Issued by: Ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology
18 MAY 1998
The National Research Foundation Bill will be introduced later today in the National Assembly by the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science & Technology, Mr Lionel Mtshali.
The objective of the National Research Foundation (NRF) will be to support and promote research through funding, human resource development and the provision of the necessary research facilities, in order to facilitate the creation of knowledge innovation and development in all fields of science and technology. In doing so, it will contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of all the people of the country.
The NRF will, in one institution, combine those functions which at present are performed separately for each of the natural sciences, human sciences and medical sciences by the Foundation for Research Development and the Centre of Science Development (at the HSRC) respectively.
Once the Bill has been enacted, a careful process will be launched to transfer staff, assets and budgets from these three institutions to the NRF.
This piece of legislation gives recognition to the modern trend where the application of science to find solutions to real life problems increasingly tend to come from various areas, rather than from only one branch of science. The NRF will improve government's ability to promote multi-disciplinary approaches to scientific problem-solving, it is expected to play an important role in improving the utility of science in the country's growth and development initiatives.
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