):Responsible for two strategic investments of the SA government, viz., the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) and the Centres of Excellence (CoEs) interventions. RCCE is also responsible for the DST-NRF “Flagship Programmes” at HEIs.

The Knowledge Advancement & Support (KAS) directorate contributes to the promotion and support of research by facilitating the advancement of the frontiers of existing knowledge and development of new fields of knowledge, and the necessary associated research capacity in the context of national research and strategic initiatives.

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RCCE

KAS

RISA Directorates

Investment in Knowledge Domains

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INVESTMENT 2017/18Agriculture

Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences

Biological & Chemical Science

Computer and Information ScienceEarth, Marine & Environmental

Sciences

Economics

Engineering

Law

Material, Physical and Technology

Sciences

Mathematical Science

Medical and Health Sciences

175 7%

380 15%

695 28%

39 2%

172 7%

144 6%

204 8%

40 2%

253 10%

71 3%

299 12%

R2.47bn

Advancing Knowledge for Societal Benefit (SDGs)

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Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences (IThemba LABS)

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Experimental nuclear physics – tackling

fundamental questions

Materials research –pushing the frontiers of

applied science

Radioisotope production –advanced medical

diagnostics and industrial applications

Commissioned the 3 MV Tandetron Accelerator -research using ion beam analysis techniques.

Concluded an MoU and NDA with a major stakeholder in the isotope Sr-82 business.

Funding proposal for acquisition of a 70 MeV Cyclotron as part of the first phase of the South African Isotope Facility (SAIF) on the go.

Funding received for State-of-the-art spectrometer for probing the structure of subatomic matter, GAMKA, from the Strategic Research Equipment Grant (SREG).

•5-fold increase in isotope output•3-fold increase in beam availability for research

•Novel radiopharmaceuticals for cancer diagnosis and treatment

• ‘Exotic beams’ research from innovative cancer treatment modalities to understanding the origin and creation of chemical elements in the universe

SA Environmental Observation Network (SAEON)

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Awarded funding for 2 projects in line with the SARIR:

• The Expanded Terrestrial Freshwater Environmental Observation Network (ETFEON); and

• The Shallow Marine and Coastal Research Infrastructure (SMCRI).

Monitoring and assessing the status of, and changes in,

natural and man-made environments

Advancing research on long-term change of SA’s terrestrial biomes,

and coastal andmarine ecosystems

Managing collections of reliable long-term environmental

databases

Scientists received award for prototype near-real time monitoring tool from the United Nations Data for Climate Action Challenge contest

SARAO and SAEON agreed on an Integrated Environmental Management Plan to facilitate earth observation research at Carnarvon site

Published the online version of the South African Carbon Sinks Atlas on behalf of the DEA.

SA Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB)

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TRANSFORMING MARINE SCIENCES

Conservation biology and ecology, which focuses on understanding

aquatic biodiversity Molecular biology and systematics

A state-of-the-art coastal research vessel, Phakisa, provides access to research areas along the east coast of South Arica. This access is in the form of • physical oceanography;• marine geology;• phytoplankton and

zooplankton; • Fish;• marine mammals; and • birds from nearshore to 40

nautical miles offshore.

A record total of 112 WoS publications

published

SAIAB’s ACEP Phulisaprogramme currently supports 72 students, all black and female:• 24 Honours; • 40 Masters; and • 8 Doctoral.

SA Astronomical Observatory (SAAO)

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A long term strategy was confirmed to assure the operational sustainability of SALT

Neutron stars collide and creates a transient kilo-nova

Galaxy formation Time domain astrophysics (transients) Exoplanets

Remote observation capabilities were established for the 1.0-m and 1.9-m telescopes

The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT)

• The single, most followed astrophysical event of all time.

• First gravitational wave observation confirmed by non-gravitational means.

• New branch of science: Multi-Messenger Astronomy.

• Creation of new elements such as gold and platinum observed in real time.

SALT provided one of the first spectra of the merger.

SA Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)

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SUCCESSFUL ESTABLISHMENT OF SARAO: The new facility consolidates the activities of HartRAO, SKA SA, the AVN and big data storage, data transport and computing facilities.

A major achievement by the SKA SA Project team is the installation of the fastest computer in Africa and the 75th fastest in world, to process data from the MeerKAT telescope.

MeerKAT was delivered! • on time • in budget • within the PFMA regulations

Astrophysical masers; Interplanetary scintillation caused by the solar wind; Radio-bright supernovae in other galaxies; International Celestial Reference Frame; Tests of the General Theory

of Relativity; and Positioning services for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)

First Light image collected by MeerKAT

The clearest image yet collected of the centreof the Milky Way galaxy, in the area surrounding the supermassive black hole.

SA Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA)

Science Education

• Through which we build up the supply of tomorrow’s scientists and innovators

Science Awareness

• Through which we engage the public with the phenomena of science, engineering and technology

Science Communication

• Through which we share science and technology achievements with the public, building up their appreciation of benefits of science

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Enkosi, Thank you, Re a leboga, Siyabonga, Dankie