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At least six WSU researchers have been inducted into the National Research Foundation (NRF) rating system, making this the highest recorded increase in the past seven years, according to the audit of 2021/2022 year period.
This comes after the Directorate of Research & Innovation (DRI) refocused its efforts to support relevant, innovative, and impactful research, in the efforts of provisioning the institutions’ Vision 2030 strategic plan that was implemented in 2020.
The NRF rating system is a key driver in the NRF’s aim to build a globally competitive science system. NRF ratings are allocated based on a researcher’s recent research outputs and impact as perceived by international peer reviewers to encourage researchers to publish high quality outputs in high impact journals/outlets.
“We are seeing growth and improvement in all our research focus areas. this is primarily because our capacity development interventions have resulted in more and more researchers becoming research active. For example, between 2019 and 2022, we have seen nearly 200% growth in the number of academics who have become producers of accredited research publications. This improvement cuts across different research focus areas and is the trajectory we are pursuing,” said the professor.
According to Senior Director of DRI, Prof Wilson Akpan, the office introduced two strands of NRF rating mentorship initiatives in the 2020/2022 period. These mentorships were funded by NRF and the University Capacity Development Grant (UCDG) to assist researchers with robust well-rounded profile through the guidance of their Mentors and to conduct research.
“Our efforts are firmly located in the University’s vision, mission, and goals, articulated in the WSU 2030 Strategic Plan. Relevant and impactful research and innovation is Strategic Goal No. 2 in that Plan and ours is to ensure that the University achieves balanced and sustainable growth in its core business, and research forms part of that core business.”
He added, “Our strategies are targeted at building enhanced capacity for relevant and impactful research as well as accelerated and sustainable research output. We also are determined to change the story for WSU when it comes to postgraduate development. As a comprehensive university, our eyes are also focused on innovation and intellectual property commercialisation. There is just a lot of innovative energies in and around WSU that we seek to tap, and we will.
For the 2021/2022 application cycle 37 researchers were trained, and 14 out of the 37 submitted their NRF Rating applications and are waiting for outcomes from NRF. The DRI envisions that the number of rated researchers at WSU will further increase when the outcome of the 2021/2022 applications is released.
By Ongezwa Sigodi
