Department of Science and Technology supports the establishment of a National Institute for Theoretical Physics in South Africa.

30 May 2006

The Director-General of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Dr Phil Mjwara, has confirmed his Department’s support for the establishment of a National Institute for Theoretical Physics in South Africa.

The establishment of such an Institute was first announced by the Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Mosibudi Mangena, in October 2005 at the opening of the World Conference on Physics and Sustainable Development held in Durban.

This development follows the submission to DST of a proposal by the Theoretical Physics specialist group of the SA Institute of Physics (SAIP), responding to one of the main recommendations in a report – Shaping the Future of Physics in South Africa – by an international panel of physicists. This report on the state and future of Physics in SA had been commissioned by DST, the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the SAIP.

The National Institute of Theoretical Physics (NITheP) will be modelled on similar institutes in the world, like the USA Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara and the Perimeter Institute in Canada, which are leading international research institutes. Apart from forefront research, NITheP will be intimately involved in human resource development at the graduate student level. This will include a continuation of the internationally renowned series of annual summer schools which have been organized in SA since 1981. Also other specialized workshops and courses will be offered. Research skills will be developed among the young academics. For this reason, and to maximize opportunities for all communities, a geographically distributed model will be implemented with a central hub at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) and regional nodes at the Universities of KwaZulu-Natal and the Witwatersrand.

NITheP will be managed as a national facility in cooperation with the NRF. Prof Hendrik Geyer, chairperson of the working committee which drafted the NITheP proposal, will act as an interim director for one year to coordinate the initial implementation phase.

Issued by the Department of Science and Technology.

For media information, please contact the Department of Science and Technology:
Nhlanhla Nyide
General Manager: Science Communication
Department of Science and Technology
Cell: +27 (0) 82 871 6767
Email: nhlanhla.nyide@dst.gov.za

or

Hendrik B Geyer
Professor of Theoretical Physics
University of Stellenbosch
Tel: +27 21 808 3658
Fax: +27 21 808 3385
Email: hbg@sun.ac.za