Page 37 - Transformation Report 2021

TRANSFORMATION

GOAL 6

INCREASE COLLABORATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER
INSTITUTIONAL TYPES TO SHARE KNOWLEDGE, RESOURCES, AND ASSIST
WITH CAPACITY BUILDING AND ARTICULATION.

1. Research – Alignment with African department continued an external research partnership
Perspective with the University of Basel, which has generated research
funding in excess of R15-million over the last few years.

Nelson Mandela University’s approach to sustainability
South African universities have faced the challenge of low
science research aligns with the sustainable development
expenditure on NRF research grants due to postgraduate
goals of the United Nations, the African Union Agenda
students and researchers not being able to access
2063 – The Africa We Want, and the National Development
laboratories, travel to field sites and undertake other local
Plan in addressing global issues from a uniquely African
and overseas travel. To avoid the risk that these grants will
perspective. Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions
be forfeited, individual engagements are ongoing with the
to extreme weather and climate change impact. In this
NRF, but a sector-wide engagement through Universities
quarter, an institution-building process for advancing
South Africa may be necessary.
sustainability science has been underway, applying the
core principles of trans-disciplinarity and systems-thinking.
2. Research Excellence
The research community at Mandela successfully applied
A year on year increase in doctoral graduates and
for various external grants in diverse fields. Among these,
publications units were observed at 20.0 percent and 2.8
Hiten Parmar from eNtsa and his team were awarded a
percent, respectively, while the number of publication units
United Kingdom Partnering for Accelerated Climate
per full-time equivalent employee remained constant at
Transitions (PACT) Countries Programme, “STRAPSA –
0.7.The number of Research Master’s graduates declined
Shifting the Transport Paradigm for South Africa”, worth
by 10.5 percent, from 249 in 2020 to 223 in 2021.
R7.9-million. In addition, the Human Movement Science
TABLE 17:
PROFILE OF THE NRF-FIRST RAND FOUNDATION BLACK ACADEMIC PROGRAMME
APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED FOR 2018 TO 2021
KEY PERFORMANCE AREA HEMIS HEMIS 2020 HEMIS YEAR ON 2021 ACTUAL
2019 AUDITED 2021 2ND YEAR TARGET VERSUS
AUDITED SUBMISSION CHANGE TARGET
VARIANCE
D. Research output
Publication units per FTE staff 0.7 0.7 **0.7 0.0% 0.8 -12.5%
Research Master’s graduates 262 249 223 -10.5% 275 -19.0%
Doctoral graduates 97 80 96 20.0% 102 -5.9%
Publication units 473 576 **592 2.8% 480 23.3%

* These are the preliminary ratio and publication units. The final publication * Key:
units for conferences, books and chapters in books will be finally allocated ■ Target met or exceeded
by the DHET towards the end of 2022. ■ Trend needs to be monitored
** In 2021, there were 495 articles compared to 472 in 2020. This is an ■ Target not met and corrective action required
■ Data not final and performance indicator will still improve
increase of 4.9%.

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