South Africa teams up with Swiss for research
4 June 2015
A joint research chair will focus on mitigating environmental health risks in South
Africa, particularly in the communities that are most vulnerable to the effects of
environmental exposure. It will focus on major drivers of environmental health,
such as chemical and biological pollution and climate change.
Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor launched the chair, the first bilateral
research chair at the University of Cape Town, on 3 June, with Dr Mauro
Dell'Ambrogio, Switzerland's state secretary for education and research, and Swiss
ambassador to South Africa, Christian Meuwly. It is the first time another country
has been involved in funding a chair under the South African Research Chairs
Initiative (SARChI), and it is expected to provide a model for other countries to
participate in the Department of Science and Technology's flagship programme.
The five-year Swiss-South Africa Global Environmental Health
Research Chair will
incorporate epidemiological, clinical, molecular-biological and social science
approaches. Emphasis will be placed on putting the research findings to use through
working with communities.
Headed by Prof Mohamed Aqiel Dalvie of the University of Cape Town, work will
include a focus on major drivers of environmental health, such as exposure to
chemical and biological pollution and climate change, and the interactions between
them. Human rights and environmental justice issues will also be addressed.
The research chair will be supported and managed by South Africa's National
Research Foundation, the University of Basel, and the Swiss Tropical and Public
Health Institute.
The two Swiss institutes will fund the first year of the chair, to a value of R1.3-
million. The remaining four years will be covered through funding arrangements
with the two institutes and the Swiss School of Public Health. South Africa will
contribute
R1.5-million a year for the five-year duration of the research chair.
Pandor said the SARChI project began with 21chairs in 2006 and had grown to 150
occupied chairs in diverse disciplines across the natural sciences, engineering,
humanities and social sciences. "It's now a R470-million-a-year strategic
intervention."
She saw collaborative partnerships such as South Africa's co-operation with
Switzerland leading to improved knowledge production and human capital
development in Africa, she said.
The partnership with the Swiss had yielded many successes. "The joint research
programme has encouraged direct institutional links and collaborations between our
respective higher education and research institutions. It has also supported the
active participation of both countries in the European Union Framework
programmes."
"From the Swiss Confederation's point of view, we are very pleased about this
positive development in the bilateral science
and technology co-operation between
our two countries," said Dell'Ambrogio. "There have been remarkable achievements
since the signing of the science and technology agreement in 2007, and the Swiss
South Africa Environmental Public Health Research Chair is the latest highlight."
This was one of the first of several such international collaborations for the SARChI
chairs, said Dr Gansen Pillay, the deputy chief executive of the NRF.
"This co-operation will go a long way in strengthening research leadership and
capacity for both Switzerland and South Africa, and the initiative will undoubtedly
escalate the number of world-class research projects undertaken by both countries,
stimulate strategic research, create career pathways for high quality young and
mid-career researchers, and enhance the training of a qualified workforce which
will help toward bettering the lives of South Africans."
The joint committee meeting provided an opportunity for the
two countries to
review and plan the development of the Swiss South African Joint Research
Programme. Both countries said they were satisfied with the progress made in
advancing the objectives of the bilateral co-operation.
Signed in 2008, the programme has resulted in support for 41 projects to date, and
the production of a number of PhDs, as well as useful postdoctoral research. It is
implemented through various bilateral instruments that include not only joint
research projects, but also science-to-market initiatives, faculty and student
exchanges, and scientific workshops.
Source: Department of
Science and Technology
Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor speaks in parliament on 23 July 2014. (Image: GCIS)
