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Research Dashboard
R3 million. UCT’s Emerging Researcher Programme (
see
page 23
) will continue to play a complementary role in
supporting this target group.
UCT is also a beneficiary of funding from the South
African
Medical Research Council
, which awards
research grants for individual projects, research-unit
funding, and career-development and training awards. In
2012, awards valued at R15 783 326 were made for new
projects and fellowships, in addition to renewal grants,
and the funding for scholarships and bursaries reported
on page 30.
Postgraduate
Students
and Funding
Increasing the absolute numbers of both local and
international postgraduate students, and improving
retention rates, are two of UCT’s primary goals. In order
to ensure that the professional sector of the country
and continent is adequately provided for through the
emergence of excellent graduates, broad-based support
for these sectors is an imperative.
The creation of the post of Director, Postgraduate Studies,
and the mandate to connect and communicate between
the different structures and resource mechanisms that
support postgraduate students have given new impetus
to improving the UCT experience of this sector of the
research community.
In 2012, 4 739 awards were administered to 2 464 honours,
master’s and doctoral students at UCT, to a total value of
R159 455 046.
Sources of funding
UCT departmental awards
accounted for 32.5%
of all funding administered in 2012, and included
more than 30 new departmental scholarships and
fellowships. These awards are intended to support
continuing and new students or doctoral graduates
with specific skills and research interests.
The National Research Foundation
continues to be
a major funder of postgraduate students. In 2012, 904
bursaries and scholarships were awarded to honours,
master’s and doctoral students, to a total value of
R46 395 844.
The Medical Research Council
provides support
for master’s and doctoral students who are studying
in areas of the health sciences. In 2012, 12 bursaries
and scholarships were awarded to postgraduate
students, to a total value of R760 000.
The UCT Research Associateships
provide prestigious
awards to recognise the research excellence of master’s
and doctoral students across all disciplines, as well as
to acknowledge the work of their supervisor(s). In 2012,
20 master’s and doctoral awards were made, valued at
R840 000.
In 2012, 25 master’s and 45 doctoral students
were awarded
UCT Conference Travel Grants
,
valued at R178 397 and R627 221 respectively,
which enabled them to present papers locally and
internationally.
Table 4
lists the areas of study
represented and the travel destinations visited
during 2012.
UCT Scholarships for International Travel
enable
master’s and doctoral students to undertake
research visits to internationally recognised
institutions for a minimum of two and a maximum
of 10 months. In 2012, awards were made to 32
master’s and doctoral students for international
travel, valued at R1 274 515.
Through the
National Student Financial Aid
Scheme
offered by the national Department
of Higher Education and Training, 31 honours
students and 12 master’s students were awarded
loans to the value of R1 157 819 and R366 168
respectively.
In 2012, 12 students received scholarships valued
at R1 083 486 through the
UCT/CSIR Scholarship
Programme
. The awards are funded equally by UCT
and the CSIR and provide high-value scholarships to
honours, master’s, and doctoral students whose areas
of study fall within the CSIR’s priorities.
Four postgraduate students were funded through
the
Commonwealth Scholarship Programme
in
2012 in the following areas of study: management
science or philosophy (master’s), economics for
development (master’s), intellectual history (master’s),
and environmental engineering (doctoral).
The generous
David and Elaine Potter Fellowships
provide full-cost support to excellent master’s and
doctoral students who intend to contribute to civil
society in South Africa by leveraging their educational
advantage in any discipline. Since its inception in