Duo Of UNISA To Chair South African Research Chairs Initiative(SARChi)

Tana Pistorius of the College of Law and Judy van Biljon
of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology.

University of South Africa proud to announce that two new chairs under the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) have been awarded to professors Tana Pistorius of the College of Law and Judy van Biljon of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology.

“This brings the number of SARChI chairs at Unisa to four and makes our institution one of the few that has the majority of its SARChI chairs being women,” said Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng, Vice-Principal of Research and Innovation.

Law, Society and Technology

The chair’s research focus is aligned with knowledge generation and human capital development in response to the needs of the African continent (e-commerce legal frameworks for Africa). It will also contribute to economic sustainability, innovation and capacity building in science and technology (the role of IP in the knowledge economy) and open distance learning (the management of IP for open learning).

The Chair for Law, Society and Technology will promote responsible virtual citizenship (legal aspects of cybersecurity, IP and cybercrime) and focus on intellectual property law and innovation, especially the role that design law can play in the innovation chain.

Information and Computer Science

Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) refers to the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for improving the human condition that is consistent with the values of social justice and fairness.

The ICT4D Chair research will impact on learning systems and global change social learning systems. Aside from its reliance on technology, ICT4D also requires a nuanced understanding of the context, which can be community development, poverty alleviation, agriculture, healthcare, or education, which the chair will also contribute critical knowledge towards.

The Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, announced 42 additional research chairs at various higher education institutions to assist South Africa’s transformation into a knowledge economy, boosting its international competitiveness and improving people’s quality of life.

The new research chairs, awarded to local women researchers, have increased the total number of chairs under SARChI to 197, strengthening the ability of the country’s universities to produce good postgraduate students and high-quality research and innovation outputs.

Minister Pandor emphasised that the additional women research chairs were not “quota appointments”, but impressive candidates of a high calibre. “SARChI has given women the opportunity that men have always had,” she explained.

South Africa has made progress, but gender disparity remains a challenge in research fields. UNESCO data show that 42% of South African researchers are women. Only 30% of researchers with an NRF rating are women. Census data indicates that only 11,3% of the females with post-school education in South Africa are in the areas of natural sciences, computer sciences, and engineering.

The two new chairs augment the Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation South African Research Chair in Social Policy, held by Prof Jimi Adesina, and the Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation South African Research Chair in Development Education, held by Prof Catherine Odora Hoppers.

    “From a personal perspective I should say that I feel over-whelmed, over-joyed and over-enthusiastic! On a more serious note I am really very grateful that the National Research Foundation afforded me this opportunity. I am grateful to Professor Phakeng and the Research Department for their support. Professor Susan Scott was assigned to me to advise me on the application process and I am grateful to her for her assistance. The funding will enable me to offer mobility grants and other bursaries to my postgraduate students and to sustain and grow national and international collaborations. My co-Unisans form an integral part of the chair’s succession plan and I hope that young researchers will also benefit from this opportunity.

    “The research focus of the chair is exciting and at the forefront of the knowledge economy but the opportunities that this chair offers also come with responsibilities, namely to deliver quality outputs. I intend to do just that.

    “Lastly, I simply feel blessed.”

    Prof Tana Pistorius

    “The awarding of the SARCHI chair reminds me of the many people that have supported me in getting this achievement and my first thought is one of gratitude. We often think that we should try to do something exceptional to get rewarded in research but I think it all starts with doing the basic things right, complete and on time. All the little acts of being reliable, concise and timely add up to allow you the creativity to be innovative and exceptional.”

    Prof Judy van Biljon