Scenic Western Cape formed the backdrop for the launch of the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Scientometrics and Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy, co-hosted by Stellenbosch University (SU) and Tshwane University of Technology.
It is the fourth CoE to be hosted by Stellenbosch University. The other CoEs that are hosted by SU are the DST-NRF CoE for Invasion Biology, DST-NRF CoE for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis and DST-NRF CoE in Biomedical TB Research.
The National Institute for Theoretical Physics, which functions as a CoE, is also hosted by SU. The Institute for Economic Research on Innovation will also co-host the Centre, the South African Centre for Higher Education Trust and the University of Leiden’s Centre for Science and Technology Studies will be collaborating partners to this new CoE.
The CoE brings together a wealth of experience and expertise in the field of bibliometrics, scientometrics, science and innovation policy, higher education studies, the sociology of science, science communication, research evaluation and research impact assessment.
The CoE in Scientometrics and STI Policy will be housed in the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (Crest).
Crest was established in January 1995 as an interdisciplinary research centre of SU’s faculty of arts and social sciences. Since the late 1990s its work focused more on the sociology of science and science policy issues, and – more recently – also on knowledge production in higher education.
Professor Eugene Cloete, vice rector for research and innovation at SU, said: “The award recognises the expertise of Stellenbosch University and is in line with the university’s institutional intent and strategy, which aims to identify and focus on areas of research.”
Professor Johann Mouton, CoE director and director of Crest, explained how it will work: “Four main thematic areas have already been identified for the new CoE. First are STI Indicators (the quantitative measurement of science), aimed to strengthen expertise in the design, development and production of indicators of the research and innovation system, including science, technology and development, and linkage between research and innovation.
“Second is STI Policy for Development, aimed to synthesise the activities of the CoE towards its policy analysis role and it will study the dynamics shaping science. Technology and innovation capabilities, and the way the various actors engage in this process. This is Human Development for STI, aimed at obtaining a better understanding of the dynamics of human development and STI in in South Africa and on the African continent.
“A specific focus will be on the role of HEI’s in developing human resources for Science and Technology. Finally, Science Communication, Evaluation and Impact is aimed at studying the nexus of issues related to science communication, dissemination, uptake and utilisation strategies and the measurement of scientific and social impact.”
At the launch of the CoE on April 3, then-minister of science Derek Hanekom remarked: “The irony is that while scientometrics played an important role in encouraging government to initiate the CoE programme, it is only now that the programme is introducing a CoE relating to scientometrics; however, rather late than never.”
He added: “This CoE must build on our existing capacity in scientometrics and STI policy; it must foster additional capacity and take our ability to understand and fine-tune our innovation environment and policy to a new level”.
The chief executive of the NRF, Dr Albert van Jaarsveld, said: “As the managing agency of the DST-NRF Centres of Excellence, we are confident that this Centre of Excellence will not only lead to the advancement of knowledge and human capital development, but, more importantly, will also help to increase the efficiency of our country’s use of its knowledge resources. Through the production of high-quality, research-based evidence, this centre will lead to improved decision making in STI policy”.
In addition to the core team members of the CoE, the partnership will also boast an impressive list of international scholars in a wide range of complementary fields. These scholars add immense value to the CoE and have all expressed their desire and commitment to participate in the different work programmes of the new centre.
The contents of this supplement were supplied and signed off by the National Research Foundation.