Call for nominations: 2022/2023 NSTF-South32 Awards

December 2, 2022 Jeff Ostrowick

Register nominations online by 15 December 2022!

#NSTFawards2023

The National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) calls for nominations for the 25thNSTF-South32 Awards. These prestigious awards focus on science, engineering and technology (SET) and innovation in South Africa (SA). South32 is the co-branding sponsor for the past seven years. As such the name of the awards is the NSTF-South32 Awards.

NSTF’s theme for 2023: Ocean science for sustainable development. This theme was chosen in response to the United Nations (UN) proclamation of the decadal theme of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development for 2021-2030.

Special Annual Theme Award for 2023: The NSTF is making a special award this year for an outstanding contribution to SET and innovation through research and innovation in ocean science for sustainable development. This Special Award is intended to focus on research and innovation in ocean science in support of attaining the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in South Africa.

Contributions recognised: Register nominations for individuals, teams, partnerships and organisations for an outstanding contribution to SET and innovation in SA. The contributions recognised are in the following broad areas:

Scientific research
Management of SET and innovation and related activities
Capacity building in engineering research
Water management solutions
Clinician-Scientists NEW
The Green Economy
Data for research
Innovations and their research and/or development
Communication and creating awareness of SET and innovation
Non-governmental organisation activities, which could include technology transfer, and education and training activities
Ocean sciences for sustainable development

The NSTF supports the principle of collaborative, widely-inclusive awards. The NSTF is proud to welcome a new category partner and more prize sponsors of existing categories.

NEW NSTF-SAMRC Clinician-Scientist Award: The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) is sponsoring a new award for an outstanding contribution by a clinician-scientist, with a focus on work to enhance life and to improve the health of the community. This new category is modelled on the Emerging Researcher category.

NEW SAYAS as a new prize sponsor: The South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) is the new prize sponsor for the TW Kambule-NSTF Emerging Researcher category. Prizes of R20 000 each will be awarded to the two winners to supplement their research funding.

A prize for an established category: The TW Kambule-NSTF Researcher category now has a prize sponsor for the first time, which is proSET (the Professional Bodies and Learned Societies sector of the NSTF). proSET previously sponsored the prizes for Emerging Researchers. The prize money is R20 000 to supplement the winner’s research funding.

Terms and Conditions:

The NSTF has decided to tighten up the timelines to receive registrations and completed nominations. No late entries will be accepted. Extensions to the closing date will only be granted on application in writing where force majeure circumstances apply. Where, at the closing date, the number of nominations are considered by the adjudication panel to be insufficient, either overall, or in certain categories, an appropriate extension will be announced.
Please read the Terms and Conditions: ‘Note 1’ under section 2, sub-paragraph 2 was added last year, and spells out category-by-category how previous winners might approach a further nomination. See point (1f) in particular which deals with the case where a member of a nominated team has been a previous winner.
There are no changes to the criteria of established categories.
Last year the Engineering Research Capacity Development Award – sponsored by Eskom was broadened to allow for teams to be nominated, and for engineering capacity development to be recognised, because this is the foundation for developing engineering research capacity. The framework of the award remains the same.

A transformed country where SET and innovation contribute to a high quality of life for all who live in South Africa, where the profile of SET professionals is representative of the population’s profile and where the education system is effective, particularly in terms of performance in SET subjects and promoting innovation.

The NSTF Awards are one of the ways in which the NSTF strives to realise its vision.

This is a two-stage nomination process:

Stage 1 – Register a nomination by Thursday 15 December 2022

Please note that the registration of a nomination is only the beginning of the two-stage nomination process. When you register a nominee, the NSTF Office will respond with the official category nomination form, to be completed by 3 March 2023 (Stage 2).
Notify the nominee that you intend to nominate him/her/them (team/organisation). Ensure that you receive their agreement to participate.
Complete and submit the online registration. The nominee will receive an email notification from awards@nstf.org.za confirming receipt of the registration of their contact details. Please alert the NSTF Office at awards@nstf.org.zashould the nominee not receive this notification and the relevant forms (the subject line says: ‘Subscription Confirmation).

Stage 2 – Submit completed nomination documents by Friday 3 March 2023

Ensure that the fully completed nomination form/s that you received from the NSTF office are emailed to the NSTF before the final deadline and that you receive a confirmation from the NSTF Office.
Please note that planning and time are required to complete the nomination document. Hence there is a two and a half months period (December to March) provided for this preparation.

Full title of categories: All the awards are ‘for an outstanding contribution to science, engineering and technology (SET) and innovation in South Africa…’ (The complete title of each award starts with this wording in place of “contribution”.)

1. Individual Awards
a) Lifetime Award – contribution over 15 years or more
b) TW Kambule-NSTF Researcher Award – contribution through research and its outputs over a period from 6 years up to 15 years of research work from the commencement of the research career, predominantly in SA (Prize Sponsor: proSET)
c) TW Kambule-NSTF Emerging Researcher Awards – contribution through research and its outputs over a period of up to 6 years of research work from the commencement of the research career, predominantly in SA (Prize Sponsor: SAYAS)
d) Management Award – contribution through management of SET and innovation and related activities over the last 5 to 10 years in SA
2. Engineering Research Capacity Development Awards – contribution by an individual or a team over the last 5 to 10 years (Sponsor: Eskom since 2003)
3. NSTF-Water Research Commission (WRC) Award – contribution by an individual or an organisation towards sustainable water management, knowledge generation and solutions over the last 5 to 10 years (Sponsor: WRC since 2017)
4. NSTF-SAMRC Clinician-Scientist Award – contribution through research and its outputs over a period of up to 6 years of research work from the commencement of the research career, predominantly in SA, and focussed on work to enhance life and to improve the health of the community (Sponsor: SAMRC)
5. Green Economy Award – contribution by an individual or an organisation towards achieving biodiversity conservation, environmental sustainability and a greener economy over the last 5 to 10 years
6. Data for Research Award – contribution by an individual or a team for advancing the availability, management and re-use of research data
7. Innovation Awards – for innovations and their research and/or development
a) Corporate Organisation – contribution by an individual or a team over the last 5 to 10 years
b) SMME – contribution by an individual or a team in an SMME over the last 5 to 10 years
8. Communication Award – contribution for outreach and creating awareness of SET and innovation by a team or individual over the last 5 years
9. Non-Governmental Organisation Award – contribution by a NGO including technology transfer, and education and training activities over the last 5 to 10 years
10. Special Annual Theme Award – awarded according to criteria in any of the categories. For 2022/2023 this Award is made for an outstanding contribution to SET and innovation from research and development in the Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development in South Africa.