National Research Foundation

Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on

Education

Dr K Mokhele

23 April 2002

Dual System for Funding Research in Higher Education

• Direct Funding from Education Vote (DoE)

• Funding through Intermediary Value-Adding “Agency”– Science Vote (DACST)– Trade & Industry Vote (DTI)– Environment Vote (DEAT)

Funding of Research in Higher Education

• First Stream: Subsidy from Department of Education

• Second Stream: On competitive basis from agencies for self initiated research and human resource development (NRF, MRC)

• Third Stream: Contracts, external funding sources, mission driven

Publicly Funded Research 2001/02DACST DTI DoE OtherScience Vote SPII, PII & THRIP Education Vote Depts. R1800 ~R130 R140 R710 ~R700

Science Councils

NATIONAL RESEARCHFOUNDATION

CSIRHSRCARCGEOSCSABSMintek

MRC

NationalFacilitiesiThemba LABSSAAOHartRAOSAIABHMO

Un

iversities

Tech

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ons

Associated Res. Labs.

NECSA (DME)

NBIMCM (DEAT)SFRI

NIVSAIMR (DoH)

Mu

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NACI CHE

WRC (DWAF)

R440

National System of InnovationWhite Paper on Science and Technology

A set of functioning institutions,

organisations and policies which interact constructively in the pursuit of a common set of social and economic goals and objectives

• Led to the creation of the National Research Foundation

Object of the NRF

The object of the Foundation is to support and promote research through

funding, human resource development and the provision of the necessary research facilities in order to

facilitate the creation of knowledge, innovation and development in all fields of knowledge, including indigenous knowledge, and thereby

contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of all the people of the Republic

The National Research FoundationMinister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology

NRF Board

President and CEODr Khotso Mokhele

Research Support Agency•Research Promotion•Research Development•Knowledge Mngmt. & Strategy•THRIP•Innovation Fund

Corporate•Finance•Human Resources•PR & Communica-tion

National Facilities•iThemba LABS•SAAO•HartRAO•SAIAB•HMO

Budget : ~R 600 million; Staff ~550

Creation of the new NRF • NRF Act operative 1 April 1999• Physical and intellectual merger and restructuring of

elements of the former FRD and former CSD• New conditions of service through negotiated

agreements with new unions• New NRF Pension Fund and substantive human

resources issues addressed• New national facilities JLBSI + HMO • New national, regional and international roles

The NRF and the National Agenda• Making science part of the social contract in the

reconstruction of South Africa

• Supporting and engaging with the Government’s development agenda

• Developing research capacity to deal with national priorities and new and reinvigorated areas of problem-solving and knowledge production

• Developing IKS and indigenous technologies

The NRF and the National Agenda

• Development of high level human resources with a focus on scarce skills - engagement with DoE, DACST, DoL

• Shaping and developing programmes that link and balance:– global competitiveness and local needs– basic and applied research needs– the contributions of different science domains

New NRF Framework

• Funding research within prioritised areas• shaping national S&T priorities • catalyst within the NSI• shaping intellectual life and infrastructure• supporting the development of a

representative science community in terms of race and gender

• supporting the creation of new knowledge

Financial Policy and Control

• Alignment to PFMA, timeous reporting to DACST and submission of three-year strategic plan

• Fraud Prevention Plan and instilling a culture of ethical behaviour

• Costing of granting activities and correct overhead charges and procedures for all external contracts

Mission of the NRF Research Support Agency

• A dynamic, quality-driven organisation that provides leadership in the promotion and support of research and research capacity development in the natural, social and human sciences, engineering and technology to meet national and global challenges through:

– investing in knowledge, people and infrastructure

– promoting basic and applied research and innovation

– developing research capacity and advancing equity and redress to unlock the full creative potential of the research community

– facilitating strategic partnerships and knowledge networks

– upholding research excellence

This it realises through the creativity and commitment of its people and partners

Strategic Operational Priorities

• Enhancing the Social Sciences and Humanities within the

Strategic Framework of the NRF

• Research Capacity Development

• Promoting and Enhancing Africa Interaction

• Evaluation and Quality Assurance

• Growing the Business

• Building a Knowledge Organisation

• Operational Effectiveness and Efficiency

Research Support Agency

• New Integrated Evaluation and Research Support System governing access to NRF funding:– across all disciplines– Capacity development in research and

scholarship at both institutional and individual levels

Research Support Agency

• System premised on peer review– Cornerstone: appropriately benchmarked

quality of research outputs – Gold standard: international benchmarking

• Development of a multi-disciplinary mode of supporting research and scholarship – equal promotion of basic and applied research– research capacity development

Research Support AgencyNine Focus Areas responding to specific national

development imperatives:• Unlocking the Future: Advancing and strengthening the strategic knowledge base

• Distinct South African Research Opportunities

• Conservation and Management of Ecosystems and Biodiversity

• Sustainable Livelihoods: The Eradication of Poverty

• Economic Growth and International Competitiveness

• ICT and the Information Society in South Africa

• Socio-political Impact of Globalisation

• Indigenous Knowledge Systems

• Education and the Challenges for Change

Research Support Agency• Broad acceptance of the System of Evaluation and

Rating of individuals by the Humanities and Social Sciences community

• Confronting the challenge of attaining Redress and Equity in high level human resource development

• Extensive consultation and workshops with substantial support from affected stakeholders

New Submission System went live on

2 April 2002

Stronger International Role

• DACST STAC Funding - R15m in 2002

• 30 S&T bilateral S&T agreements– 17 currently active (e.g. SA-France)

• 4 multilateral agreements (e.g. SA-EU)

• NRF has 12 inter-institutional collaboration agreements

• Enhance training, exchanges, cooperation and capacity development

Influence within the National System of Innovation

• DTI and THRIP– from R75m in 1998/99 to R140m in 2001/02

• DACST and the Innovation Fund – management in 2001 (R135m by 2003)

• DACST, DEAT and SANAP – advanced negotiations

• DoL and National Skills Development Fund– advanced negotiations on development of scarce high

level human resource skills

National Facilities

• South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity– from declared cultural institution to National

Research Facility– successful strategic planning process– change of name and new mandate– DACST, DEAT and the Coelacanth Project

• national, sub-regional and international role players with strong element of public awareness of science

New Mission of SAIAB

• Serving Africa’s needs in understanding fishes and aquatic environments

National Facilities

• iThemba LABS– strategic planning and a bold new plan for the

future– Proposed creation of a Major Radiation

Medicine Centre • contribution to nuclear medicine, research and

training

• treatment modalities using protons, neutrons and photons

National Facilities• South African Astronomical Observatory

– Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) groundbreaking in September 2000

– NRF secured nearly 100% of US$35m for construction and operation for first ten years

– Collateral benefits of student training (National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme)

– Sutherland Community - 2 schools as mathematical and science education centres

– Public awareness of science - visitor and activity centre

National Facilities

• HartRao– agreement with NASA and establishement of

Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) facility– SLR recently declared as one of the most

productive facilities in the worldwide network that NASA operates

National FacilitiesHartRao

• Concept of an African Institute for Astronomy and Space Science through regional networking to place South Africa in position to bid for large multinational facilities (e.g. Square Kilometre Array)

National Facilities Hermanus Magnetic Observatory

– successful negotiation of transfer from CSIR in 2001

– strategic plan to convert to a National Facility

Peter DruckerAre Knowledge Workers the

New Capitalists?

Knowledge as the key resource and the only scarce one?

Human Resource Development

SA Performance in the:

World Competitiveness Yearbook 2001• R&D 44th out of 49 (2000=43)• Skilled labour 49th• Human Development Index 46th• But score high on cost of living, industrial electricity

cost and investment in telecommunications (top 3)

SA has infrastructural capacity but lacks the skilled human resources to capitalise on it

Highest degree qualification of graduates inSouth Africa under the age of 65 (1998)

% of economicallyactive population(13.78 million)

Bachelors (3-year) 209 476 1.5Bachelors (4-year) 16 304 0.1Postgraduate diploma 50 978 0.4Honours 18 668 0.1Masters 42 637 0.3Doctorate 9 762 0.07TOTAL 547 825 3.9Source: HSRC (1999)

Total Number of Graduates from all South African Universities in 2000

5492

17285

7075

3549

1840

6525

3073

267

1130

2111

1653

619

274

370

44

101

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000

Natural Sciences,

Engineering and

Technology

Social Sciences,

Humanities and Arts

Business and

management Studies

Health Sciences

Fiel

d of

Spe

cial

isat

ion

Number of Graduates

Bachelors PG Bachelor & Honours Masters Doctorate

Too few doctoral graduates to make a difference

South African Higber Education Research Publication Output (1990 - 1998)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

Percentage

White % 96 95 94 95 94 93 93 92 92

Indian % 2 2 3 3 4 4 3 4 4

Coloured % 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

African % 1 2 2 1 2 2 3 3 3

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Research community outputs show imbalance in racial composition

Trends in research demographics– age cohorts

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Under 30 30 - 39 40 -49 50 -59 60+

NRF Student and Staff Support from the Science Vote - 2001

Total Black

% 2001

% 1996

Principal reseachers

1468 352 24 19

Bursaries and Scholarships

Total 5470 3294 60 40

Masters 2432 1333 55 30

Doctoral 948 372 40 20

Support to HBUs

1997 2000

Grants 95 138

Av. Grant R100000 R137000

Total R12.0m R19.0m

Bursaries 207 771

Support to Technikons

Increase in funding from R10.0m in 1997 to R11.2m in 2000

Increase in bursaries from 343 in 1997 to 422 in 2000

NRF Research Capacity Development

• Only able to support a small percentage of university and technikon masters and doctoral students requiring support

• Unable to attend to the massive annual needs of Honours students (17000+ enrol)– the crucial step to a research career

• Without support, especially for black and women postgraduate students, South Africa cannot change its human resources research profile and competitive position

–

Challenges for the Future (1)

• Need to double the base parliamentary grant from R250m to R500m to fulfill mandate and national role and balance granting activities

• Public research infrastructure, including research equipment, libraries and databases, needs renewal. – R1 billion per year for 5 years to ensure

competitiveness of research

Challenges for the Future (2)

• Require significant increases in the number of people trained at higher education level to meet HR development imperatives for national development. Initiatives for redress of race and gender inequities