UK-South Africa Joint Committee Strengthens Strategic Science and Innovation Partnership

Led by South Africa’s Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the National Research Foundation (NRF) participated in the UK-South Africa Science and Innovation Joint Committee (JC) Meeting held in London on 27 October 2025.

The meeting was attended by South Africa’s High Commissioner to the UK, Mr Kingsley Mamabolo, who underscored the importance of sustained collaboration between the two countries in advancing science, technology, and innovation for shared development. Co-chaired by DSTI’s Deputy Director-General, Mr Daan du Toit, and the FCDO’s Chief Scientific Advisor and Director, Prof Sir John Edmunds, the meeting highlighted successful bilateral initiatives in space and radio astronomy, energy, climate change, agriculture, and health research and innovation. It also explored new frontiers of cooperation in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and critical minerals.

The Committee reviewed priority areas, their governance mechanisms, and the 2026 – 2028 action plans to ensure continued strategic alignment and long-term impact. Representing the NRF, Dr Nokuthula Mchunu, Manager for International Collaborative Research Grants, presented on the NRF’s international grants programmes and open science engagements. Dr Thandi Mgwebi, Group Executive: Business Advancement, showcased the Presidential PhD Programme – outlining pathways for co-funded doctoral opportunities, joint supervision, and researcher mobility – supported by Ms Refilwe Mashigo, Senior Specialist: Government Resources and Programmes, who is responsible for coordinating the Programme.

Building on a longstanding partnership, the FCDO continues to support NRF programmes that enhance research capacity, particularly within HDIs and Universities of Technology. The collaboration is also expanding through the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), supported by funding from the International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF). These initiatives include the Research Infrastructure Partnership Programme (RIPP), where a number of HDI institutions are partnering with UK institutions around large and state-of-the-art research infrastructure in physics. The second initiative is the Africa-UK Physics Partnership Programme, developed in collaboration with the NRF, STFC, the Institute of Physics (IoP) UK to support Intra-Africa mobility of researchers working on physics-related projects, which can include bilateral or multilateral (four countries) projects between the 18 Science Granting Councils that are part of the SGCI.

The JC Meeting served as a prelude to the Roundtable Discussion on the Presidential PhD Programme and subsequent institutional visits to Imperial College London and the University of Sussex, aimed at translating the dialogue into actionable partnerships and advancing the shared vision of research excellence between South Africa and the United Kingdom.