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Department Of Science And Technology Announces The Launch Of Centres Of Excellence Programme To Benefit South Africa And The Continent

The Department of Science and Technology announces the launch of Centres of Excellence Programme to support development and funding of high quality research of a globally excellent standard and to respond to the education and training of highly qualified individuals in strategic areas such as nanotechnology, bio informatics, water-borne diseases, Antarctic research, technology for deep mining, light metal technology, astronomy etc. The launch of Centres of Excellence will be hosted on Tuesday, 29 June 2004 at Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria.

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has set aside a budget of R 26, 5 million for a year to support the launch of and re-establishment Centres of Excellence aimed at achieving the amongst other things, the following:

• Showcasing the strides made by DST in the area of Science and Technology human capital
• Affording the successful applicants and their institutions the publicity they would build on to allow them to leverage other sources of funds for their centers of excellence
• Signalling to the private sector the commitment of the DST to improving R&D expenditure, output and the supply of researches and scientists for the South African economy.

The Department of Science and Technology National Research and Development (R&D) Strategy accepted by Cabinet in 2002 envisioned Centres of Excellence to focus strongly on human resource development and on popularising science. The national R&D Strategy has recommended the National Research Foundation (NRF) as the main implementer of the programme. In conjunction with DST, the NRF has developed and communicated to the research community a funding framework for the centers and managed the application and assessment process proposals. The process culminated in the provisional selection of six centers to be funded in the first round from seventy (70) applications from the initial call for pre-proposals.

The Department is confident that Centres of Excellence represent the highest level of support in the continuum of research promotion and support for the higher education sector and would assist in strengthening and building capacity in our country' s human resource development and key missions that impact on various areas including women and HIV/Aids. The Centres of Excellence would also promote the establishment of networks of excellence across the African Continent to enhance innovation in line with Science and Technology New Partnership for Africa' s Development (NEPAD) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) initiatives.

NB. THE MEDIA IS INVITED TO ATTEND THE LAUNCH

The further details of the occasion are as follows:

Date:	29 June 2004
Venue:	Sheraton Hotel, Pretoria
Time:	14h00 - PRESS CONFERENCE 15h00- Launch of Centres of Excellence

ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

For more information please contact Manager Communication: Andrew Aphane at 082 387 5615.