National Research Foundation

SOUTH AFRICAN RESEARCH CHAIRS INITIATIVE

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Background

The main aim of the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) is to strengthen scientific research leadership and capacity in South African universities, thus creating a sustainable critical mass of world class academics and scholars that will train future generations of South African knowledge workers and support a South African knowledge-based economy. In pursuit and support of this goal, the programme is guided by the following five interrelated secondary objectives:

To increase the number of world class researchers in South Africa;
To retain and/or attract back qualified research scientists to the Higher Education sector and thereby:

Help reverse the systemic decline in research outputs, focus and capacity at publicly funded HEIs, Science Councils and other research institutions,
Strengthen and improve the capacity of HEIs, Science Councils, Musea and other research institutions to generate and apply new knowledge,

To stimulate strategic research across the knowledge spectrum and thereby increase the level of excellence in research areas of national and international importance;
To create research career pathways for highly skilled, high quality young and mid-career researchers that effectively addresses historical racial, gender and age imbalances; and
To improve and accelerate the training of highly qualified personnel through research.

Participation in the programme is open to all public and private organisations The South African Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Project Chairs are also managed under the umbrella of SARChI.

Allocation of Chairs

The Research Chairs will be awarded on a competitive basis through a combination of open and focused calls to publicly funded Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) who can hold such Chairs in their own right or jointly in collaboration with Science Councils, Musea or other institutions that conduct research and develop research capacity as part of their usual functioning.

Research Chairs will be awarded in any discipline of scientific research, including social science, humanities, the Law, natural science, engineering and technology. The Chairs will fit into the normal management structures of their host institutions. There will be no restriction on the number of Research Chairs that may be awarded to a single Institution.

Duration and Funding levels of Chairs

Research Chairs will be tenable for five years, renewable for two further five year periods, giving a total life span of 15 years. Eligibility for renewal will be entirely performance linked.

The South African Research Chairs Initiative proposes to make an award of up to R2.5 million per annum per Research Chair in Tier 1 and up to R1.5 million per annum per Research Chair in Tier 2. This award will need to cover salaries, postdoctoral fellowships and postgraduate student bursaries, research operating costs and equipment for the well founded laboratory relevant to the Chair.

A Research Chair would not be eligible for additional National Research Foundation (NRF) parliamentary vote core grant funding, except in respect of large equipment. Large equipment is expected to be addressed through the National Research Equipment and Infrastructure strategy. Research Chairs are also encouraged to extend their funding through innovation, government, industrial, business, donor and community funding.