Academy of Science South Africa 2005/6 Annual Report

Programme 3ASSAfKey questions that come up in a young academy, or better an academy that is starting up in the late20th/early 21st century, is that some assumptions one may make by analogy with older academies do notnecessarily apply. For example, the principle of voluntary and “honorary” service to an Academy by itsmembers/fellows, or by outside scholars, cannot be taken for granted, as many academics now participate inthe consultancy marketplace as actively as do private sector participants, and the opportunity cost of workingon an academy study may be quite considerable. Academy prestige and associated prioritisation are thekey to managing this issue, but other approaches may be needed without departing from the fundamentalprinciples that govern the intrinsic value of academy-type contributions to a country’s life and welfare.A good track record is the best guarantor of future success – an academy is not valued in a competitiveenvironment simply for its existence.An academy needs to ensure that its national role is established before extensive internationalactivities are undertaken. Many advantages will, however, accrue from judicious use of such linkageswhere these bring real mutual benefits. The ASADI programme must recognise that an association ofstrong individual national academies will be far more productive than an ambitious and/or stronglydriven association of weak academies.Other sources of project supportIn the past (i.e. before the initiation of the ASADI partnership with the US National Academies)ASSAf relied mainly for its operations on an annual Grant-in-Aid from the Department of Science andTechnology (DST). Part of the funding provided by the DST constituted a three-year (2002-4) contractfor the Research Journals project comprising the subsidisation of the South African Journal of Science(SAJS), Quest – Science for South Africa, and the consensus Study on Research Publishing in South Africa(described above), amounting to over ZAR 4,5 million. The level of Grant-in-Aid support increased in thelast two years to the point where the awarded operational funds (distinct from continuing support for theSAJS and Quest at about ZAR 1,1 million) now stand at about ZAR 2,1 million for the financial year 2006-7Annual Report 2005/0661