News & Events

Professor Bruce Mellado won the TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Research at this year’s NSTF-South32 Awards. Named after the esteemed South African Mathematician and Educator who was the first black professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, the award recognises research and research outputs. Prof

The National Research Foundation (NRF) would like to congratulate a prominent scholar from South Africa who have been elected to the Governing Board of the International Science Council. The general assembly of the ISC is taking place during 11-15 October

In partnership with the National Research Foundation and prominent international partners, the International Science Council has published a seminal report: Unleashing Science: Delivering Missions for Sustainability –  a call to action emphasising that the achievement of the transformative vision of the SDGs

The 7th WCRI will take place next year from the 29th May to 1st June 2022. The deadline for submitting abstracts and applying for conference travel grants is fast approaching on the 15th October 2021. Please visit the conference website to submit

Sasol, together with the National Research Foundation (NRF), is calling for research proposals on science and engineering projects that can enable its energy transition and that of the country, as well as the development of South Africa’s green economy. The

The NRF congratulates Prof Felix Dakora as the 2021 Louis Malassis International Scientific Prize for Agriculture and Food Laureate. This prominent award was made in the category of ‘Outstanding Career in Agricultural Development’ for his distinguished career devoted to agricultural

The HERA telescope, an array of 350 antennas situated next to MeerKAT in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, is being built by a team of local artisans from the town of Carnarvon. It has now released its first

Researchers discover three supermassive black holes merging together in our nearby universe Researchers using the IRSF (InfraRed Survey Facility) at SAAO in Sutherland, have discovered three supermassive black holes from three galaxies merging together! The IRSF is a collaboration between

In line with NRF Vision 2030, which is grounded on Transformation, Impact Excellence and Sustainability (TIES), the NRF has developed a Framework to Advance the Societal and Knowledge Impact of Research. This Framework outlines how the NRF, through its core

The Department of Science and Innovation-funded Internship Programme, previously managed by the National Research Foundation (NRF), has been moved to the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Over the 15 years it was led by the NRF, the programme enabled over

The National Research Foundation (NRF) in collaboration with the Global Young Scientists Summit (GYSS) wishes to call upon all the researchers (Doctoral students and Postdoctoral fellows) to send through their nominations for the Global Young Scientists Summit (GYSS) 2022. The

An article written by Julienne Du Toit for The Daily Maverick. The story of how a shy radio astronomer from the Eastern Cape came to be a central character in building of one of the world’s most sensitive scientific instruments involves

Professor Nadine Petersen, member of the NRF Board’s Research Development Committee, has been appointed Executive Dean: Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The appointment will be for a five-year term from 01 January 2022 to 31 December

Ms Cassandra Mfana has been appointed the NRF Board Secretary, effective from 02 August 2021. Ms Mfana is an admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa; a Certified Chartered Company Secretary; a Certified Ethics Officer; Associate of the

Results from a global collaboration among marine ecologists reveal that mangroves might be threatened by low functional diversity of invertebrates. The results were released on the 30th July on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) scientific journal. Mangroves are

An international team of scientists has used high-powered X-rays to show how an extinct dinosaur breathed. The team, led by South African PhD student Viktor Radermacher, were able to virtually reconstruct a new skeleton of the plant-eating dinosaur Heterodontosaurus tucki in unprecedented

The National Research Foundation (NRF) was the co-organiser of a three-day conference on the Impact of Science that took place from 23 to 25 June 2021. The conference was hosted virtually from the University of Cape Town and was organised

The French Institutes for Advanced Study Fellowship Programme offers 10-month fellowships in the five Institutes of Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier and Nantes. It welcomes applications from high-level international scholars and scientists primarily in the fields of the social sciences and

At a historic meeting of its Council last week, the recently formed SKA Observatory (SKAO) saw its Member States approve the start of construction of the SKA telescopes in Australia and South Africa. The two telescopes, currently designated SKA-Low and

The National Research Foundation (NRF) congratulates the NRF Board Chairperson, Dr Nompumelelo Obokoh, on her appointment as a member of the Independent Science for Development Council (ISDC). In this role Dr Obokoh will be offering independent, strategic advice to the CGIAR (Consortium

The NRF has joined the global celebration of World Ocean Day with a special message from Dr Angus Paterson, Managing Director of the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (NRF-SAIAB). NRF-SAIAB has also brought to life the coelacanth story, Finding Old Four

Two giant radio galaxies have been discovered with South Africa’s powerful MeerKAT telescope. These galaxies are amongst the largest single objects in the Universe and are thought to be quite rare. The fact that MeerKAT detected two of these monsters