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UFS implements interventions to increase diversity of researchers

03 January 2022 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied

Seven supported academics from the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) on the Qwaqwa Campus saw an increase in their H-indices (Google Scholar) during 2020.

Over the past few years, the university has implemented special interventions to increase the diversity of UFS researchers, including targeted appointments and focused research capacity development and support. Strategic interventions relating to National Research Foundation (NRF) rating resulted in the UFS having a well-established cohort of rated researchers.

According to the recent internal research report, the UFS has 144 researchers in the A, B and C categories (established according to NRF criteria), and 57 researchers under the age of 40 who are considered emerging researchers in the P and Y categories. This brings the total to 201 rated researchers in 2021, compared to 188 in 2020, and 164 in 2019. The university also has 57 Y-rated researchers.

Furthermore, the university submitted 51 applications to the NRF under the 2020 rating call, including 21 first-time applications (of which four were unsuccessful) and 26 who were invited to reapply to keep their ratings active (of which all were successful).

Prof Corli Witthuhn, Vice-Rector: Research and Internationalisation, says the UFS has been able to appoint outstanding young researchers over the past eight years. “Not only did these exceptional individuals contribute to our scholarship and research productivity, but they also increased our diversity. The increase in the diversity of our NRF-rated academics is an aspect of the research portfolio that I am most proud of,” says Prof Witthuhn.

Highlighted trends regarding NRF-rated researchers

• There has been a constant growth in the number of rated researchers, from 127 in 2016 to 202 in 2021.
• The majority of NRF-rated researchers (186 in 2021) are from the Bloemfontein Campus. The number of rated researchers from the Qwaqwa Campus increased from 4 in 2016 to 13 in 2021. The South Campus increased its number of rated researchers by two in 2021, with a current total of three rated researchers.
• The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences has the highest percentage of rated researchers (45%) in 2021, followed by the Faculty of the Humanities (29%).
• The percentage of rated white researchers declined from 92% in 2016 to 78% in 2021, and the rated black researchers increased from 6% in 2016 to 17% in 2021.
• The percentage of rated female researchers increased from 27% in 2016 to 34% in 2021.
• Rated researchers in the C2 and C3 rating categories declined slightly, from 52% in 2019 to 47% in 2021. There is still positive growth in the number of young (Y1/Y2) rated researchers – from 14% in 2016 to 27% in 2021.

Ratings and promotions

The university hosts a total of six South African Research Chairs (SARChI) funded by the NRF / Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), of which four are held by women. Three chairs are appointed in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and the Faculty of Education, while the faculties of Economic and Management Sciences and Health Sciences appointed one chair each. Two research chairs have been renewed for 2021-2025.

Seven supported academics from the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) on the Qwaqwa Campus saw an increase in their H-indices (Google Scholar) during 2020, while one new Y1 NRF rating was awarded and another was increased to C2 level. Two ARU-supported academics achieved professorial status in the same year.

Twenty-five young academics on the cusp of NRF rating and promotion to the rank of Associate Professor are participating in the Future Professoriate Mentoring Programme, while the 25 participants of the ESAP group have completed their doctorates over the past three years and are working towards obtaining a Y-rating. As a result of the outstanding progress of the first cohort of the mentoring programme during 2020, a second cohort of ESAP scholars was selected in March 2021. More than 80% of the 75 group members are younger than 40 years.

Drs Frans Kruger and Lodewyk Sutton also received NRF Y-ratings in November 2020. The ESAP programme currently has three recipients of the FirstRand NRF Black African Advancement Fellowship Programme: Dr Eugene Baron (Practical Theology), Dr Mirriam Moleko (School of Mathematics and Science Education), and Dr Neo Pule (Psychology). Dr Lizemari Hugo from the School of Nursing also received a FAIMER (Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research) fellowship. Dr Mikateko Höppener (Centre for Development Support) has been selected to participate in the national DHET Future Professoriate Programme.

Publication output units show significant increase

The publication output units (books, conference proceedings, and journal articles) by UFS researchers, as measured and reported to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), show consistent growth from 2016 to 2020. The output units increased significantly in 2019 and 2020 after a slight decrease in 2017.

There has also been a notable increase in books/chapters since 2018. Journal articles also showed constant growth from 2017 onwards, especially from 2019 to 2020, with a 20% growth in journal outputs visible; however, conference proceedings declined last year.

Main contributors

The faculties of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, the Humanities, and Theology and Religion remain the main contributors to the university’s publication output. Four faculties (Economic and Management Sciences, Education, Health Sciences, and Theology and Religion) increased their share of units in 2020 compared to the 2016-2019 period.

The journal output units generated from scholarly articles published in internationally indexed journals remained more than 80% (82% in 2017, 85% in 2018, 81% in 2019, and 85% in 2020). Only 15% of journal articles were published in South African indexed (DHET) journals (compared to 24% in 2016). Since 2016, there has been a clear shift towards publications in internationally indexed journals.

The following nine in-house journals are being administered by the UFS:

Acta Academica (editor: Henning Melber), Acta Structilia (editor: K Kajimo-Shakantu), Acta Theologica (editor: Jan-Albert van den Berg), Communitas (editor: Willemien Marais), Journal for Juridical Science (editor: Bradley Smith), Journal for Translation Studies in Africa (editor: Kobus Marais), Perspectives in Education (editor: Jan Nieuwenhuis), Southern Journal for Contemporary History (editor: Neil Roos), and Town and Regional Planning (editor: Maléne Campbell).

All are DHET-accredited, except for the Journal for Translation Studies in Africa, a new KovsieJournals title.

News Archive

Multi-disciplinary research approach at UFS

2005-10-25

UFS follows multi-disciplinary research approach with opening of new centre

“A new way of doing business in necessary in the research and teaching of agriculture and natural sciences in South Africa. We must move away from departmentalised research infrastructures and a multi-disciplinary approach to research involving several disciplines must be adapted,” said Prof Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Prof van Schalkwyk delivered the keynote address during the launch of the Centre for Plant Health Management (CePHMa) at the Main Campus in Bloemfontein today (21 October 2005). CePHMa is an initiative of the UFS Department of Plant Sciences.

According to Prof van Schalkwyk a tertiary institution must practice multi-disciplinary research to be a world-class research institution. “It is difficult for researchers to admit that they do not know a lot about each other’s area of speciality. It is therefore necessary for researchers to make a paradigm shift and to focus on inter-disciplinary co-operation. To do this, we must encourage them to work together and to find a common language to communicate ideas en establish symbiotic relationships,” said Prof Van Schalkwyk.

“We tend to think that research is better and faster if it is specialised. This is not true. The new generation of scientists are young and they are trained to form a concept of the total system and not to focus on a specific area of speciality. At the UFS we encourage this approach to research. This was one of the main reasons for the establishment of CePHMa,” said Prof Van Schalkwyk.
CePHMa is the only centre of its kind in Africa and is established to extend the expertise in plant health management in South Africa and in Africa, to train experts in plant health and to conduct multi-disciplinary research about the health of agricultural crops.

“CePHMa is a virtual centre comprising of ten disciplines applicable to crop production and crop protection,” said Prof Wijnand Swart, Chairperson of CePHMa during the opening ceremony.

“The UFS is the leading institution in Africa in terms of news crop development and manages three research programmes that concentrate on new crops, i.e. the New Crop Pathology Programme, the New Crop Development Programme and the Insects on New Crops Programme. Other applied research programmes that are unique to the UFS are genetic resistance to rust diseases of small grain crops and sustainable integrated disease management of field crops,” said Prof Swart.

“Because the expected growth in population will be 80% in 2020 in sub-Saharan Africa, the future demands of food produce in Africa will be influenced. Therefore research will in future be focused on ways to improve food security by employing agricultural systems that are economically viable and environmentally sound,” said Prof Swart.

“Thorough knowledge of the concept of holistic plant health management is crucial to meet the challenge and it is therefore imperative that innovative crop protection and crop production strategies, with particular emphasis on plant health, be adopted. This is why the Department of Plant Sciences initiated the establishment of CePHMA,” he said.

According to Prof Swart there is a shortage of expertise in plant health management. “The UFS has shown the potential to address the demand of the sub-continent of Africa regarding expertise training and CePHMa is the leader in southern Africa to provide in this need,” he said.

The appropriateness and quality of training in plant health management is reflected in the fact that students from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania, Cameroon, Angola, Mozambique and Lesotho have already been trained or are in the process of being trained in at the UFS.

Scientists from CePHMa have forged partnerships with numerous national and international institutions including the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), various community trusts, seed, pesticide and agricultural chemical companies, in addition to overseas universities.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
21 October 2005

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