Strategic Investment, Innovation and Impact

Strategic Investment, Innovation and Impact (SI3) provides strategic thought leadership and foresight for the efficient and effective implementation of the NRF’s mandate by advancing strategic investments in the form of the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI); Centres of Excellence (CoEs); National Institutes for Research, Development and Innovation (NIRDI); and research infrastructure within RIISA. SI3 also advances innovation and impact across the NRF through human capital development; research and innovation output generation; exchanges and transfers; and the facilitation of the uptake of innovation outputs and their utilisation by relevant stakeholders for societal impact.

Strategic Investment, Innovation and Impact consists of four functions as follows:

South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI)

CENIRIF: Centres of Excellence, National Institutes for Research, Development & Innovation, Research Infrastructures and Flagships

Innovation

Impact

CENIRIF Function

CENIRIF implements the DSTI Centres of Excellence; National Institutes for Research Development and Innovation; the Research Infrastructure (RI) Portfolio; and the Flagship Programme as follows:

The CoEs promote knowledge & HCD in areas of strategic importance to South Africa.

NIRDIs consolidate and enhance the RDI capacities from SARChI and CoEs and other initiatives supported by government.

RI enables the advancement of the national R&D agenda by equipping SA research institutions with state-of-the-art research equipment.

Funding Instruments:

1. DSTI-NRF CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE

DSTI-NRF Centres of Excellence (CoEs) are physical or virtual centres of research that concentrate existing research excellence and capacity and resources to enable researchers to collaborate across disciplines and institutions on long-term projects that are locally relevant and internationally competitive in order to enhance the pursuit of research excellence and capacity development. The DSTI-NRF CoE Funding Instrument was launched in 2004 with the establishment of seven CoEs. Since then, three additional CoEs were established between 2009 and 2013 with five new CoEs established in 2014. The five key performance areas of the CoEs are:

Research/knowledge production

Education and training

Information brokerage

Networking

Service rendering.

Over the past decade, the Steering Committees for each of the CoEs have played an important oversight role in ensuring their success.

DSTI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences (GENUS)

GENUS is a collective knowledge hub and inclusive network for palaeosciences in South Africa. Dedicated to the study of the origins of species, it looks beyond the science to inspire researchers and citizens to find meaning in the past and inform decisions for a better future. With South Africa’s unmatched fossil and archaeological record, GENUS enables ground-breaking discoveries that move palaeosciences forward; encourage cross-discipline collaboration; and make knowledge accessible to all. Through its broad international and local network, GENUS provides access to a valuable repository of tools, information, funding, technology and support. This empowers emerging researchers, postdoctoral Fellows, and postgraduate students to further their research; grow their network; and contribute to the discovery of sustainable solutions for society and the environment. The CoE is led by Professor Jennifer Botha.

DSTI-NRF National Institutes for Research, Development and Innovation

The National Institutes for Research, Development, and Innovation (NIRDIs) aim to bring together related and complementary research and development capabilities to create a globally competitive structure in specific areas of national research. These institutes are focused on specific missions and involve significant investments in human resources, equipment, facilities, and cutting-edge research to attract top scientific talent and foster collaboration with international partners. They also provide opportunities for skills transfer and mentorship for emerging researchers.

DSTI-NRF National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences (NITheCS)

The DSTI-NRF National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences (NITheCS), was established in 2023, and is a multidisciplinary and multi-themed institute hosted by Stellenbosch University. NITheCS seeks to build human and research capacity in the theoretical and computational sciences, and enhance scientific innovation, transformation and socio-economic development both locally and in Africa. NITheCS is led by Professor Francesco Petruccione.

DSTI-NRF Institute for Preparedness and Prevention of Pandemics (IP3)

The Institute for Preparedness and Prevention of Pandemics (IP3) is a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional consortium consisting of 10 South African public higher education institutions. This consortium consists of an equitable and equal proportion of research-intensive universities and HDIs:

University of Pretoria

University of KwaZulu-Natal

Stellenbosch University

University of Cape Town

University of the Western Cape

University of Limpopo

Sefako Makgatho Health Science University

University of Fort Hare

University of Venda

University of the Witwatersrand

The primary purpose of IP3 is to direct research, development and innovation initiatives towards the readiness of South Africa to proactively respond to, and where possible, prevent possible future public health emergencies and pandemics caused by communicable diseases. The IP3 is an indispensable proactive research entity for South Africa that will be part of the prediction, preparation and armamentarium to combat future pandemics. It is intended to be an innovative, virtual institute with multi-institutional loci of relevant subject matter expertise, and function as an integrated transdisciplinary institute that with big data, epidemiological modelling, biomedical, and clinical sciences and systems approaches capabilities. IP3 is currently under the leadership of Professor May-Ann Davies at the University of Cape Town which functions as the interim Administrative Hub until the National Office is established.

2. DSTI-NRF FLAGSHIP PROGRAMME

The DSTI-NRF Flagship Programme initiative was established in 2013. It is a scientific research/innovation programme in an area that is unique to an institution, or in which the institution excels in a way that affords it a comparative advantage. The objective of this programme is to support:

Knowledge production within a chosen area which addresses the university’s research and national priorities according to the National Development Plan and other core policy prescripts of the government.

Develop institutional research capacity.

Research excellence and transformation of the science cohort.

There were three Flagship Projects of which the first two were awarded in 2016, namely the Hydrogen Intensity and Real-Time Analysis Experiment (Hirax): Mapping the Southern Sky at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Critical Thought in African Humanities at the University of the Western Cape. These were followed by Design, Service Delivery, Manufacturing Skills Development, Energy and Water Technologies at the Tshwane University of Technology in 2019 and which is currently the only active Flagship.

3. RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES

3.1 National Equipment Programme (NEP)

The NEP, through a competitive peer review process, makes funds available to support the acquisition, upgrade or development of state-of-the-art research equipment. This involves major items of equipment that support multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research and usually requires significant capital investment. In addition, specialised operators and dedicated personnel are required to operate and maintain such instrumentation. The primary objectives of the NEP are to:

Improve research infrastructure to enable internationally competitive research to be conducted in South Africa;

Expand institutional capacity for research, innovation and training at public universities and recognised research institutions;

Develop human resource capacity primarily postgraduate student training and staff development that focuses on historically disadvantaged institutions, women and people with disabilities;

Support the acquisition, upgrade or development of state-of-the-art instrumentation for South African public research institutions to undertake world class research;

Promote, through the placement of research equipment, the development of research collaborations; and

Support and strengthen the objectives of the WP-STI, STI Decadal Plan 2022-2032, NDP: Vision 2030, South African Research Infrastructure Roadmap (SARIR), NRF Strategy 20256 and the DSI’s Ten-Year Innovation Plan.

3.2 Strategic Research Equipment Programme (SREP)

The SREP funding instrument includes the acquisition of equipment that is not only able to advance the frontiers of science but is also able to address the development of scarce skills; attract industry investment and involvement; and drive scientific and technological productivity and research in national priority areas. Additional resources will need to be invested by the institutions to provide the necessary physical infrastructure, services, utilities, technical staff, maintenance, and support facilities such as information technology for the equipment. The equipment may be:

Movable research equipment that can be decommissioned and relocated to another institution; or

Fixed research equipment that cannot be relocated to another institution, e.g. Gamma-ray Asymmetric Spectrometer.

Applications may be for a complete system or a suite of complementary components that collectively constitute a single analytical system (e.g. Field Emission Gun Transmission Electron Microscope with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and a Camera). Given the size and complexity of the equipment, this funding instrument is designed to support only applications from a consortium of research institutions.

A consortium is defined as: A group of research institutions that comprises of a Lead Institution, a Hosting Institution where appropriate, and Member Institutions that assume joint responsibility for the procurement and long-term sustainable administration, management and replacement of the equipment, through a single contractual agreement between all consortium members and the NRF.

Members are restricted to South African public universities and research institutions and must include at least one institution that is categorised as historically disadvantaged

3.3 South Africa (SA)- Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) Programme (SA-JINR)

The Republic of South Africa signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Russian Federation in 2005, which led to South Africa becoming an associate member of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) through a Memorandum of Understanding signed between JINR and the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI). JINR is an independent, multinational research agency located in Dubna, Russian Federation. The JINR conducts both theoretical and experimental research, mainly in the fields of elementary particle physics, nuclear physics and condensed matter physics. The purpose of the MoU between the DSTI and JINR is to establish a framework for mutual co-operation between DSTI and JINR with regard to their efforts in scientific and technological research and development. Co-operation includes but is not limited to:

Visits by individual scientists, postgraduate students, experts or research groups from South Africa to the JINR for skills development purposes;

Attendance by individual scientists, postgraduate students, experts or research groups from South Africa at courses offered by the JINR;

Participation in scientific research undertaken by the JINR by individual scientists, postgraduate students, experts or research groups from South Africa; and

Transfer of technology between the South African research institutions and JINR.

i. South Africa (SA) - Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) Research and Innovation Grants

The associate membership to JINR provides the South African research community with access to world-class research facilities at the JINR, and networking opportunities with the global JINR scientific community. As part of this agreement, three-year research and innovation grants are awarded to South African researchers in collaboration with researchers at JINR laboratories. Funding is also made available to researchers in South Africa to host JINR research experts for short periods of up to three weeks per annum in order to enrich local expertise in their field.

ii. South Africa (SA) – Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) Summer School and International Student Practice

As part of the SA-JINR agreement, the National Research Foundation (NRF) facilitates an annual SAINTS Physics Summer School in January held at NRF-iThemba LABS, Cape Town and the International Student Practice (ISP) held in June at the JINR laboratories in Dubna, Russia. The goal of the Student Practice is to build a critical mass of students that may later advance in the various nuclear research activities offered by the JINR to the benefit of South Africa. Through previous experiences with students who attended the ISP at JINR, it was observed that most South African students require hands-on training related to the basics of Nuclear and Materials Sciences before participating in the ISP at the JINR. This may be attributed to some universities offering science courses but are unable to provide hands-on practical training due to the unavailability of laboratory equipment for practical training in nuclear and materials sciences. Given the cost of acquisition of such instruments, mostly students from the lower resourced Historically Disadvantaged Institutions (HDIs) are seriously affected by this lack of science laboratory equipment at their institutions. The consequence is that many students, particularly those from HDIs, lack the requisite skills on instrumentation techniques and related knowledge to gain maximum benefit from the Student Practice training offered at Dubna. It is for this reason that a two-phase approach to the Student Practice initiative was implemented as outlined below:

3.4 Centre for High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (C-HRTEM)

The DSTI-NRF Centre for High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy is a facility for advanced electron microscopy situated at the Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha (previously Port Elizabeth), South Africa. The facility houses four state-of-the-art electron microscopes, including the only double aberration corrected transmission electron microscope on the African continent, as well as the enabling infrastructure for sample preparation, data processing and image simulation. Other instruments include a general-purpose analytical TEM, a focused ion beam scanning electron microscope and an analytical high resolution scanning electron microscope. The main aim of the Centre for HRTEM is to provide a broad community of South African scientists and students with a full range of state-of-the-art instruments and expertise for materials research.

Funding

2026 South Africa (SA) -Joint Institute for Nuclear INR Student Practice

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List of general contact details and contact details for each programme

Postal and Physical Adress

Contact Details

Portfolio/Programme