Funding of SA's science researchers continues to fall
The NRF announced in 2017 that it was forced to cut grants for top scientists to restructure one of its most important funding programmes
SA’s most important agencies for funding local scientific research are battling under the strain of declining government support and a weak economy, a series of annual reports tabled in parliament on Thursday show. The National Research Foundation (NRF), which provides grants to researchers, said its R926m parliamentary grant for the 2017-2018 fiscal year failed to beat inflation, and was a 0.3% decline in real terms compared to the year before. The continued decline in the parliamentary grant, which had diminished steadily over the past five years, threatened the operational and financial stability of the organisation, it said in its 2017-2018 annual report. The NRF announced in October 2017 that it was forced to cut grants for top scientists from January 2018 in order to restructure one of its most important funding programmes. It slashed multiyear grants to people at the top of the profession, saying at the time it did not have enough money to go around. The Council for Scientif...
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