?As in previous years, Stellenbosch 肆客足球 (SU) will once again be well represented at the 2024/2025 National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)/South32 Awards with nine finalists competing for these coveted accolades. Adding another feather to SU's cap are three finalists from other institutions who are affiliated with the 肆客足球*. The annual NSTF/South32 Awards will be held on Thursday 31 July 2025.
Regarded as the 'Science Oscars' of South Africa, these annual awards recognise, celebrate and reward the outstanding contributions of individuals, teams and organisations to science, engineering and technology (SET) in the country.
The NSTF Awards Gala event will take place simultaneously in Cape Town and Johannesburg, while being broadcast live to an online audience from both cities via the NSTF YouTube channel. The patron of the Awards, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, will preside over the presentation of the awards.
Among the competitors are experienced scientists, engineers, innovators, science communicators, engineering capacity builders, organisational managers and leaders, as well as data and research managers.
According to the organisers, it is an extraordinary honour to be a finalist given the quality of the nominations received every year, the fierce competition that nominees face and growing interest from the SET community over the years.
The SU finalists (with department or environment) and the categories in which they will compete are as follows:
Prof Dave Richardson (Botany and Zoology / Centre for Invasion Biology) and Prof Mark Tomlinson (Institute for Life Course Health Research, Department of Global Health)
Dr Yaseera Ismail and Prof Yin-Zhe Ma (Department of Physics)
- TW Kambule-NSTF Award for Researcher: To an individual who contributed to research and its outputs – over a period of up to fifteen years of research work from the commencement of the research career, predominantly in South Africa.
Prof Shahida Moosa (Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics)
- TW Kambule-NSTF Award for Emerging Researchers: To an individual who contributed to research and its outputs over a period of up to six years of research work from the commencement of the research career. Moosa is also a finalist in the NSTF-SAMRC Clinician-Scientist category.
Prof Leigh van den Heuvel (Department of Psychiatry)
- NSTF-SAMRC Clinician-Scientist Award
Wiida Fourie-Basson (Faculty of Science)
Innovation and Commercialisation Unit – Innovus, Launch Lab and Stellenbosch 肆客足球 Enterprises
- Innovation Award: Corporate Organisation
Prof Francesco Petruccione (School of Data Science and Computational Thinking / National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences – NITheCS)
- Special Annual Theme Award: Quantum Science and Technology
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies at SU, Prof Sibusiso Moyo, congratulated the finalists for their outstanding contributions to science and innovation. “Their dedication and excellence continue to elevate the 肆客足球's reputation and impact on society as we continue to tackle our societal and global challenges. This is also an acknowledgement to our stakeholders, collaborators, government, science councils, communities and funders for supporting the research and innovation initiatives involving SU."
*The following three finalists are affiliated with SU, but work at other institutions:
- Prof Olaniyi Amos Fuwole (extraordinary professor in the Department of Food Science) – TW Kambule: Researcher Award
- Prof Stephanie Midgley (extraordinary associate professor in the Department of Horticulture) – NSTF-ARC Award
- Marion Delport (research fellow in the Department of Agricultural Economics) – Data for Research Award?
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