Science Councils

Science Councils and Statutory Bodies Sector Report

Introduction
The Science Councils and Statutory Bodies Sector is one of the NSTF sectors with representation in the Executive Committee of the NSTF. It comprises of the following Science Councils with a complementary focus:

• Agricultural Research Council (ARC);
• Council for Geoscience;
• Council for Mineral Technology (Mintek);
• Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR);
• Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC);
• Medical Research Council (MRC);
• National Research Foundation (NRF) including the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA);
• Water Research Commission (WRC);
• The South African Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (NPC)

And one Statutory Body:

• Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)

The Science Councils and Statutory Bodies Sector supports and promotes the NSTF by giving expert input to government policy and by providing a platform to express the views of its member organisations regarding SETI matters.

These institutions play various roles in the upliftment of South Africa through, among many others, undertaking scientific research that informs policy development in the country, initiating and developing innovations and technologies aimed at improving the standard of living for South Africans, and are all engaged in technology transfer and capacity building.

The sector has a committee, consisting of a representative of each member organisation, which runs the activities of the NSTF Science Councils sector. The main purpose of the committee is to promote and extend communication, collaboration and information among members.  To achieve this purpose, meetings are held quarterly and each Science Council or Statutory Body is required to delegate one or two staff members to represent it. Members agreed that venues of the meetings should be rotated among members’ premises. The aim is to create an opportunity to visit all member organisations and to understand their core businesses. Also, it was aimed at providing members with exposure to each Science Council in order to raise interest about each other. Issues that are common to all members of the sector are discussed with the view of helping each other in finding solutions or sharing experiences.

Last updated: 2 October 2009