Invitation to Cover the 2024 National Research Foundation (NRF) Awards

The prestigious National Research Foundation (NRF) Awards will take place on 22 August 2024 at Sun City Resort, North West. Members of the media are invited to cover the awards ceremony, held annually to celebrate South Africa’s research excellence. In addition to the 2024 winners, the event hosts the who’s who of local and international academia. Keynote speakers will include Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande; and NRF CEO, Dr Fulufhelo Nelwamondo.

The NRF Awards celebrate the scientists behind some of the outstanding research done at South Africa’s higher education institutions. “The 2024 Awards will also celebrate the NRF’s  25 years of promoting and enabling research, innovation, impact, and building partnerships in the effort to contribute to building an inclusive knowledge-based society,” says Dr Nelwamondo.

The awards are presented across two categories – the Special Awards and NRF Ratings-based Awards. The Ratings-based Awards are centred on a peer review system that looks at the research impact of the nominee over a five-year period. The nominees for the Special Awards also go through an independent peer evaluation structured on a set of criteria. 

One of the special awards is the Lifetime Achievement, which honours a South African or permanent resident considered to have made extraordinary contributions of international standard and impact to the development of science in and for South Africa over an extended period of time. Witwatersrand University’s Distinguished Professor Jill Adler, a veteran mathematics education scholar, won this award last year.

Event details:

Venue:           Sun City Resort, North West
Date:              22 August 2024
Time:             18:00 (Registrations start earlier)

Journalists wishing to cover the awards ceremony in person should contact NRF Media Relations Officer, Bongani Nkosi, on b.nkosi@nrf.ac.za or 061 477 3064, for accreditation and/or any requests. The awards ceremony will also be livestreamed on the NRF YouTube account.

Details of awards categories

The Special Awards Categories

• Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Research Excellence Award for Next Generation Researchers.
• Research Excellence Award for Early Career/Emerging Researchers.
• Champion of Research Capacity Development and Transformation at South African Higher Education Institutions Award.
• Public Engagement with Research Award.
• Focussed Research Advancement Award.
• Innovation Advancement Award.
• Science Team Award.
• Societal Impact Award.

Ratings-based Awards Categories

Each year a number of researchers whose research output has been peer-reviewed are given ratings by the NRF. These ratings fall under the categories of A, B, C, P or Y. These ratings recognise the excellence shown by these researchers, highlighting not only their standing as leaders in their fields but also the world-leading nature of their work as assessed by their peers. Researchers who have received the A and P ratings will be acknowledged at the NRF Awards.

To obtain an A rating, a researcher must be recognised by their peers as a leading international scholar in their field. The recognition for an A-rated researcher must be based on the high quality and high impact of their recent research output.

The P rating is awarded to researchers who, based on exceptional potential demonstrated in research performance and output during doctoral and/or early post-doctoral careers, are considered likely to become future international leaders in their respective fields.