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South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) announced a new partnership with the European Research Council (ERC) in Pretoria on 13 January. The agreement between the DST and the ERC will apply to South African postdoctoral students wishing to do research at European institutions. South Africa is the fourth non-European country to be eligible for ERC funding. According to the DST the agreement is advantageous as ERC stipulations allow recipients to spend a large part of the year in non-European nations or at home. The National Research Foundation, who will administer the programme locally, will issue a call for applications in the near future. [Image credit: DST]

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An overview of funding opportunities from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 funding programme will be presented at an information session to be held at South Africa’s Innovation Hub. Co-hosted by South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology and the EU-funded project, INCONTACT 2020, the session is a side event to the ERAfrica Conference. [Image credit: Horizon 2020]

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The ERAfrica project is an FP7 project of African and European research and innovation organisations that pooled and co-invested funds in sustainable development and renewable energy. The project’s closing conference will take place in Pretoria, South Africa, in which results will be shown. Also on the agenda will be a discussion about a “new phase” of the ERAfrica initiative.

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South Africa’s Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, has revealed how her department plans to allocate R6.4bn (€443 million) in the current financial year. “Most of this is distributed to the six entities reporting to the Department [of Science and Technology], which are the National Research Foundation (R851 million); the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (R825 million); the Technology Innovation Agency (R380 million); the Human Sciences Research Council (R276 million); the South African National Space Agency (R118 million) and the Academy of Science of South Africa (R21 million),” the DST website states. “Over the medium term, the Department of Science and Technology will focus on developing human capital, creating new knowledge, investing in research and development infrastructure and encouraging innovation in South Africa by funding marketable products emerging from research.” [Image credit: Flickr, Mark Klotz]

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“South Africans must be bold about what they can offer and savvy about how they enter consortia and in the signing of consortia agreements,” says South African higher education funding expert, Charmaine Williamson, writing in University World News about the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. [Image credit: Horizon 2020]

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In April of this year, South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) launched new of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Scientometrics and Science, Technology and Innovation Policy.

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Last week, South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology hosted a meeting in Pretoria to discuss strategies on coordinating cooperation between South Africa and the EU Member States and Associated Countries. The presentations from this meeting are now available on the ESASTAP Plus website. [Image credit: Flickr, Hampton Roads Partnership]

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Stellenbosch University in South Africa will host a Horizon 2020 information session later this month. On the agenda? Funding opportunities for research and innovation partnerships between South African and European agencies. Themes to be covered at the session include food security, agriculture, marine science and the bio-economy. South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology and the EU-funded ESASTAP Plus project are the organisers. For more information email contact[at]esastap.org.za. [Image credit: Horizon 2020 logo]

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South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology and its Council for Scientific and Industrial Research have launched a new phase of the Wireless Mesh Network initiative, allAfrica.com has reported. Funded by the European Union as part of the Broadband4All project, the Wireless Mesh Network aims to provide “alternative information and communication technology infrastructures” in the country’s rural areas. [Image credit: Flickr, OER Africa]

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The UK has contributed R1.7 billion to oversee the first phase of South Africa’s Square Kilometre Array Project.