Marine & Antarctic Research Strategy

Implementation

Dr Gilbert Siko

Presentation @SA-Norway

Objectives

• To develop a single comprehensive national research agenda as part of the overarching Marine & Antarctic Research Strategy

• To identify and prioritise mechanisms for optimising National Marine & Antarctic research funding using existing instruments

• Identify areas of research that require development of new instruments

MARS: Strategic Objectives (1/2)

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• Provision of a well-coordinated governance system for marine and Antarctic research activities;

• Ensuring sustainability of marine and Antarctic resources;

• Development of high-level skills to support research and development in the marine and Antarctic domains;

MARS: Strategic Objectives (2/2)

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• Improving the quality of life for South Africans derived from the oceans economy;

• Creation of a society informed on the value of marine and Antarctic research initiatives; and

• Contribute towards the creation of employment derived from innovation in the marine and Antarctic environments.

MARS Implementation

Planning

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Coordination & Governance

Research Capacity

Development

Public Awareness

&Engagement

Infrastructure & Research Platforms

Data Management

MARS Coordination &

Governance

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Establishment of the Marine and Antarctic Research Steering Committee (MARSC)

• The existing DST-DEA DDG forum will be used as an existing platform to establish the MARSC through incorporation of other stakeholder departments.

• This process will however not necessarily diminish the role of the DDG forum as this platform serves to unlock other avenues.

• The DDG forum will however, will operate when necessitated by situations such e.g. preparations DG bilateral engagements.

MARS Coordination &

Governance

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Envisaged benefits of the establishment of the MARSC:

• Science – Policy Interphase Economic Benefits; Science based decisions

• Coordinated Logistical Supporting Research Needs

• Access to Global Opportunities

MARS Coordination &

Governance

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Ensure that South Africa addresses the key issues in such a way that research contributions make a difference towards policy formulation:

MARSC will develop a funding framework that will be used to assist grant management in the National Research Foundation to ensure the research conducted is aligned with national imperatives.

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SA Research

Chairs

(HEIs)

International

Programmes

Internship

(SC, NF)

Innovation

Bursaries

(HEIs)

Research

Professional

Development

(SC)

Innovation

Post-doctoral

Fellowship

(HEIs)

Centres of

Excellence

(HEIs,SC)

HCD

Instruments

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MARS thematic priorities unpacked

(1/3)

• Understanding modes of ocean variability across temporal and spatial scales

• Developing a regional observations network.

• Developing end-to-end modelling and operational prediction capabilities

• Establishing global, regional and coastal system indicators

• Delivering robust &useful information to society

• Reconstructing past climate changes

Oceans and marine ecosystems under

global change

• Usage of South African space science in Antarctica, as a window into geospace

• Understanding the links between ocean-atmospheric physics, ocean iron availability, trace element biogeochemistry and ocean productivity

• Understanding large scale ocean circulation and global climate

Earth Systems Observations

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MARS thematic priorities unpacked

(2/3)

• Understanding modes of ocean variability across temporal and spatial scales

• Developing a regional observations network.

• Developing end-to-end modelling and operational prediction capabilities

• Establishing global, regional and coastal system indicators

• Delivering robust &useful information to society

• Reconstructing past climate changes

Ecosystems, Biodiversity & Biodiscovery

• Sustainable coastal and ocean development• Oil& Gas, Fisheries, Mining and Aquaculture• Energy management• Development of technology and vessel design• Development of energy exploration capacity• Development of links to ecotourism • Antarctic Waste management

Innovation and development

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MARS thematic priorities unpacked

(3/3)

• Geopolitics, international and national law and policy;

• Usage of the resource and to develop and refine human History and Palaeosciences;

• Antarctic arts, architecture and literature;

• Social Adaptation and Human Impact

Human Enterprise

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New Approach to RI Provision:

Collaborative National Platforms

• Focus of Research Infrastructures

should be on network building,

serving as engines for collaborative

– Knowledge generation

– Technology development

– Training and skills development

• Foster new partnerships

– Joint endeavors

• SARIR to guide the strategic

development, acquisition and

deployment of RI as a necessary and

required enabler for RDI, instead of

the ad hoc approach used to date.

Looking at atomsUsing Advanced

Microscopes

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Development of a South Africa Research Infrastructure Roadmap

(Hpc, Networks, Grid, Cloud, etc).

17 RIs proposed in the original SARIR framework

SARIR: Selected RIs

Thematic area Identified RI

Humans &Society1. The South African Network of Health and Demographic

Surveillance Sites

2. National Centre for Digital Language Resources

Health, Biological & Food

Security

3. Distributed Platform for “Omics” Research (DIPLOMICS)

4. Biobanks

5. Nuclear Medicine

Earth & Environment6. A South African Marine and Antarctic Research Facility

7. Biogeochemistry Research Infrastructure Platform

8. An Expanded National Terrestrial Environmental

Observation Network

9. Shallow Marine and Coastal Research Infrastructure

10. The Natural Sciences Collection Facility

Materials & Manufacturing11. Nano-manufacturing Facility

12. Materials Characterisation Facility

Energy 13. Solar Research Facility