NRF-iThemba LABS to Host Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation

The iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences (NRF-iThemba LABS) will receive the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation at its Cape Town campus on 13 March 2024. The Committee will tour the new South African Isotope Facility (SAIF) and hold its science, technology and innovation (STI) Legacy Report meeting which will present the broad work that the committee undertook during the country’s 6th Parliament.

Opened by Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, in June 2023, the SAIF is one of NRF-iThemba LABS’s flagship projects. Says Dr Fulufhelo Nelwamondo, NRF CEO, “We look forward to hosting the Portfolio Committee for a guided tour of our research infrastructure, and the STI Legacy Report meeting. In Particular, we look forward to sharing an update on the establishment of SAIF and how it will benefit and impact the nuclear medicine sector through research and product delivery. This is an important project for NRF-iThemba LABS as this will allow needed refurbishment to be conducted on the separated sector cyclotron that has been the workhorse of accelerator-based science in South Africa for almost 40-years.”

Minister Nzimande; Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Mr Buti Manamela; and Director-General of the Department of Science and Innovation, Dr Phil Mjwara, will be in attendance and deliver reflection remarks on the STI Legacy Report. NRF Board Chairperson, Professor Mosa Moshabela, will deliver the welcoming remarks.

Event Details:

Venue: NRF-iThemba LABS, Old Faure Road, Faure, Cape Town
Dates: 13 March 2024
Time: 08:00 – 13:30

For enquiries, please contact:

Bongani Nkosi
Media Relations Officer
National Research Foundation
+27 61 477 3064
b.nkosi@nrf.ac.za