Invitation to the Biotechnology Sector to recommend
critical topics and innovative ideas for potential public
dialogue sessions
1.
INTRODUCTION
The South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA) is a
business unit of the National Research Foundation. SAASTA’s mission is to promote broad
public awareness, appreciation and understanding of science, engineering and technology in
South Africa.
The Public Understanding of Biotechnology (PUB), an initiative of the Department of Science
and Technology (DST), is implemented by SAASTA’s Science Communication Unit across
all sectors of society. The PUB programme was launched in early 2003 with the overall aim
to promote a clear understanding of the potential of biotechnology and to ensure broad
public awareness, dialogue and debate on its current and potential future applications. The
target audience includes all facets of the South African society.
Over the eleven years that the PUB programme has been running, a number of dialogue
sessions such as Media Round Tables (MRT) and Critical Thinkers Fora (CTF) have been
hosted to engage various sectors of society on critical issues. A number of these sessions
have been hosted in collaboration with the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF).
PUB has also contributed to the National Schools Debates Competition, in which learners in
grades 9-11 have debated on various topics relating to biotechnology, as a form of dialogue
session.
A Media Round Table is a forum where media and scientists come together with the aim to
ensure that the media has a full understanding of the science and other issues related to the
topic to enable them to report more accurately and responsibly to the public. Outputs that
have resulted from this dialogue session are articles/information on the topic discussed in
print, online and social media.
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Critical Thinkers Fora are targeted at academics, industry and government with the aim of
creating a worthwhile platform for collaborations among key players in the National System
of Innovation and also for contributions towards new policy development.
Resources such as factsheets have been developed when necessary and PUB has
partnered with relevant stakeholders to plan and implement these dialogue sessions. Topics
that have been covered to date include the following:

Biofuels

GMOs in Wine

Biotechnology in Medical Research

Bioprospecting

DNA fingerprinting

Biological Forensic Analysis

The role of biotechnology in food security

Bio-pharming or Bio-harming?

Stem cell research

Modern day technologies to address biodiversity changes

Growth of the South African biotechnology sector

Agriculture, Food security and Emerging technologies in South Africa

Acid mine drainage in South Africa-possible solutions?

Southern African Human Genome Project

The WEMA (Water Efficient Maize for Africa) Project

Stem cell research and therapy

The safety of food and feed derived from GM crops
More information about these dialogue sessions can be found on the PUB website
(www.pub.ac.za).
2. OBJECTIVES
The overall objectives of the dialogue sessions are to:

Disseminate information about biotechnology research activities in South Africa;

Profile South African scientists/organisations in biotechnology research;
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
Inform society across all sectors, including industry, policy makers, youth and civil
society, of local and international biotechnology research activities;

Create awareness around opportunities for industry and research collaborations to
grow the biotechnology sector;

Generate public awareness and engagement of biotechnology and its applications;

Encourage and develop scientists to be able to communicate science with all levels
of stakeholders and not limited to peer communities.
3. CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Relevant organisations/institutions and individuals in the biotechnology sector are invited to
submit and motivate critical topics which warrant public dialogue currently. It is important that
these topics can be engaged in line with five identified perspectives of science
communication. These are perspectives and issues around the topic that should be
considered when communicating science, as areas of interest and impact to the broader
society, since one or more will influence the lives of various audiences, stakeholders or
communities engaging on the topic.
These are:

Utilitarian
The utilitarian perspective looks at the use value of the science which means the
communal benefit of a particular scientific domain.

Economic
This perspective will look at the monetary implications of the science and the
economic viability of the science.

Socio-Cultural
The socio-cultural perspective looks at the social and cultural implications of the
science. Through this perspective the societal dynamics of the science can be
understood.

Democratisation of Science
Democratisation of science seeks to explore issues around the ownership, use and
institutionalisation of science.

Advancement of Science
Science as a field is always changing, transforming and developing. Numerous
factors hinder and aid this process. Through the advancement of science
perspective, one can try to understand the driving forces behind them. Core to this
perspective is an understanding of the process of developing science for the better.
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Submissions should contain the following information:

Background/Introduction;

Motivation for topic;

Details of potential speakers for dialogue sessions, their institutions and contact
information;

Details of person responsible for putting together the proposal i.e. academic
qualifications and relevant experience;

Ideas for other styles of dialogue sessions are also welcome.
Topics which have been previously hosted by the PUB programme as indicated on
Page 2 will not be excluded and dialogue sessions on these topics can be hosted
again.
The PUB programme intends to host dialogue sessions per financial year which commences
on 01 April and ends on 31 March.
Once a topic is accepted, the PUB programme of NRF/SAASTA will be responsible for
the following:
1) Drafting the invitation and a programme for the dialogue session.
2) Circulating the invitation to relevant stakeholders on the PUB database.
3) Development of resources if needed.
4) Venue hire for hosting the dialogue session and associated logistics.
5) Travel and accommodation of speakers (a maximum of 6) and up to a maximum of 2
local individuals as recommended by the proposer/applicant.
6) Monitoring and Evaluation of the dialogue session.
The proposer/applicant will be responsible for the following:
1) Securing of speakers for the dialogue session.
2) Commenting on the invitation and programme for the event before it is circulated.
3) Circulating the invitation to relevant stakeholders of the proposer/applicant.
Kindly note that speakers will not be paid honorariums for their participation in
dialogue sessions.
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4. CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION AND WEIGHTING
Criteria
Relevance and scope of the topic in
addressing the objectives of the call based
on the motivation received. Information on
how current the topic would add value.
Weighting
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Diversity of audience at the dialogue session
and creation of a platform for strong
audience engagement.
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Potential outputs of the dialogue session.
10
Innovative ideas of hosting the dialogue
session.
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5. CLOSING DATE
Electronic submissions should be sent to Dr Manjusha Sunil, the PUB Programme
Coordinator (manjusha@saasta.ac.za, Telephone No for any enquiries: 012 392 9314). The
closing date for submissions is the close of business (16h00) on Thursday, 31 July
2014. Feedback on submissions will be provided a month after the closing date.
Please see attached application form.
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