Download the Annual report 2011 - Unisa

Apart from this, another R54 987 000 was invested in
research. This amount includes research incentives, bursaries,
training, research groups and grants. Without this
investment, Unisa would not have produced the research
outputs in 2011 to which reference was made earlier in
this report.
Apart from the internal funding allocations, 136 external
research grants totalling R8 506 410.00 were awarded
to Unisa researchers.
To ensure a future generation of researchers, Unisa has
a dedicated Research Development Programme which
provides staff with the opportunity to develop the required
research skills. In 2011, 1 259 Unisa staff and
postgraduate students attended research workshops and
training sessions. This is significantly higher than the
965 that attended these programmes in 2010. Of importance
is the profile of attendees, with a consistent increase
in the number of African attendees over the last
three years. In terms of gender, 86% of attendees were
female. The majority of attendees also fell within the age
group 31 to 40. This is encouraging as it represents the
next generation of researchers.
A total amount of R2 379 120 was invested in the development
of Unisa staff and postgraduate students. This
investment speaks to the Unisa Transformation Charter
as well as to the future of Unisa as both an academic
and specifically a research-focussed institution.
In addition, and in response to its mandate to promote
open and distance learning (ODL), the College of Graduate
Studies (CGS) began developing a virtual research
environment employing state-of-the-art semantic technologies
to build a platform for master’s and doctoral
studies and research projects across the university. This
will complement the various myUnisa project sites which
were hosted by the CGS in partnership with the Unisa
Library. These latter virtual hubs offered online support
for research in theoretical and experimental fields and
were accessed by staff and master’s and doctoral candidates
alike. The CGS also developed various research
projects to attract master’s and doctoral students. These
include specialisations within the fields of Genocide and
Holocaust Studies, Social Mobility Studies, Heritage
Studies, Environmental Change and Governance, South
African Historical Studies, Indigenous Knowledge Systems,
Social Policy Studies and Sustainable Multilingualism.
Many academic staff members do not yet have a doc-
UNISA ANNUAL REPORT 2011
| 43 |
toral qualification. In order to strengthen the research
capacity of Unisa, staff are encouraged and supported
to complete postgraduate qualifications. The Master’s
and Doctoral Support Programme (MDSP) was developed
to assist staff to complete their postgraduate studies.
In 2011 this programme provided support to 40
staff members, of whom 25 were African and 21 female.
In March 2011 the Institute of Open Distance Learning
(IODL) hosted the second Searchlight Research Writing
Workshop, attended by 29 senior and novice researchers;
as well as a colloquium on ODL and research.
Presentations from local and international speakers were
very well received and a special edition of Progressio
(one of Unisa’s in-house journals) was secured for the
Searchlight articles of 2011.
The Unisa Institutional Repository (UnisaIR) supports
Unisa’s research strategy and contributes to the implementation
of the Unisa 2015 agenda for transformation
by disseminating Unisa’s published research outputs in
full text. The repository preserves, manages and disseminates
locally produced intellectual output and research
in electronic format thereby contributing to African
knowledge in digital space. The number of articles used
has surpassed the one million mark for the first time, indicating
the increasing use of online articles.
In 2011 the library expanded its collections to include
27 037 electronic books, 84 247 electronic journal titles
and 2 618 920 items in total. The library also acquired
valuable research analytics tools to facilitate the analysis
of the university’s research output. The library offers
various support services to assist researchers in their
numerous activities and initiatives. The dedicated
research space in the Muckleneuk library was also expanded
in terms of facilities, services and operating
hours. The use of the library has increased significantly
since the opening of the space in 2010 - a total number
of 31 630 clients visited and used the workstations during
the year, as compared to 12 238 in 2010, resulting
in a 158% increase in the number of researchers who
visited the research space.
The library has also collaborated with the academic
departments to develop departmental websites to provide
relevant and customised information in support of
research, teaching and learning. Forty-eight websites
were added by the end of 2011, which enhance the
integration of the library and information services and
access to information resources resulting in more effective
teaching and learning at the university.