Transcript Centres of Excellence Programme

Centres of Excellence
Programme
Portfolio Committee Arts, Culture,
Science and Technology
February 2004
Centres of Excellence
Introduction
 Knowledge based economies require a good supply of
scientists and researchers
 Demand continues to increase as governments and
business increase investment in R&D
 Recent information
 R&D expenditure as % of GDP 0.76 in 2001 (0.69 in 1997)
Goal - 1% GDP
 Availability of research skills 1.9 per 1000
South Korea 6.4 per 1000
 Women researchers as % of total researchers 35.3%
Department of Science and Technology
Centres of Excellence
Objectives
Need to increase the supply of SET human capital for the
South African economy
To establish centres of research excellence
 Concentrate and strengthen existing centres of research
excellence
 Provide an enabling environment for the pursuit of
knowledge
 Investment by government builds a foundation for other
sources of funds
Department of Science and Technology
Centres of Excellence
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Rationale
Centres of sustained distinction in research in
key areas of national and global areas of
knowledge
Generate highly qualified human resource
capacity
Concentrate and build on existing capacity
Focus on innovation outcomes
Production of post graduate researchers with
employment
Department of Science and Technology
Centres of Excellence
Rationale
 Collective nature of scientific production
 Global trend – increase in number of authors per article
 Collaborations result in higher output and quality
Dynamics of scientific production in a discipline
 Resources to top scientists
 Average age of researchers
Knowledge diffusion
 PhD and post-docs train as researchers
 Mobility through employment spreads scientific knowledge
Department of Science and Technology
Centres of Excellence
Rationale
 Address research excellence in global standard
 To retain top-class scientists and researchers
 Well connected
 Well resourced
 Build on potential to become a centre of
excellence
 Clear research excellence capacity building
Department of Science and Technology
Centres of Excellence
Implementation
 Two approaches employed
 Identification of areas of need
 Three centres established with DST support
 African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS)
 SA Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis
(SACEMA)
 Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation
Indicators (CESTII)
Department of Science and Technology
Centres of Excellence
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Implementation
Two approaches employed
National Research Foundation (NRF)
Open call for pre-proposals
Assessed on
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Research focus
Capacity development (incl. race and gender)
Information brokerage and rendering of services
Networking potential
Competence of management
Funding by other sources
Department of Science and Technology
Centres of Excellence
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Implementation
Assessment of pre-proposals by expert
panels
Invitation to submit full proposal
Assessment using same criteria as above
Include
 international peer review
 Site visits
 Panel review
Department of Science and Technology
Centres of Excellence
Implementation status
 Seventy pre-proposals received
 Thirteen invited to submit full proposals
 Ten funded to further develop
 Proposal
 Team
 Final assessment and selection in March
2004
Department of Science and Technology
Centres of Excellence
Looking Ahead
 Need to increase resourcing for
programme
 Improve outcomes related to supply of
researchers and scientists, knowledge
production (basis for innovation), global
competitiveness of South African
 Amount of research funding spent on
‘grantholder’ programmes should equal that
spent on centres of excellence
Department of Science and Technology
Centres of Excellence
Looking Ahead
 Co-ordinate centres of excellence programmes
with
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DTI
DEAT
DME
NDA
Common set of goals and assessment criteria
 Different emphases linked to desired outcomes
Department of Science and Technology
Centres of Excellence
Thank You
Department of Science and Technology