Invitation to Seminar: Science Granting Councils in Africa
International Relations and Cooperation (IRC) at the National Research Foundation (NRF) cordially invites you to a morning seminar presented by Prof Johann Mouton, Director of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Scientometrics and STI Policy at Stellenbosch University.
The seminar will present the results of a seminal study on the status of 17 Science Granting Councils (SGCs) in Sub-Saharan Africa, emanating from a comprehensive study recently completed, funded by the IDRC.
Details of the seminar are as follows:
Date: Friday, 20 June 2014
Time: 09:00-10:15
Venue: Albert Luthuli Auditorium, NRF, Pretoria
Kindly confirm your participation to Kathy Potgieter (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) at your earliest convenience, as space will be limited.
SCIENCE GRANTING COUNCILS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
The IDRC (Canada) commissioned the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST) at Stellenbosch University to undertake the first comprehensive and in-depth study of science granting councils in Sub-Saharan Africa. The specific objectives of the study were:
i. To describe the various organisations and their institutional
arrangements supporting STI in the various countries;
ii. To describe and analyse the changing mandates of science granting
councils in SSA;
iii. To identify and describe in detail the modis operandi of the recently
established science granting councils in promoting STI in SSA;
iv. To analyse subsequent strategies for funding of STI in countries where
science granting councils do not exist;
v. To assess the science granting councils’ partnership modalities and
collaboration; and
vi. To highlight current trends and identify strategic pointers that are likely
to influence IDRC’s future programming in SSA.
It is expected that the findings of the study will be of value to various stakeholders as it will (i) provide detailed information on the similarities and differences between these bodies; (ii) profile good practice models; (iii) draw comparisons between the different organisational structures that are mandated to disburse science funding in these countries; (iv) show how these different bodies are embedded in the historical and institutional “landscapes” of national systems of innovation; and (v) make recommendations and suggestions about the optimal functioning of such bodies.
