Academy of Science South Africa 2005/6 Annual Report

Programme 3ASSAfthat the US National Academies have developed. The present committee was constituted by invitationto ASSAf members to advise the Council of the Academy on “what are the topics that should/couldbe looked at in detail or what could be explored”. The Committee would not be an active participantin organising forum-type workshops or conducting other parts of the studies themselves, but wouldrecommend the most suitable sub-topics and monitor overall progress.The new Committee was to be formed by inviting all ASSAf members to consider whether theywould be willing to serve as one of approximately eight committee members for a 3-year term. If morethan eight volunteered their services, a simple election would be held, with the Academy as a wholevoting on the basis of short citations for each candidate. Once elected, the new Committee would beasked to address the ways by which the request from the DST might be met by the Academy, usingASSAf’s adopted policy (“Guidelines for requested Studies by ASSAf”). The further processes wouldthen proceed under the general supervision of the Committee, reporting to the Council itself. A totalof eight ASSAf members eventually volunteered to serve on the committee. They can be augmented byother persons from within or outside the Academy, as needed, on recommendation to the Council. Thecommittee members represent a wide and balanced cross-section of expertise, interests and experience,with good coverage of the key areas relevant to the alleviation of poverty. The committee was thusformed on a basis that capitalises on the Academy’s multi-disciplinary nature and aligns the internalstructures with broad areas of Academy focus.Functioning of the committee and progress to date: The Academy Committee was set up to drivewhat are called “Forum-type Studies” in an important and broad area of national concern. The ASSAfdesign/methodology to be adopted for such Committees is modelled on the entity which in the USNational Academies is referred to as a “Board for XXX”, utilising two different approaches to generatinghelpful advice to the nation. The role of committee members is essentially to help the Academy identifyand develop topics, to point things in the right direction, to get things going, and then to keep a watchingeye. The 8-member ASSAf committee on “Science for the alleviation of poverty” held its first meetingImage: Quest – Science for South AfricaAnnual Report 2005/0645