South African Chemical Institute symposium hosted by Vaal University of Technology
SACI/NYRS (South African Chemical Institute/Nanotechnology Young Researchers Symposium) that took place on the 14 October 2011 hosted by the Chemistry Department of the Vaal University of Technology. The event took place in Auditorium 100 and attracted attendance from various institutions including UJ (DF campus), Wits University, Tshwane University of Technology, North West University (Potchefstroom and Mafikeng campuses), University of Limpopo(Turfloop campus) CSIR and Mintek.
The Role of New Universities
Over time discontent has developed with the binary character of the traditional university, which on one hand has a research and teaching mandate and on the other a technical, career or vocationally focused teaching role.
The dissatisfaction stems from a growing awareness that these traditional roles cannot meet the needs of a new kind of undergraduate and graduate education.
Instead, what is required is a higher education arrangement that combines the scholarly environment of a traditional university with that of an institution that offers instruction, community and industry response, open access, the use of advisory groups and work experience.
Creating an Enabling Environment for Emerging Researchers: An Institutional Perspective
Two of our Flagship Programs are our “Hub and Spokes” Model and our Pre-doctoral program in partnership with SANTRUST. The former program looks towards the development of a Next Generation of New Generation Scholars for VUT and the latter support existing staff in upgrading their qualifications.
The Next Generation of Scholars at VUT
The NRF has recently launched an Emerging Researcher Network (ERN)
The Emerging Researcher Network (ERN) is primarily an online researcher community platform that provides emerging researchers with online resources about funding opportunities, job opportunities, toolkits and opportunities for collaboration. It is also a portal pointing South African researchers to various online resources internationally. The ERN is administered and supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF). In terms of structure and organization the ERN is hosted by the National Research Foundation and is maintained and supported by its Human and Institutional Capacity Development (HICD) directorate.
Funding Initiatives to support emerging researchers
As the Vaal University of Technology we regard ourselves as a young research orientated higher education institution. In becoming a University, we have acknowledged our vision to be a research informed teaching university, which is committed to making an applicable socially intelligent knowledge contribution into our local and regional context.
As the only University of Technology situated at the Southern tip of Gauteng within Vanderbijlpark and along the Vaal River, the VUT has a tremendous strategic opportunity to South Africa’s socio-economic development from the South into the Gauteng province.
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