Academy of Science South Africa 2005/6 Annual Report

ASSAfMulti-year Strategic PlanASSAf’s annually awarded “Science-for-Society” Gold Medal has become a premier mark of peer andsystemic recognition of achievements that reflect the Academy’s values and mission.ASSAf is beginning to help NASAC play its desired continental role.ASSAf recently became a member of the influential “science council” sector in the NSTF.ASSAf’s weaknessesASSAf has failed to resolve the impasse of the country having two “old” quasi-academies continuingto co-exist with it in the South African science system, draining away “academy-type” energy in acountry that cannot in appropriate human resources terms support more than one effective nationalscience academy. This is compounded by an absence of consensus on how big (in terms of membershipnumbers) the Academy should be.The ASSAf membership is still largely passive in responding to invitations to participate in Academyaffairs and activities that require personal commitment of time and effort. Stated generally,prioritisation of Academy meetings and activities by members, including Council members, iswell below that which is characteristic of well-established merit-based national science academies,including those of developing countries such as Brazil, India and Mexico. (Witness the attendancefigures for Council meetings and AGMs, and nomination and voting statistics in Membership andCouncil elections.)The system of self-categorisation by members of their disciplinary affiliations has not workedsmoothly, the categories are in dispute, and they are not linked to any functional mechanisms withinthe Academy.Support for ASSAf in the senior ranks of its “responsible” government department, the DST, is stillhighly variable. Invitations to important conferences and workshops are either not forthcoming orhave to be solicited post hoc from Departmental officials. As an example, the Academy was omittedfrom the planning group for the national “Knowledge Production” conference, despite having74 Promoting Excellence in Science for Society