Vol 1 - Support Services Ufs Ac Za - University of the Free State

Prof Frans Swanepoel,Director of Research DevelopmentIam pleased to report that 2005 to 2007 hasbeen a period of significant growth anddevelopment within the University of the FreeState’s (UFS) research environment.Since 2003, the Directorate Research De ve lopment(DRD) facilitated the development andimplemen tation of various strategic initiatives andsupport projects, with the aim of creating anenvironment at the University in which:•••research would improve and flourish;researchers and postgraduate students wouldfeel appreciated and valued; andthe University’s national and internationalprofile would be enhanced.This focus on the development of the University’sresearch culture has paid dividends in terms of allfive of the key objectives of the University’s ResearchStrategy, namely quality assurance, equity, financialsustainability, effective support systems and anoutput dimension.The Strategic Academic Cluster initiative,emphasised by the Rector in his introduction to thisreport, is a critical element of the quality assuranceobjective of the Research Strategy. The Clusterinitiative embodies our pursuit of quality andexcellence. It is an intensive, institution-wide effortto focus our research activities, which is expected toestablish the University as a world leader in thespecified strategic focus areas.In line with this new focused approach, eachCluster is associated with at least one recognisedNational Research Foundation (NRF) InstitutionalResearch Development Programme Research NicheArea (RNA). Eight RNAs were approved for theUniversity in 2007 – the highest number of alluniversities in the country. These RNAs encompass24 NRF-funded research projects, representing acombined total commitment of almost R30 millionto the UFS over the next five years (2008-2012).To further strengthen the Clusters, the processfor the University to participate in the NRF SouthAfrican Research Chairs Initiative was initiated bylinking proposed Research Chairs to existingClusters. The University has been awarded threesuch Research Chairs for 2008, with the possibilityof a further three for 2009. These chairs will imply asignificant boost to our research capacity, especiallyin terms of the corps of leading researchers at theUniversity. The UFS houses 73 NRF-rated researchers.This number has not changed significantly over thepast years and still represents between 10 and 15%of our permanent instruction and research staffmembers. In terms of the professional developmentof our researchers, however, it is encouraging that11 of our current rated researchers obtained a firsttimerating during 2007/2008, that five of these areunder 40 years old, and that one is a formerThuthuka grant holder.Postgraduate training is a prominent part ofour quality assurance objective and we are therefore6