Policies at universities and in research institutions can be changed in small and significant ways to boost the space for gender equity within the sciences.
If the continent is to grasp the science and technology revolution, then governments should take the lead in both policy formulation and implementation.
Public engagement of academics has increased enormously in recent decades. But this new level of engagement is producing problems and conflicts for which many academics are ill-prepared.
HIV therapy that enables patients with the virus to live a healthy life is a great success for modern medicine. But what are the challenges to coming up with a complete cure?
A report out of the UK would have the quality assessors of research abolished because it takes time away from students. However the real reason seems to be an attempt to minimise government spending on research.
Government departments often commission research to help them understand and respond to policy issues. But they impose contract conditions that threaten to undermine the integrity of the work.
There is a long road to travel before South Africa’s scientists live up to the grand expectations to encourage solutions to the country’s problems and boost the economy.
Previous Vice President of the Academy of Science of South Africa and DSI-NRF SARChI chair in Fungal Genomics, Professor in Genetics, University of Pretoria, University of Pretoria