NRF Annual Report 2018

PART B: PERFORMANCE
Enhance strategic international engagements
iThemba LABS concluded and maintained the following
strategic international collaborations:
• A collaboration with Integrating Activity (IA), the
European Nuclear Science and Applications Research
2 (ENSAR2), with financial support from the European
Commission through the Horizon 2020 framework
programme, which provided access to African
researchers and students and access to iThemba LABS
for European physicists;
• A collaboration of iThemba LABS, Stellenbosch
University, University of Oslo and University of California,
Berkeley, received a grant of R7,5m over three years
from the International Partnerships for Excellent
Education and Research through the Norwegian
Research Council. The participating universities will
evaluate each other’s courses to determine a list of
pre-approved undergraduate courses that will be a
component of a ‘semester abroad’ pilot project;
• An agreement was reached with the National Institute
for Nuclear Science and Technology in Saclay, France,
for support for the establishment of the South African
Institute of Nuclear Technology and Science;
• An MoU has been signed between iThemba LABS
and Botswana International University of Science and
Technology (BIUST). A pilot study to extend the shelf
life of high-value perishable products by gamma/
electron beam irradiation, was initiated by the iThemba
LABS-BIUST collaboration. The primary objective is to
investigate the dose-effect relationship for meat products
exposed under different temperature conditions; and
• JINR was funded by the DST to conduct a study with
iThemba LABS on the effects of low doses of proton
and neutron irradiations on neurotransmitters of the
central nervous system to understand late normal tissue
responses following particle therapy. Ethical approval
for this study has been obtained from the Medical
Research Council and specialised irradiation jigs are
being prepared.
BRACCO, a major stakeholder in the isotope Sr-82
business in the USA, has signed an MOU and NDA for
the future supply of Sr-82 by iThemba LABS. This will
strengthen the facility’s market share and enhance the
business case for the acquisition of a 70MeV cyclotron.
NRF Annual Report 2017/18 95