1

D
A
T
E
M
A
N
N
R
F
To PROMOTE and SUPPORT
Research through Funding:

Human Capacity

Development;
Provision of the necessary facilities/ infrastructure/ platforms
In order to FACILITATE:
The creation of Knowledge;
Innovation; and Research
Development in all fields of
Science and Technology including Indigenous
Knowledge thereby, to contribute to an improvement in the quality of life of the people of the republic.
G
O
A
L
S
T
E
G
S
T
R
A
I
C
Operating world-class evaluation and grant-making systems
Providing cutting-edge research, technology, and innovation platforms
Promoting internationally competitive research as the basis for a knowledge economy
Growing a representative science and technology workforce
Contributing to a vibrant National System of Innovation

1%
0.67%
Proportion of global R&D outputs
35
38.7
PhDs per million of population
100
%
78%
Completion rate of applications for NRF rating
3

47%
Increase in number of doctoral students supported
33%
Increase in number of ISI research outputs
39%
Increase in PhD graduates per annum
29%
Increase in proportion of global ISI outputs
52%
Increase in number of women rated researchers
77%
Increase in number of black rated researchers
41%
Increase in global research impact
15.3%
Average annual increase in bursary values
4

3 500
3 000
2 500
2 000
1 500
-15%
4%
1 000
500
-
20%
18%
Parliamentary grant core
Parliamentary grant
(Ring fenced)
Designated Income
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Other Income Total Income
The NRF ended the year with a nominal decrease of 2% in income from R3 160m (2013/14) to
R3 103m (2014/15)
-2%
5

National Research and
Development Strategy (NRDS)
Investment in the Geographic Advantage Areas
- Multi-wavelength Astronomy
Investment in SKA SA

Investment in Geographic Advantage Areas – excluding Astronomy
7

Investment in DST Grand Challenges (2010/11 – 2014/15)
8

9

The programme is underpinned by fair and transparent business practices and the responsibility to drive organisational level compliance through a system of policies and legislative frameworks
Governance
Information
Communication
Technology
Knowledge
Management
Corporate
Legal Services
Human
Resources
Corporate
Finance
Supply Chain
Management
Corporate
Relations
10

Building the NRF Brand Cost Containment
• Provided quality system intelligence to the
DST, DHET and the HEIs through a combination of the NRF BIS and RIMS;
• Extensive collaboration with the private sector which has resulted in partnerships
Harmony Gold, Komatsu, Thompson
Reuters and Elsevier.
Budget
• The Corporate overhead remains at 2.2% which is well below the annual target of
3%;
• Further cost savings made through e-
Innovations such as video conferencing and the electronic workflow systems.
Efficiency
• The NRF shared service model across the business units ensure commonality of systems and processes thereby ensuring optimal efficiency;
• The development of a customised NRF
BIS supports evidence based decision making.
Compliance
• The NRF has met all statutory requirements as required of a schedule 3A entity;
• The organisation achieved an unqualified audit with a clean audit award for the 3 rd year in succession;
• NRF’s Open Access Statement was ranked
5 th globally by SPARK Europe;
• The successful development of the IPMS ensures synergy between personal and business objectives and performance.
11

Target
75%
68.5%
Black representation incl SKA
Target
42%
43.3%
Female representation
Target
1.16%
0.65%
People with disabilities
31%
Managerial and senior supervisory levels
44%
Managerial and senior supervisory levels
• Staff turnover was 8.94% which remains well below the National average.
12

• Science Engagement is a major component of national strategies for building and sustaining strong wealthgenerating science and technology sectors.
• The role of science engagement is pivotal to the achievement of the NRF strategic goals.
• All science promotion, awareness, appreciation, education and engagement programmes within the NRF reside under one of the three key strategic areas.
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180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
-
Actual 2012
Science Education SAASTA
Science Communication SAASTA
Science Engagement Prog. 3
Science Engagement Prog. 5
Actual 2013 Actual 2014
Science Engagement SAASTA
Actual 2015
Support (incl HCD and internationalisation only for SAASTA)
Science Engagement Prog. 4
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Target
12 645
18 525
Number of
Educators
Target
1.3m
Budget
1.37m
Number of
Public
Target
347 864
318 672*
Number of
Learners
15

• 872 Grade 12 learners participated in the NSTP in 2014;
Learners not Registered at HEI
• 478 (54.81%) were successfully tracked;
Learners Registered non-SET
• 208 (23.85%) learners registered at the university or college in a SET field in 2015;
Learners Registered in SET (FET
Colleges)
• Students enrolled in the following disciplines:
• Engineering or related - 81,
• Medicine or related - 42, and
• Information Technology – 22
• 23 Students enrolled for Finance or related disciplines.
Learners Registered in SET
(University)
Learners Successfully Tracked
Learners Registered for NSTP
(Grade 12)
0 200 400 600 800
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SAASTA PROGRAMME 3
• A total of 77 450 learners, 1 348 educators and 10 facilitators were reached through science education projects such as role modelling campaigns, undergraduate support, the National Youth Volunteer
Service and National Science Week.
• Community radio partnerships have increased opportunities for mother tongues science communication. Budget
• IRC partnered with the Human Sciences Research
Council (HSRC) and other partners to hold their 4th annual African Unity for Renaissance Conference and
Africa Day Expo from 22-25 May 2014. More than 100 scholars and academics from all over the African continent and the diaspora attended this conference .
PROGRAMME 5 PROGRAMME 4
• SAEON Elwandle Node (with SAMREC in the Sundays
River Valley) participated in a National Science Week in collaboration with the Department of Education District
Office, National English Literary Museum
(Grahamstown); the South African Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre (SAMREC) and the Swartkops
Conservancy (Port Elizabeth);
• The well-established collaboration between iThemba
LABS and the Western Cape Education Department has continued this year with the successful organisation of three Primary School Science Teachers Workshops attended by 93 educators.
• SAAO, in partnership with the OAD, hosted Dr Wanda
Diaz, a blind astronomer, during April and May 2014.
Outreach programmes to the Pioneer School of the Blind in Worcester and Athlone Special School in Bellville were jointly facilitated.
• Two teachers were appointed as Science and Maths teachers at Carnarvon High School for the period 2015-
2017.
• SKA SA has awarded 30 bursaries to Grade 8-12 students from Carnarvon and the surrounding towns, to study at
Carnarvon High School.
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RISA is the grant-making programme within the NRF, and translates the science strategies and policies of government into initiatives that:
Promote international competitive research as the basis for a knowledge economy;
Provide cutting-edge research , technology and innovation platforms; and
Operate a world-class grant-making, review and evaluation system.
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2 000
1 800
1 600
1 400
1 200
1 000
800
600
400
200
-
Parliamentary grant core
Parliamentary grant (Ring fenced)
2011/12 Actual
Designated
Income
Additional
Government
Grant
2012/13 Actual
Other Income
2013/14 Actual
Total
2014/15 Actual 2010/11 Actual
• Currently NRF leveraged programmes inject annually some R868 million into research system – of this R616 million is from SARChI
• Africa engagements lever another R49 million
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700,00
600,00
500,00
400,00
300,00
200,00
100,00
-
2010/11 Actual
2011/12 Actual
2012/13 Actual
2013/14 Actual
2014/15 Actual
Next Generation
333,89
220,37
370,39
469,12
623,65
Emerging Researchers
117,62
76,24
82,60
112,25
166,72
Cross Cutting Instruments Established Researchers
206,70 139,05
201,69
198,36
201,19
239,85
154,14
147,67
153,15
205,15
Strategic Investments
263,01
280,52
322,98
389,73
509,80
20

For the five years from
2010/11 to 2014/15 the total investment grew by
87% to R2bn.
21

53% of NRF students supported are Female
Number of Female Students Supported
52% Female of which 61% are
Black
51% Female of which 52% are
Black
46% Female of which 36% are
Black
22

63% of NRF students supported are Black
Number of Black Students Supported
59% Black
57% Black
44% Black
23

Proportion of NRF Funded
Students to Total Registrations
18,00%
16,00%
14,00%
12,00%
10,00%
8,00%
6,00%
4,00%
2,00%
0,00%
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Honours
3,16%
4,73%
2,85%
5,12%
5,07%
Masters
5,43%
7,64%
7,29%
6,85%
7,09%
Doctoral
13,14%
16,21%
15,42%
14,54%
14,12%
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3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Honours/Btech
1407
1559
2183
2474
2415
2762
Masters
1029
1042
1159
1354
1453
1435
Doctoral
295
365
395
439
482
459
25

4,4
4,2
4,0
3,8
3,6
3,4
3,2
3,0
5,0
4,8
4,6
National Average Years to Complete (ASSAf PhD Study)
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Year of Completion
2009
NRF Average Years to Complete
2010 2011 2012 2013
26

The Thuthuka programme demographics:
• 49% Black
• 62% Female
Cross-cutting investments
27

28

Number of Researchers
37%
30%
24%
30%
29

1 364 students supported over the 2014/15 financial year:
62% black
53% female
R83m invested in CoEs in
2014/15
Total investment from 2010/11 to
2014/15. R447m
30

31

Internationally co-
Authored ISI publications - 52% of total SA publications
32

33

34

25% increase from
2013/14
234
Number of ISI publications
56%
Target
57%
Black students supported at the NF
82% increase from
2013/14
36 717
Users of
Budget platforms
37%
Target
45%
Women students supported at the NF
2.7% increase from
2013/14
451
Number of students using facilities to do their degrees
35

•
• iThemba Labs
SAIAB
• Record number of peer-reviewed papers published (145)
• AMS facility commissioned in July 2014
• Production outputs for isotopes reached new heights
• Record number of platform users (318)
• 115 postgraduate students using the facility
Budget • Project launched with WWF-USA to monitor biodiversity of Lake Niassa reserve
SAEON
NZG
Aghulas System Climate Array project commenced
Chief scientist elected as associate of USA
National Academy of Sciences
• New molecular diagnostic assay for toxoplasmosis developed
• First National Animal Welfare Workshop hosted in Feb 2015
36

37

14% increase from
2013/14
134
Number of ISI publications
72% increase from
2013/14
Budget
153
Users of platforms
20% increase from
2013/14
30
Number of joint international agreements
38

SAAO
• Final engineering work on the HRS, in collaboration with Durham University and
SALT/SAAO was completed during October.
Technical glitches were solved and the instrument has been stable and working nominally since 2014.
HartRAO
• The 22 GHz cryogenic receiver developed last year at HartRAO, was installed and commissioned in time for the first 22 GHz astrometric VLBI in May 2014.
• The receiver improves sensitivity by a factor of
4-5 compared to the previous uncooled test receiver.
39

SKA SA
• The Karoo Array Processor Building (KAPB) and power facility for MeerKAT were completed which included the installation of the Rotary UPS, MV switchgear and transformers;
• Ghanaian trainees attended an AVN Core
Essential Observatory Skills Training
Programme preparation for the delivery of the
Ghanaian station;
• 4 MeerKAT dishes on site as at 31 March;
• Delays in the dish manufacturing programme will be offset by the industrialisation programme. It is expected that the date of delivery of the full MeerKAT array will be
2017.
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The roll out of NRF Strategy 2020 will include:
• Building a closer working relationship with universities and research communities, to address the transformation imperative;
• Development of a resourcing plan for SAASTA as the national co-ordinating body for the Science engagement Framework;
• Continue with the restructure and renewal of RISA as a client-centric division that is widely known for its excellent customer service;
• Strengthening the science plans of the National Research Facilities (NFs) to increasingly deliver globally competitive science; and
• Rolling out Astronomy as an effective sub-agency of the NRF with appropriate international engagements and participation to support the multi-wavelength strategy.
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