Posted on by Loosely Translated

What is at the Centre of Excellence?

In 2004, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) with the National Research Foundation (NRF) established the first seven Centres of Excellence (CoE). These Centres, based on the successful CoE models implemented overseas, were adopted to build on existing capacity and resources but also aimed to bring researchers together to collaborate across disciplines and institutions to drive science excellence.

I joined the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)–the host institution of the Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB)–in 2008 when I started my Honours degree. At the beginning on my Honours, I didn’t quite understand what the Centre of Excellence was or why it even existed. How “excellent” was this programme? Was there a need for tree health research in South Africa? I was really only concerned about doing well and learning as much as I could so that I would be a better candidate for a Master’s. But my eyes have opened up since then.

Between my classes and research project, I was encouraged to get more involved in the CoE’s activities by volunteering to be a mentor for the undergraduate mentorship programme, working in the Diagnostic Clinic (which services both the CTHB and TPCP), attending workshops run by Dr Marin Coetzee, who conducts some of his research in the CoE, and so on. The CTHB–true to the purpose of the Centres–made more room for excellence; more postgraduates could complete their studies through FABI, more essential equipment could be bought, research could include other sectors and not threaten industry-specific funding, opportunities through workshops and collaboration started to grow, leveraging funding and excellence became more important, etc. The CTHB – a virtual centre run through FABI – became a critical part of FABI and because of that, the CTHB absorbed some of its excellence, built on it and delivered its own excellence.

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The TPCP began at the University of the Free State before moving to the University of Pretoria, where it became the founding programme for FABI. The TPCP helped start a number of other research programmes that are run out of FABI.  The CTHB started at FABI in 2004 and has linked a number of institutions to FABI and the University of Pretoria. 

I experienced how research can truly grow and have international reach. As the CoE’s research net widened, we started to identify more and more problems of concern to plant health in South Africa—many of them brought on by climate change and globalization. Because of the limited capacity in the country, back in 2004 to deal with pest and diseases that were arriving from other parts of the world, the importance of national and international collaborations and knowledge exchange became a priority. These close connections–that are still being built and expanded today–have led to growth in South Africa’s capacity; not just around FABI but at all the institutions linked to the CTHB. In 14 years, the CoE has produced 786 publications, 125 students, and really changed the ways in which we understand diseases of our native plants.

As a student associated with a CoE, I have had better opportunities for funding, wonderful teaching, mentorship, collaboration, and international exposure. Like those that have come before me, I plan to contribute to the science excellence in the country and grow more excellent people. No matter what happens to these Centres in future, as funding continues to dry up, we need to remember to keep excellence at the centre of anything we do—for us, for our country and for the world.

Posted on by Loosely Translated

Scientists should unlock the Mandela in them

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Many people are familiar with this quote from Nelson Mandela and understand the power education has, whether you embrace it or fear it. Today, in the post-truth era we live in—where experts are dismissed, where there is a lack of interest in evidence and facts, where alternative facts and the opinions of popular public figures seem to matter more—education is more important than ever!mandela-education

I was fortunate enough to go and listen to former US President Barack Obama deliver the sixteenth annual Mandela lecture at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg. He reminded the thousands of people sitting in the stadium (and those tuned in all over the world) of the crossroads we, as global citizens, face—something very similar to what South Africans faced pre-1994.

Obama_Nelson Mandela LectureThe solutions to South Africa’s and the world’s problems, according to Obama, lie with the youth; an undivided youth who love more, who lead and build communities that fight for what Mandela, and others, were and are trying to build. I was inspired by Obama’s messages of hope and the vision he has for achieving an undivided, educated and loving global community. I want, more than anything, to be a part of that community.

A recent piece was published on the Global Citizens website, looking at seven ways Madiba’s legacy still resonates in the world today. I want to highlight four of the seven: his participation in the fight against HIV/AIDS; his dream to bring education to rural students; his fight for children and youth; and his promotion of scientific and environmental education.

Madiba dedicated his life to making a difference in these areas, and while he did more than most, there is still a lot more to do, which we could achieve, largely, through education. Education really is the most powerful weapon in our arsenal and should be used more often to continue Mandela’s fight against HIV/AIDS, to continue to empower young people in the developing world, to develop science and technology to help tackle global issues and more.

Although Obama only mentioned “science” once and “technology” four times during his nearly one and a half hour speech, I know he values both for the advancement of humanity. As a global citizen and a scientist, I thought I’d build on and add to what Obama said with quotes from the lecture.

Obama alluded to the failings of our world leaders and the dangers this has for turning the world backwards. We, as global citizens, need to stop “the promotion of anti-intellectualism and the rejection of science from leaders who find critical thinking and data somehow politically inconvenient” because, “as with the denial of rights, the denial of facts runs counter to democracy, it could be its undoing.” To stop the people and processes eroding democracy, which Mandela fought for, “we have to insist that our schools teach critical thinking to our young people, not just blind obedience.” Our problems aren’t going to be solved by the leaders of this world, who have different agendas, but by the people who think and do for themselves to reach a global agenda—a world for all.

Science-March

We, as scientists, are armed with the most powerful weapon in the world and we need to do a better job of arming everyone else. When we are educated, it makes it difficult to manipulate us, it makes it difficult to lie to us, it makes it impossible to argue that race, gender, sexual orientation, choice of faith, class, makes us less human than the man, woman or child next to us. When we are educated, we understand our problems better and that there are no quick fixes. When we are educated, we put faith in the facts and not those who would try to deny them. It is time to take responsibility of this world and the state we leave it in. We cannot continue to blame the leaders we put in power for taking us down the wrong road when we have the means to push the world in the right direction.

It begins with us.