
TECHNOLOGY & HUMAN RESOURCES FOR INDUSTRY
PROGRAMME (THRIP)
Deadline:
Internal: re-confirmed every year
External: to be announced by the NRF. Calls usually open in
August/September and close in October/November each year.
What form:
Applications are made online: http://nrfonline.nrf.ac.za.
How often?
Once a year.
Web site:
http://www.nrf.ac.za/thrip/index.htm
Purpose:
To foster collaboration between industry and higher education institutions, by
matching industry contributions to research.
Conditions:
The following funding mechanisms are available:

Industry partners and THRIP invest jointly in research projects where project leaders
are on the academic staff of South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

THRIP matches investment by industry in innovative research projects where
researchers/experts from Science, Engineering and Technology Institutions
(SETIs) serve as project leaders and students are trained through the projects.

Technology Innovation Promotion through the Transfer Of People (TIPTOP)
schemes promote the mobility of researchers and students between the
industrial participants, HEIs, and SETIs involved in joint projects. Four TIPTOP
schemes are available. These are:
1. The exchange of researchers and technology managers between HEIs,
SETIs and industry.
2. The placement of SET graduates in firms, while they are working towards a
higher degree on a joint research project.
3. The placement of SET graduates in small, medium and micro enterprises
(SMMEs).
4. The placement of SET skilled company employees within HEIs or SETIs.
Contact:
Research Office
Department of Research & Innovation
External Grants Manager
Tel:
650 2431
Fax:
650 5768
E-mail: esauh@bremner.uct.ac.za
OR
External Grants Assistant
Tel:
650 5204
E-mail: hfaulman@bremner.uct.ac.za

THRIP SERVICE CENTRE (TSC)
The TSC will provide an optional free service with assistance for the following:

Drawing up a budget (budget template available on the web at UCT Admin Forms, R&I19,
or electronically in Excel from TSC)

Project information, for example, student IDs

Assistance with the online application form, including limited assistance to industry partners

Proof of Payments (PoPs)

Financial reporting to THRIP

Advice about matching expenditure to budget

Contactable on thrip@uct.ac.za
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Updated Feb. ’06
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The service will not include the day-to-day management of budgets, but will assist in setting up
systems in the research group and/or department.
TIPTOP OPTIONS
Technology Innovation Promotion through the Transfer of People (TIPTOP) represents a set of placement
mechanisms to promote mobility of people participating in THRIP projects among the organisations
involved in the projects (HEIs; SETIs; and industrial laboratories). These TIPTOP options will be fully
embedded in THRIP projects. This means that either an HEI-based or SETI-based researcher will act as
leader of a THRIP project in which one or more TIPTOP placements may be included.
When TIPTOP placements are made at firms abroad, the researcher/graduate will be contractually
obliged to be employed by an organisation in South Africa directly after completion of the TIPTOP
contract, and remain in the employ of a South African-based organisation at least for a period
equivalent to the length of the TIPTOP contract.
TIPTOP Option 1: Exchange of researchers and technology managers between
HEIs, SETIs and industry
THRIP will provide support for academic researchers in HEIs to work in industrial laboratories for a
predetermined period. Reciprocally, THRIP will encourage and support industrial researchers and
technology managers to be temporarily seconded to a HEI/SETI to conduct research of direct
relevance to the industry involved.
In both these instances THRIP and the specific industry involved will contribute to the salary cost of
the researcher (whether from industry or an HEI), as well as his/her relocation and travelling cost for
the period of the TIPTOP contract, according to the TIPTOP funding formulae.
TIPTOP Option 2: Placement of SET graduates in industry, while they are working
towards a higher degree on a joint research project
This TIPTOP option will support the placement of graduates in SET-related disciplines within
industry (either large or SMMEs) on a contract basis for a fixed period, to work on THRIPapproved research or technology development projects within the firms. The graduate should be
registered at an HEI for a higher degree in SET. Active mentorship of each graduate by both an
academic supervisor and the graduate’s superiors within a firm will form an integral part of this
placement scheme. This support will be for a maximum of two years for a master’s degree and
three years for a doctoral degree.
TIPTOP Option 3: Placement of SET graduates in SMMEs
This option is exclusive to SMMEs in South Africa, and would enable the placement of graduates in
SET-related disciplines within SMMEs on a contract basis for a fixed period, to a maximum of two
years, to work on THRIP-approved research or technology development projects within the firms.
Only individuals who have graduated (either undergraduate or post-graduate degree/diploma) not
more than five years prior to commencement of the contract would qualify for participation in
TIPTOP 3. It is not expected from the graduate to be enrolled for a higher degree (TIPTOP 3 is the
only option with this concession). Active mentorship of each graduate by both an academic
supervisor and the graduate’s superiors within a firm will be facilitated and monitored by the
THRIP secretariat.
TIPTOP Option 4: Placement of SET-skilled company employees within HEIs or SETIs
This option will support the secondment of graduate employees from industry to HEIs/SETIs to do
research within THRIP projects while studying towards a higher degree. The secondments can be
for either newly-recruited employees (which THRIP strongly encourages) or longer serving
employees. This support will be for a maximum of two years for a master’s degree and three
years for a doctoral degree.
Chapter 3 Research Funding
Updated Feb. ’06
69