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Postgraduate students to get government funding

CHAIRWOMAN: Naledi Pandor, the chairman of the ANC sub-committee on education, which took a resolution in Mangaung to introduce a tax on new entrants in the job market. Photo: DANIEL BORN
CHAIRWOMAN: Naledi Pandor, the chairman of the ANC sub-committee on education, which took a resolution in Mangaung to introduce a tax on new entrants in the job market. Photo: DANIEL BORN

Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor says government will pay for 14‚880 postgraduate research students in 2015/16 through the National Research Foundation to improve South Africa’s competitiveness in this field.

This is in addition to the 700 students and postdoctoral fellows who have been supported through the Square Kilometre Array SA Bursary and Scholarship Programme and the National Astrophysics and Space Physics Programme‚ she said ahead of her budget vote in parliament‚ according to the government information website.

To help alleviate the pressure on the Eskom grid‚ Pandor said R80 million has been allocated towards the development of hydrogen fuel cell generator prototypes.

These‚ she said‚ “will be deployed in selected off-grid applications to provide primary and uninterrupted power”.

“Areas where hydrogen fuel cells have been deployed include the University of Western Cape Nature Reserve‚ here in the Western Cape‚ Windsor East Clinic in Randburg and three schools in the Cofimvaba district in the Eastern Cape‚” Pandor said.

The Minister said the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA)‚ which will receive R385 million‚ has offered support to thousands of Small and Medium Enterprises.

She said that since 2010‚ TIA had supported more than 8‚130 SMEs in accelerating technical innovation through technology development.

“In the fields of health innovation and bio economy‚ through partnerships with industry in the pharmaceutical sector and the agricultural sector – for example through our work in indigenous knowledge – we have registered seven patents‚ supported 20 PhDs and 39 master’s students‚ created 133 jobs‚ trained 198 community members in technology transfer and skills development.

“We have established two agro businesses and signed intellectual property agreements with L’Oreal‚ Nestle‚ Kalahari‚ Nativa and several other companies‚” she said.

She said three funds would be provided for in the new TIA strategy‚ including:

 •The Seed Fund‚ which is aimed at assisting universities‚ in particular‚ in bridging financing requirements to translate research outputs into fundable ideas for commercialisation;

 •Technology Development Fund‚ which is available to organisations‚ individual entrepreneurs and SMEs to advance technologies along the innovation value chain; and

 •Commercialisation Support Fund‚ which prepares innovators to follow-on funding.