Science and scientific collaboration in South Africa: apartheid and after

ARTICLE INCLUDES:× Supplementary material × Data set FUNDING:National Research Foundation (South Africa) Highly visible scientists are increasingly recognised as influential leaders with a special role to play in making science part of mainstream society. Through consultation with a panel of 45 experts working at the science-media interface, we sought to identify the most visible scientists currently living and working in South Africa. In total, 211 scientists -less than 1% of the scientific workforce of the country -were identified as visible in the public sphere. The demographic profile and institutional spread of South Africa's visible scientists suggest that more should be done to increase the diversity of scientists who are publicly visible. Although only 8% of South Africans are white, 78% of the group of visible scientists were white, and 63% of the visible scientists were men. Only 17 black women were identified as publicly visible scientists. While visible scientists were identified at 42 different research institutions, more than half of the visible scientists were associated with just four universities. Recent controversies surrounding the two most visible South African scientists identified via this study, and the potential implications for fellow scientists' involvement in public engagement, are briefly discussed. Significance:• This is the first study to identify highly visible scientists in South Africa.• The study has meaningful policy implications for mobilising scientists towards public science engagement.• It is an important contribution towards the new public engagement framework of the Department of Science and Technology.

Section: The South African Context For Public Science Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

In the footsteps of Einstein, Sagan and Barnard: Identifying South Africa’s most visible scientists

Joubert¹,

Guenther²

2017

“…12 Bibliometrics is defined as the application of mathematics and statistical methods to communication media. Bibliometrics have been used extensively to evaluate research progress quantitatively, for example in studying research output for specific countries [13][14][15] in a continent or a region such as Africa or southern Africa 16,17 or sometimes for a research discipline such as nanotechnology 9,18 or even a single institution 19 . One problem identified in bibliometric research is the classification and delineation of fields, for example, for new and emerging areas like biotechnology and nanotechnology the definitions differ among different application areas, including which areas it encompasses.…”

Section: Bibliometricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bibliometric analysis of the development of nanoscience research in South Africa

Makhoba¹,

Pouris²

2017

ARTICLE INCLUDES:× Supplementary material × Data set FUNDING:None Nanotechnology is a fast-growing scientific research area internationally and is classified as an important emerging research area. In response to this importance, South African researchers and institutions have also increased their efforts in this area. A bibliometric study of articles as indexed in the Web of Science considered the development in this field with respect to the growth in literature, collaboration profile and the research areas that are more within the country's context. We also looked at public institutions that are more active in this arena, including government policy considerations as guided by the National Nanotechnology Strategy launched in 2005. We found that the number of nanotechnology publications have shown a remarkable growth ever since the launch of the strategy. Articles on nanotechnology have been published in numerous journals, with Electrochimica Acta publishing the most, followed by Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. These publications fall within the traditional domains of chemistry and physics. In terms of the institutional profile and based on publication outputs over the period reviewed, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research is a leading producer of publications in nanotechnology, followed by the University of the Witwatersrand -institutions that are both based in the Gauteng Province. There is a high level of international collaboration with different countries within this field -the most productive collaboration is with India, followed by the USA and China, as measured through co-authorship. Significance:• Nanotechnology as a field of research is experiencing rapid growth and there is a need to understand progress from a South African perspective. IntroductionInnovations linked to science and technology developments are believed to be promising contributors to economic progress internationally. In response to this promise, South Africa adopted the National Research and Development Strategy 1 in 2002 to enable the transition from a resource-based economy to a knowledge economy, which was followed by the Ten-Year Innovation Plan towards a knowledge-based economy 2 . This strategy was viewed as pivotal to the achievement of national goals, including enhanced economic growth, industrial competitiveness, as well as social and developmental aspirations.3 To this end, a number of targeted interventions and investments were made in specific fields of science, one of which was nanotechnology. Nanoscience and nanotechnology (N&N) is now widely recognised as an area of science and technology that promises to bring many scientific breakthroughs in the coming years, which will have a meaningful impact on the economy. According to Lux Research 4 , the revenue from nano-enabled products worldwide as of 2014 stood at USD1.6 trillion -a growth of 90% in 2 years from USD850 billion in 2012. The application of nanomaterials occurs in many industries such as cosmetics, construction and electronics. It is i...

“…Overall collaboration has had a positive impact on the productivity of South African scientists 28 and scientists prefer international to domestic partnerships. The roots of collaboration date into the past and with time, the country has become a regional hub for collaboration, given its relative strength in higher education, better funding schemes and policy frameworks, well developed research and ICT infrastructures and an attraction to leading African and global scholars.…”

Section: Collaboration and Publications In South Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Publishing patterns at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Chiware

Skelly

2016

We report on the publishing and collaborative patterns of researchers in the applied sciences and engineering disciplines at a technological university in South Africa, Cape Peninsula University of Technology. The study focused on works published over a 10-year period (2005–2014) and was based on citations of peer-reviewed literature from Scopus. The results showed a steady growth in research outputs in science and technology at the university. There has also been a growing trend of international collaboration in certain disciplines. This scoping study serves as a benchmark for similar studies.