RESEARCH ADMINSTRATORS WORKSHOP CHALLENGES FACED BY NRF STUDENT AFFAIRS CHALLENGES FACED BY NRF THASHNI PILLAY 10 OCTOBER 2017

OVERVIEW Grants Management Process and Implementation Grant Management Systems Grant Expenditure and Compliance Stakeholder Engagements Role of the DA Honours Block Grant Process Proof of Registrations and Progress Reports Travel Grants

Grant Management Process & Implementation Adherence to Call Schedule Business Processes and Controls Participation of Institutions under Funding Calls Grant Manuals Reporting- Student Completion, Progress Reports

Grant Management Systems Optimizing Electronic System Data Management Application Management Supporting Documents and Conditions of Grant Nominations

EPR Application Statistics Applications Submitted to NRF for 2017 under ERP Appeal for DAAD-NRF In-Country Master’s and Doctoral Scholarships Programme 2016 9 Appeal for NRF Free-standing-Scarce Skills-Innovation Postdoctoral Fellowship Call for 2016 11 Appeal for Sabbatical Grants to Complete Doctoral Degrees 2016 2 Appeal for Thuthuka 2016 6 Call for 2016 SANCOR Postdoctoral Fellowship 5 Call for SANCOR International Travel Student Award for 2016 4 DAAD/NRF Joint In-Country Masters and Doctoral Scholarship 2018 1456 DST-NRF Collaborative Postgraduate Training Call for 2018 66 DST-NRF Extension Support for Masters and Doctoral Students 2018 650 DST-NRF Fellowships for Early Career Researchers from the United Kingdom 2018 8 DST-NRF Professional Development Programme (PDP) Block Grant Call for 2018 15 DST-NRF Research Development Grants for New Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP) Scholars 2017 20 DST-NRF Support for Part-time Doctoral Students 2018 93 NRF Freestanding, Innovation and Scarce Skills Development Fund Masters and Doctoral Scholarships 2018 5919 NRF Free-Standing, Innovation and Scarce Skills Postdoctoral Fellowships 2018 870 NRF-FRF Sabbatical Grant 2018 60 NRF-TWAS Postdoctoral Fellowships 2018 97 NRF-TWAS/African Renaissance Doctoral Scholarship 2018 185 Sabbatical Grants for Completion of Doctoral Degrees 2018 88 Thuthuka 2018 484 Grand Total 10048

Grant Expenditure % of Expenditure under Institutions Award vs Released vs Claim Management of Audit Findings- NRF/ Institution Financial Compliance Proactive Monitoring of Grants Improve the Turnaround under Grant Expenditure

Stakeholder Engagement Proactive sharing of Information Daily Communication (Email, telephone) 24hrs Response to Queries Targeted institutional Visits

Roles of the DA Communicate NRF Calls and Processes within Institution Checking Applications for Eligibility Advising on queries from Students/ Researchers Ensuring Compliance on Processes Checking all requirements are meet Upload all nominations and documents Report and update NRF Information

Honours Block Grant Process

Proof of Registration Inconsistencies under POR (PT vs FT, Semester registration, Pre-registration, Unofficial) Proof of Registration Audit Requirements On Institutional letter head (sign and stamped) Date, Full name of student, ID number, Student number, Address, Registration year, Degree registered for (level), Date of first registration for the degree, Year of study for current degree or degree registered for, Full time or part time, Upgrade from Masters to Doctoral

Progress Reports Timeframes- November 2017 to 15 February 2018 Approval without POR POR to be sent for release of funding Institutions not adhering to deadlines Incomplete reports submitted Missing documentation and supervisor recommendation Submission of reports from persons that are not eligible for renewal

Travel Grants Missing and Incomplete documentation No supervisor recommendations Applicants and Institutions not adhering to timeframes under Guide Masters- Local vs International Travel

Challenges Experienced Lack of Institutional understanding of NRF Processes and requirements under funding programmes Submission of Incomplete Applications, Progress Reports, Travel Requests, Nominations Grantholders not viewing their grant statements Institutional not keeping to deadlines for taking up of funds Double Dipping under grants On renewal of support, DA’s need to recheck eligibility of applicant- issues of employment DA’s referring queries to the NRF that can be resolved at institutional level Issue of data integrity submitted by institutions