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(High-level) Human Capital Development: Overview of DST activities

(High-level) Human Capital Development: Overview of DST activities. Thomas Auf der Heyde Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Science and Technology 30 May 2012. Outline. Human Capital Development (HCD) landscape High-level HCD Challenges DST HCD interventions

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(High-level) Human Capital Development: Overview of DST activities

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  1. (High-level) Human Capital Development:Overview of DST activities Thomas Auf der Heyde Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Science and Technology 30 May 2012

  2. Outline • Human Capital Development (HCD) landscape • High-level HCD Challenges • DST HCD interventions • School-level (separate presentation) • New generation researchers • Emerging researchers • Established researchers • Internship programme (separate presentation) • Policy development 2

  3. Human Capital Development landscape:Institutional context • DBE: responsible for basic education (over R130 billion including provinces, 26000 schools, 12.5m learners, 12.5b learner-hours per annum) • DHET: responsible for Higher Education (over R21 billion for universities, 23 universities, 1m students) • DST: responsible for research development and support, and innovation across the national system of innovation (R4.5 billion, 7000 students supported, 1.5m learner-hours per annum, 18 Dinaledi schools) 3

  4. Human Capital Development landscape:Policy framework (1) • DST National Research and Development Strategy (2002): • Human Capital Development, • investment S&T infrastructure, • knowledge generation, • strategic management of the public S&T system, and • "centres and networks" of excellence • Ten Year Innovation Plan 4

  5. Human Capital Development landscape:Policy framework (2) • Medium-Term Strategic Framework, Presidential M&E Framework • Outcome 5: Skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path • Output 4: Increase access to high-level occupationally-directed programmes in needed areas – increasing the graduate output in the natural and physical sciences and engineering. • Output 5: Research, development and Innovation in human capital for a growing knowledge economy 5

  6. High-level HCD Challenges 6

  7. High-level HCD challenges (1) • Low progression ratios (B to Honours to Masters to PhD) • Demographic drop-off 7

  8. High-level HCD challenges (2) • High attrition rates (e.g. 2001 PhD cohort): • 46% enrolled never completed degree • 29% dropped out in first two years • 36% drop-out in natural sciences, 53% in humanities • Low bursary values (e.g. 2011/12) 8

  9. High-level HCD challenges (3) • Comparatively low enrolment in engineering and natural sciences • Low PhD graduation rate • Less than 30 PhDs per million population per annum • Developed and emerging economies produce 100-150 PhDs pmppa 9

  10. High-level HCD challenges (4) • Too few university staff qualified to lead research (only 35% of academic staff have PhD) • Too few research staff with PhD qualifications in science councils (<30%) • National scientific productivity is average (proportionate to size of population) 10

  11. Strategic Responses 11

  12. HCD Conceptual Framework Next Generation Researchers Emerging Researchers Established Researchers Postgraduate Bursaries Workplace Readiness Postdoctoral Fellowship Thuthuka SARChI CoE DST HCD interventions:HCD conceptual framework 12

  13. Centres of Excellence (HEIs,SC) Post-doctoral Fellowship (HEIs) SA Research Chairs (HEIs) HCD Instruments International Programmes Research Professional Development (SC) Bursaries (HEIs) Internships (SC,NF) DST HCD interventions:map of DST/NRF instruments 13

  14. DST HCD Interventions:Next Generation Researchers 14

  15. Next Generation Researchers: Strategic focus (1) • Main thrust is to improve level of support for Honours, Masters, Doctoral students (per capita and total numbers) • High funding levels (“Innovation Bursaries”) have higher retention rates from H to M degree 15

  16. Improved retention rate from H to M/D degree 16

  17. Bursaries:Extent of NRF support NRF funding as percentage of total enrolment 17

  18. Next Generation Researchers: Strategic focus (2) • Capture students at honours level by providing bursaries • Expand support for post-doctoral students (R&D apprenticeship) • Prioritise financial need, black (African) South Africans, women, young full-time students (below age 40) • Prioritise natural, physical and engineering sciences, and vulnerable disciplines 18

  19. DST HCD Interventions:Emerging Researchers 19

  20. Emerging Researchers: Strategic focus • Main focus is on recently-graduated PhDs • Staff members of universities • Postdoctoral Fellows • Improving staff qualifications (35.7% of academic & research staff with PhDs) • Number of postdocs (450 in 2010, 404 in 2011 • International cooperation, esp. on postdocs 20

  21. Emerging Researchers: Thuthuka Programme Since inception in 2001, the programme: • grew from 17 grantholders to more than 700 in 2008/09; • invested around R170 million in grants; and • financed 3 372 students, including 2370 black and 2884 female beneficiaries. 21

  22. Thuthuka Programme:grantholders supported 22

  23. Thuthuka Programme:Demographics (2011) 23

  24. Thuthuka Programme:Envisaged revisions • PhD Track: for applicants wanting to obtain a PhD within the funding period; • Post-PhD Track: for applicants wanting to become established researchers, strengthening their research capabilities; and • NRF Rating Track: for applicants wanting to apply for an NRF rating within the six-year funding period. 24

  25. Postdoctoral Research Support Number of postdocs supported 25

  26. DST HCD Interventions:Established Researchers 26

  27. Established Researchers: Strategic focus • Focus on excellence and concentration of research efforts • Three major initiatives: • Centres of Excellence (CoEs); • South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI); and • Funding for Rated Researchers. 27

  28. Response: Centres of Excellence (CoE) • Are physical or virtual centres of research; • Concentrate existing capacity and resources; • Enable collaboration across disciplines; • Enable collaboration across institutions; • Work on long-term projects; and • Do locally relevant and internationally competitive research. 28

  29. CoE Overview • Started in 2004; now 8 CoEs with a budget allocation of R85.4m for 2012/13 financial year. • Envisaged expansion by six new CoEs over the MTEF • Themes of CoEs relevant to socio-economic development issues, e.g. • Biomedical Tuberculosis Research; • South African Centre for Epidemiological Modeling and Analysis (SACEMA); • Strong Materials; • Climate Change and Earth Systems Science; etc. 29

  30. CoE output (1):Masters & Doctoral Graduates 30

  31. CoE output (2):Students and publications 31

  32. CoE output (3):Leveraged non-NRF income 32

  33. 2010 review of the COE Programme • Exceptional performance in all KPAs • Effective management structures and processes • Reliable flow of funds and leveraging of external funding by CoE • The intention is to extend DST support period 33

  34. Response: SA Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) • Intended to expand and renew the SA scientific research base • Create research career pathways for mid-career researchers • Address historical racial, gender and age imbalances • Align with socio-economic development priorities • Increase number of world class researchers in SA 34

  35. SARChI Overview The South African Research Chairs Initiative (154): • 92 chairs awarded by 2010 • 60 chairs awarded to institutions in 2011/12 • 2 chairs still to be awarded (bilaterally-funded) • Award of up to R2.5 million per annum for Tier 1 and R1,5 million for Tier 2 • Covers salaries, postgraduate students and fellowships awards, research operating costs and small equipment 35

  36. Average number of Honours students per grantholder 1.60 1.40 1.34 1.40 1.27 All Grantholders (excl. Rated and SARChI) 1.20 1.00 Rated Grant holders (excl. SARChI) 0.80 0.60 0.50 Research Chair holders 0.44 0.40 0.37 0.40 0.31 0.30 0.20 0.00 2008 2009 2010 SARChI output (1):Hons-supervisory capacity 36

  37. Average number of Masters students per grantholder 3.50 3.21 2.99 3.00 All Grantholders (excl. Rated and SARChI) 2.50 2.26 2.00 1.77 Rated Grant holders (excl. SARChI) 1.53 1.51 1.47 1.34 1.50 1.25 Research Chair holders 1.00 0.50 0.00 2008 2009 2010 SARChI output (2):M-supervisory capacity 37

  38. Average number of Doctoral students per grantholder 3.00 2.58 2.50 1.99 2.00 1.69 1.50 0.98 0.95 0.89 1.00 0.64 0.62 0.51 0.50 0.00 2008 2009 2010 SARChI output (3):D-supervisory capacity All Grantholders (excl. Rated and SARChI) Rated Grant holders (excl. SARChI) Research Chair holders 38

  39. Average number of Postdoctoral students per grantholder 1.20 1.11 1.07 1.00 0.82 0.80 0.60 0.40 0.15 0.20 0.14 0.12 0.04 0.04 0.03 0.00 2008 2009 2010 SARChI output (4):PD-supervisory capacity All Grantholders (excl. Rated and SARChI) Rated Grant holders (excl. SARChI) Research Chair holders 39

  40. ISI-ACCREDITED OUTPUTS 2008 2009 2010 8707 9264 9326 Publications by SA Authors * 368 404 416 Publications by SARChI Authors 4.23% 4.36% 4.46% Number of SA Authors * 4682 4838 5028 Number of Research Chairs 68 70 78 1.45% 1.45% 1.55% SARChI output (4):Publications output 40

  41. Policy Development 41

  42. Policy development (1): Strategic focus • Encouraging the new generation of researchers • support more postgraduate students and post doctoral fellows. • Developing the emerging researchers • transform more new generation researchers into established researchers. • Maximising the output of the established researchers • increase the number of active researchers and supervisors 42

  43. Policy development (2):Next generation researchers • Increase the proportion of enrolled students receiving bursary support, with an appropriate mix of H, M, D; • Ensure that the bursary values encourage full-time study; • Drive demographics and consider unique circumstances of women students with children; and • Ensure bursary awards are aligned with national priorities and growth needs of scarce and critical knowledge domains. 43 43

  44. Policy development (3):Emerging researchers • Increase number of postdoc fellows; • Strengthen programme to increase PhD-level qualifications of staff in HEIs and science councils; • Establish a dedicated programme to fund research support for young employed researchers with less than seven years of post-PhD experience; and • Seek international support 44

  45. Policy development (4):Established researchers • Increase the productivity of supported researchers (e.g., through additional postdoc fellows); • Increase the number of supported researchers; • Increasing the average value of research grants; and • Attract and retain internationally-competitive researchers. 45

  46. DST HCD interventions: legislative and policy • Finalisation of the HCD Strategy • Financial modelling of bursary costs • Implementation of the bursary policy • Drafting of the STEMI promotion and engagement strategy • Analysis of the Ministerial Task Team review report on S&T landscape • Review of the NRF Act 46

  47. Thank you 47

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