Advancing Knowledge. Transforming Lives. Inspiring a Nation. Presentation to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Science and Technology 04 October 2017

NRF Performance 2016/17

SUPPORTING AND PROMOTING RESEARCH NRF Performance 2016/17 SUPPORTING AND PROMOTING RESEARCH POSTGRADUATE SUPPORT RESEARCHER SUPPORT PRODUCTIVITY EQUIPMENT GRANTS

NRF Performance 2016/17 NATIONAL RESEARCH FACILITIES NRF OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES NRF INVESTMENT IN SCIENCE ENGAGEMENT NATIONAL RESEARCH FACILITIES

Financial Overview - Income 0.5% Parliamentary Grant increase in nominal terms 5.7% decrease in real terms 25% Ring fenced funding 18.4% increase in real terms 6.7% Designated funding decrease in nominal terms 13.3%

Financial Overview - Expenditure 14% (R627m) Salaries 57% (R2600m) Grants 18% (R784m) Opex 11% (R503m) Capex

Investment in the Science System R2.4 bn Total investment in the human capacity development, research support, and the provision of research infrastructure, through the award of grants and bursaries

Percent of all enrolled postgraduates supported by the NRF Postgraduate Student Support 9.2% Percent of all enrolled postgraduates supported by the NRF (14 173)

Progress Against the Ministerial Guidelines

Researcher Support 4 520 Total number of researchers supported 54 076 Total number of research and instructional staff at Universities 12 612 Research and instructional staff with doctoral degrees 11 397 Research and instructional staff with masters degrees 35% The approximate percentage of researchers (with doctoral degrees) funded by the NRF

Researcher Support – Ratings 3 663 Total number of rated researchers 70% Increase in black rated researchers over 5 years 51% Increase in female rated researchers over 5 years

Researcher Support – Productivity Analysis

Researcher Support – Globally Competitiveness InCItes Data extracted 31 May 2017

Strategic Investments – CoEs and SARChI 199 Number of Research Chairs awarded 15 Number of Centres of Excellence (incl NiThEP)

Performance of Strategic Investments 15

Performance of Strategic Investments 16

Investment in the DST Grand Challenges (excl. Astronomy)

Investment in Astronomy (Cross-cutting Grand Challenge and Geographic Advantage Area)

Investment in Geographic Advantages (excl. Astronomy)

Science Engagement 374 457 Number learners reached through science education activities 1 084 760 Number Public reached through science engagement activities 17 997 Number Educators reached through science education

Science Engagement SAASTA in collaboration with Eskom Expo for Young Scientists, enabled two learners to participate in the 37th Beijing Young Scientists Conference A total of 38 out of 52 (73%) district municipalities were reached through learner and educator development activities during the period under review. School-Gold medal winner Miss Mandisa Xaba Sakhelwe High School School-Silver medal winner Miss Veeasha Pickirisami Kimberley Girls High

Science Engagement R3 million (over two) years was raised from the private sector to support participation and performance of learners in Mathematics and Science. The Komatsu Learner Camp at Hlanganani Secondary School was funded from these private investments. To enhance learner performance, content specialists focused on curriculum topics in: Physical Science, Life Science, and Mathematics

National Research Infrastructure Platforms

RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE RENEWAL AT iTHEMBA LABS Acquisition of new research and relevant infrastructure supports a globally competitive research agenda. The study of ‘exotic beams’ could invigorate basic and applied research from innovative cancer treatment modalities to understanding the origin and creation of chemical elements in the universe. The new Tandetron was commissioned in February 2017. This replaces the 65 year old accelerator established by the Southern Universities Nuclear Institute (SUNI) in 1952. The 6 MeV Van de Graaff Accelerator, accelerates light ions like protons, from 0,5MeV to 12MeV. The accelerator has been refurbished and converted into the first Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) at iThemba LABS. POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS SUPPORTED WEB OF SCIENCE PUBLICATIONS

National Zoological Gardens RESEARCH IN ACTION The NZG has successfully processed 92 wildlife forensics cases from 543 crime scene exhibit samples from the southern African region between 2015 and 2017. During the reporting period, the NZG Biobank grew by 9.5% with a total of 5 553 new individuals catalogued comprising 10 077 various biomaterials. POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS SUPPORTED WEB OF SCIENCE PUBLICATIONS

South African Earth Observation Network The BioEnergy Atlas for South Africa is a collaboration between academia, research institutions, and government. The BioEnergy Atlas identifies specific areas of interest where future research and effort can be directed. It was officially launched in March 2017 SAEON was 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). Earth observation is the gathering of information about planet Earth’s physical, chemical and biological systems. It involves monitoring and assessing the status of, and changes in, the natural and man-made environments.”

South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE FOR CONSERVATION The research vessel Phakisa: Is capable of accommodating and deploying a variety of specialised equipment; Can stay out at sea over-night; Is built to allow remotely operated underwater camera observation work which will create new opportunities to study South Africa’s eastern shelf edge. The Agulhas Current transports nutrients and plays a significant role in determining climate conditions in the region. SAIAB will aim to unlock its secrets. WEB OF SCIENCE PUBLICATIONS POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS SUPPORTED

National Research Infrastructure Platforms

South African Astronomical Observatory PRECISION ENGINEERING The highly skilled engineering team at SAAO designs, develops and operates a complex suite of opto-mechanical instruments. The SAAO Cape Town workshops and laboratories provide training and development to technicians and engineers in the fields of instrumentation engineering. 98 Web of Science Publications The SALT Technical Operations training programme, trained previously disadvantaged individuals from Sutherland as fitters and turners. This programme has also supported local students to pursue tertiary education. 33 Postgraduate students supervised

Hartebeesthoek Radio Observatory HartRAO officially opened the new Russian satellite ranging system. Sazhen-TM+OWS is the second of the ROSCOSMOS network of stations of the Russian GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS) INSTRUMENTATION WITH GLOBAL APPLICATIONS VGOS is a global network of very accurate and fast moving radio telescopes that observe the rotation rate of the Earth, and its orientation in space. This information is required for: Astronomy; Satellite orbit maintenance; Time keeping; and Many applications on Earth, and in space that require accurate positioning. The radio telescope is expected to be commissioned by end of 2018 The system can: Range to satellites with an orbital altitude of up to 25 000 km; Do continuous tracking of navigation signals of the GLONASS and GPS satellites; Perform measurement of the current navigation parameters; and Receive navigation messages transmitted from the satellites. 1 168 users of the facility were reported for 2016/17. The HartRAO definition of users includes recipients of VLBI data through the International Association of Geodesy

Square Kilometre Array Project ARRAY RELEASE 1 – A GLOBAL SUCCESS The MeerKAT telescope is the pathfinder to the SKA. KAT-7 is the experimental demonstrator to MeerKAT and first light with KAT-7 attracted great interest internationally. MeerKAT technology is cutting-edge and the project is creating a large group of young scientists and engineers with world-class expertise in support of the technologies that will be crucial in the next 10 – 20 years. MeerKAT Array Release 1 consisted of the first 16 science-commissioned dishes which were successfully signed off on the 30 June 2016. The first MeerKAT science image produced in late June 2016 drew positive feedback from the scientific community. The full 64 dish MeerKAT array is expected to be completed by the end of March 2018. MeerKAT first science has resulted in more than 500 international astronomers (58 from Africa) submitting proposals to do research on the telescope.

National Research Facilities The Normalised citation impact allows countries to compare the value and impact of their research outputs: The global average is 1 South African researchers exceed the average in a number of baselines Date exported from database InCItes Data extracted at 31 May 2017: iThemba; SAEON; SAIAB; NZG; SAAO; HartRAO, SKA

Enkosi, Thank you, Re a leboga, Siyabonga, Dankie @NRF_News NRFSouthAfrica www.NRF.ac.za