PALAEOSCIENCES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

1. PALAEOSCIENCES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Presentation by DST Science and Technology Portfolio Committee 10 June 2015

2. Overview • National Research and Development Strategy • Palaeosciences Strategy and Implementation Plan • Performance indicators • Implementation of strategy • Palaeosciences research and training • Museum development • African Origins Platform (AOP) funding • International cooperation • Current performance against targets • Science engagement • Conclusion

4. SA National Research and Development Strategy

5. AIM • To provide a holistic approach to the development of palaeosciences in South Africa • OBJECTIVES • Empower South African researchers to excel in the field given the geographic advantage • Develop and sustain human capital which will research, conserve and present the vast heritage • Sustainably unlock the economic potential inherent in the sustainable development palaeo-heritage

6. Palaeosciences Strategy The Strategy rests on 5 pillars/goals: • Transformation of South Africans’ minds: create public awareness • Human capital development through support of universities • Empowerment of museums for research and collections management • Resource South African heritage agencies • Palaeo-tourism development

7. Palaeosciences Strategy: Implementation Plan • This is a tool the DST will use to guide operations of the interventions charted in the South African Strategy for the Palaeosiences • The document maps out the DST interventions in implementing the palaeosciences strategy, and indicates interventions that would be implemented by the partner departments • Developed by the DST in consultation with the support of the three partner departments: DAC, DEA, Tourism • Utilised by the Task Team to direct monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the Palaeosciences Strategy

8. Performance indicators (1/2)

9. Performance indicators (2/2)

10. Implementing the strategy

11. Centre of Excellence on Palaeosciences (est. 2013) • Established at University of the Witwatersrand and partners, as the main anchor for research development in the country. • Research within the Centre focuses on overarching research questions: • How best can the unique South African artefactual record be used to interpret the origins of life? • What are the origins of modern human behaviour? • What are the drivers of evolutionary change? • How significant are the roles of extinctions and radiations in the evolutionary process?

12. Palaeosciences research outputs • 2008/9 15 research projects supported • 2013/14 52 Research Projects supported

13. Training • Bursary support for postgraduates and postdoctoral fellows: • 2009/10: 29 Bursaries; Current support: 60 bursaries • Bridge the gap between graduates and established and rated researchers: • 2013: Early Career Researchers (ECR) Programme • Young graduates who are pursuing research interests • Job creation programme for unskilled personnel: • 2011/12 the DST initiated the Technical Skills Programme which is currently fully subscribed • Provides technical support for Researchers • Excavators and Fossil preparators

14. Access to large infrastructure • 2012 DST supported the installation of a Microfocus X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) Scanner at Wits • The scanner is used to image internal structures, to the level of microns, of fossils without destructing them

15. In 2013, SA entered into a formal agreement with the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) • synchroton imaging of fossils with a resolution far above those seen in conventional X-ray machines • 2013 DST funded the installation of Africa’s first Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) at the iThemba Labs • dating various biological and artefactualpalaeoscience materials

16. Museum development • Special funding provisions are made for museums • 2014/15, the DST/NRF provided a once-off funding allocation for natural science museums to improve their research equipment • Within the implementation plan time frame, the DST will make a bid to National Treasury for museum infrastructure development

17. African Origins Platform (AOP) funding

18. International cooperation Increase international bilateral relations • 2013 new joint research agreement with China Initiate relations with other African countries • Initiated discussions with Kenya and Tanzania

19. Current performance against targets (1/5)

20. Current performance against targets (2/5)

21. Current performance against targets (3/5)

22. Current performance against targets (4/5)

23. Current performance against targets (5/5)

24. Science engagement

25. Science engagement: PAST • The DST currently collaborates with a non profit organisation, the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) on raising awareness on the palaeosciences: • “Walking Tall”, an educational theatre programme, reached over one million people in South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Belgium and Sweden. • PAST has played a critical role in encouraging dialogue on seminal aspects of human origins studies. They have hosted public seminars on topics ranging from “skin color as a biological adaptation that poorly represents modern human diversity” to “the mistaken but common perception that science is in conflict with religion”. • These lectures have led to a national conversation on audio-visual, print and social media platforms

26. Science engagement

28. Learner guide

29. Learner guide … cntd

30. Palaeo-tourism Guide

31. Conclusions In 2012, government started implementing the South African Strategy for the Palaeosciences under the African Origins Platform: • Increased support for large infrastructure • Increased support for research and training • Increased number of outputs in the field • Provide ‘special’ support for museums Monitoring of the implementation • From 2015/16, annual assessment of implementation of the Strategy through a Task Team comprising of government and relevant stakeholders • 2020/21 DST and the NRF will commission an international review of the Implementation of the Strategy

32. Thank you for your attention!!!