Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande says funding for collaborative research and development programmes will take precedence over single-body project funding because universities and research bodies must help to broaden and develop the skills of students and people in other organisations to change South Africa from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy.
Speaking to journalists at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s (NMMU’s) launch of its high-resolution transmission electron micro- scopy (HRTEM) centre, housing R90-million worth of equipment that allows the imaging of the crystallographic structure of a sample at atomic scale (the centre’s flagship HRTE microscope boasts a resolution of 0.8 nm), Nzimande also emphasised that research must address key challenges of the country, such as the infrastructure backlog and unemployment. …
Meanwhile, Department of Science and Technology (DST) chief director for emerging research areas and infrastructure Dr. Daniel Adams said, at the HRTEM symposium after the launch event, that a key element of the DST’s ten-year plan for science and technology was to contribute to transforming the country from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy, with the key drivers for research and development infrastructure being to combat critical challenges experienced by South Africa.
“Key elements of the plan are to exploit science, biotechnology, information technology, advanced manufacturing and astronomy as areas of geographical advantage for the country, and emerging ‘frontier’ research and development areas, such as nanoscale research.” Rest