Deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe will unveil new research chairs under the country's flagship initiative, the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) on 7 March 2014.
According to a government statement, research chairs have been established in diverse disciplines of scientific research, including the natural sciences, engineering, the humanities and the social sciences.
Although research chairs are intended to support scientific research and innovation generally, they also respond to the five priorities of government, it notes.
The initiative has also included five research chairs relevant to the Square Kilometre Array project since its inception in 2006 by the Department of Science and Technology. These include Radio Astronomy Techniques and Technologies (Rhodes University); Electromagnetic Systems and Electromagnetic Interference Mitigation for the Square Kilometre Array (Stellenbosch University); Extragalactic Multi-Wavelength Astronomy (University of Cape Town); Astronomy and Astrophysics (University of the Western Cape); and Radio Astronomy (University of the Witwatersrand).
To government, the process of awarding new research chairs is an open and a competitive one, and it follows a two-phased approach.
It says the first phase focuses on the proposals submitted by the universities to demonstrate their readiness and suitability to host a research chair. Awards are made to the shortlisted institutions during this phase. In the second phase, the shortlisted institutions present their proposals on the candidates for the research chair positions.
SARChI is aimed at attracting and retaining excellence in research and innovation at South African universities, enabling universities to produce high-quality postgraduate students and research and innovation outputs.
Government has invested over R1.1 billion in SARChI - which is managed by the National Research Foundation - since its inception in 2005.
According to the state, to date SARChI has awarded 150 research chairs, mainly in areas aligned with government's research and development strategies and priority areas as expressed in the Medium Term Strategic Framework. Research chairs under SARChI are funded for up to 15 years at R2.5 million and R1.5 million per annum for Tier 1 and Tier 2 research chairs, respectively, with inflation-related increases over the funding period.
The current total of 150 research chairs makes this an investment of more than R400 million per annum, and probably South Africa's biggest single high-end skills development investment over a 15-year period.
SARChI has also leveraged close to 200% of the government's investment in the initiative from other sources. Furthermore, the initiative has had moderate - but encouraging - success in attracting established researchers from developed countries to SA.
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