Invitation to Cover the 2025 National Research Foundation (NRF) Awards

The National Research Foundation (NRF) Awards will take place on 07 August 2025 at the NH Johannesburg Sandton Hotel (formerly Hilton Sandton Hotel), in Gauteng. Members of the media are invited to cover this prestigious awards ceremony held annually to celebrate South Africa’s research excellence. This year’s awards event will be held under the theme Innovating for a Sustainable Future, which aligns with the NRF’s Vision 2030 of Research for a Better Society.

In addition to recognising the winners for their outstanding and impactful research and academic achievements, the event will host the who’s who of local and international academia. Keynote speakers will include the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, and NRF CEO, Dr Fulufhelo Nelwamondo.

The awards are presented across two categories—the NRF Ratings-based Awards and Special 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.

Event details:

Venue: NH Johannesburg Sandton Hotel
Address: 138 Rivonia Rd, Sandown, Sandton.
Date: 07 August 2025.
Time: 16:00 (Registrations start earlier).

Journalists who wish to cover the awards ceremony in person should contact NRF Media Relations Officer, Bongani Nkosi, on b.nkosi@nrf.ac.za or +27 61 477 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

• Lifetime Achievement Award – This accolade is awarded to individuals 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, and for the manner in which their work has touched and shaped the lives and views of many South Africans.
• Research Excellence Award for Next Generation Researchers – This award recognises outstanding academic performance by final-year Doctoral students.
• Research Excellence Award for Early Career/Emerging Researchers – This award recognises outstanding research performance by current early career/ emerging researchers in any discipline, who are NRF grantholders.
• Focussed Research Advancement Award – This award recognises a University of Technology and a Historically Disadvantaged University that have shown most growth in research productivity and research support. The evaluation covers a period of five years.
• Champion of Research Capacity Development and Transformation at South African Higher Education Institutions Award – This category recognises individuals within the research community who contribute to the transformation, and thus diversity, of South Africa’s science cohort through the research students they supervise.
• Public Engagement with Research Award – This award recognises outstanding contributions to public engagement with science and encourages academics to make their work, and science and technology in general, more accessible to the public.
• Science Team Award – In recognition of the contributions, creativity and achievements of a science team towards extending the boundaries of scientific research in Africa, producing science outcomes which have positively impacted society and for the role they played in raising South Africa’s international stature as a world-class research destination.
• Societal Impact Award – In recognition of research with impact that has resulted in improvement in the quality of people’s lives.

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 are 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 postdoctoral careers, are considered likely to become future international leaders in their respective fields.