Call for Nominations: National Research Foundation Awards (South Africa)

Award Categories

• Lifetime Achievement
  • The Lifetime Achievement award honours a deserving South African individual who is recognised nationally and internationally for his/her outstanding or extraordinary contribution(s) to the development of science in and for South Africa, what he/she stands for as a South African, and for the extent to which his/her work has positively touched and shaped the lives and views of many South Africans.
  • Criteria for nomination and assessment
    • A candidate nominated for the Lifetime Achievement award must satisfy the following criteria:
      • Be a South African citizen or permanent resident, above 60 years of age;
      • His/her science/innovation-related contribution and/or achievements in and for South Africa must be of international standard and have been recognised internationally;
      • Must have contributed to the lives of South Africans, through his/her science/innovation-related work and achievements that can be categorised as being significant, recognisably developmental, beneficial and have made a significant impact; and iv. Need to be associated with a research or higher education institution at the point of being recognised for this award.
• Public Engagement with Research Award
  • This award recognises researchers/scientists who make, or have made, outstanding contributions to public engagement with research over a sustained period. The aim of the award is to encourage academics, while teaching and researching in their fields of expertise, to be committed to enhancing the public’s engagement with science and contribute substantially to the public’s understanding of the sciences and their applications in society (including natural sciences, engineering, technology, innovation, the social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge).
  • The Award is thus looking to recognise scientists/researchers who:
    • Can demonstrate meaningful and active collaboration and engagement across the stages of the research life cycle, including incorporating ‘public user’ insights into production, design and technology for maximum impact.
    • Make exceptional efforts to communicate their science in ways that engage, inform and inspire the public;
    • Make extra efforts to engage with audiences outside of their research domain and prioritise the rural and marginalized communities; and
    • Find innovative ways to mesh engagement activities with research programmes.
  • Criteria for nomination and assessment
    • Open to researchers/scientists employed at all NRF-recognised public research institutions.
    • Applications must refer to public engagement through research projects that are either currently funded by the NRF, or whose funding from the NRF may have ended within 3 years of the 2024 NRF Award application deadline.
    • Physical implementation of funded project outcomes should be progressed enough to demonstrate achievement of objectives. Priority will be given to sustained engagement approaches through the research lifecycle, as opposed to once-off activities.
• Hamilton Naki Award
  • This award was named after Mr Hamilton Naki, a self-taught Black surgeon who developed his career against all odds. The category honours the challenge of attracting more Black scientists to advance towards world class research performance by providing recognition for their efforts to advance their careers in science, despite considerable challenges. The award is also focused on transforming the science cohort to be more representative of South African demographics.
  • Criteria for nomination and assessment
    • The nominee for the Hamilton Naki award must:
      • Be a Black South African citizen or permanent resident;
      • Be an active researcher at a South African research institution in any area of research qualifying for these awards;
      • Have an impressive research performance record as indicated by the standard research performance indicators and/or judged by peers; and
      • Show evidence of having to overcome severe challenges in attaining the world-class research achievements.
• Research Excellence Award for Next Generation Researchers
  • The NRF provides funding to postgraduate students in order to address skills shortages in all the sciences including the natural sciences, engineering, technology, the humanities and social sciences. One of the objectives of supporting Next Generation researchers is to increase the prospect of retaining suitably qualified young researchers and thus increasing the pool of researchers and knowledge workers in the National System of Innovation (NSI). This award recognises excellence in research performance by doctoral students from any discipline who are currently funded by the NRF.
  • Eight awards will be made under this category, which includes one female doctoral candidate and one male doctoral candidate in each of the following knowledge fields:
    • Social Sciences, Humanities and Law;
    • Life Sciences;
    • Physical Sciences; and
    • Engineering.
  • Criteria for nomination and assessment
    • The nominee for the Next Generation Researchers award must:
      • Be a South African citizen or permanent resident registered for full-time doctoral studies and be currently funded by the NRF;
      • Be registered for full-time doctoral studies at a public university in South Africa. Students pursuing split-site doctoral studies and registered at a public university in South Africa and at an institution abroad are also eligible for nomination;
      • Have an impressive research performance record, as indicated by the standard research performance indicators (number, quality and impact);
      • Have evidence of peer-reviewed publications outputs, with clear articulation of the nominee’s contribution;
      • Be judged on the novelty/innovativeness, and national or global relevance of her/his research topic; and
      • Have the potential to make a contribution to research in their field.
• Research Excellence Award for Early Career/Emerging Researchers
  • The NRF aspires to develop and enhance the research stature of Early Career/Emerging Researchers, prioritising Black, female and people with disabilities as part of its transformation agenda, which among others, aims to redress historical imbalances in the South African researcher cohort. This award recognises outstanding research performance by current Early Career/Emerging Researchers in any discipline, who are NRF grant holders.
  • Eight awards will be made under this category which includes one female candidate and one male candidate in each of the following knowledge fields:
    • Social Sciences, Humanities and Law;
    • Life Sciences;
    • Physical Sciences; and
    • Engineering.
  • Criteria for nomination and assessment
    • The nominee for the award for Early Career/Emerging Researchers must:
      • Be a South African citizen or a permanent resident;
      • Have completed a PhD degree within eight (8) years of the time of nomination;
      • Be a current NRF grant holder, and not already holding an NRF rating above a Y-rating;
      • Be a current NRF funded postdoctoral research fellow or currently employed in an academic or research position in South Africa.
      • Have an impressive research performance record as indicated by standard research performance indicators (number, quality and impact), of national and/or global relevance;
      • Be judged on a synopsis of their career path and research performance over the past six years, with evidence of: emerging independence (e.g. publications not authored with doctoral supervisor); first/single authored publications; and/or student supervision (emphasis on masters-degree level students;
      • Have demonstrable achievements of research excellence, through research outputs, clearly indicating the specific contributions of the nominee; and
      • Be judged on outcome and/or impact of the research.
• Champion of Research Capacity Development and Transformation Award
  • This category recognises individuals within the research community who contribute to the transformation and thus diversity of South Africa’s science cohort through the research students they supervise. The aim of the award is to encourage and promote those researchers who have identified and are mentoring young scientists to becoming highly productive academics of the future and even international leaders in their areas of scientific expertise. The focus is on Black, especially Black female, and preferably South African postgraduate students who have been trained and graduated by the nominee. It should be noted that the award is dependent on the number of students from these groups, who have been trained and graduated by the nominee, as well as the quality and impact of research outputs of the students.
  • Criteria for nomination and assessment
    • The nominee for the Champion of Research Capacity Development and Transformation award must:
      • Have graduated, through supervision, a large number of Black, preferably Black female, and majority South African, masters and doctoral students, over the last three years;
      • Present quality research outputs by students under her/his supervision, published in peer reviewed journals, over the last three years;
      • Be a permanent or contracted employee at the public research institution that makes the nomination;
      • Be characterised by her/his peers as an active researcher, in any discipline;
      • Be acknowledged to have made, or to be making, a significant contribution to:
        • the identification of research talent within Black and especially Black female students;
        • the nurturing of this talent; – the moulding and developing of research excellence; and
      • Have a track record of success in achieving the applicable transformation for at least the past three years.
• Science Team Award
  • In recognition of the contributions, creativity and achievements of a science team towards extending the boundaries of scientific research in Africa, producing science outcomes which have positively impacted society and for the role they played in raising South Africa’s international stature as a worldclass research destination.
  • Criteria for nomination and assessment
    • The team nominated for the Science Team Award must:
      • Be comprised of a number of researchers providing complementary interdisciplinary expertise, each of whom have made separate, substantive and quantifiable contributions to the research being recognized. The majority of the members of the team must be based at South African public research institutions.
      • Have achieved exceptional scientific accomplishment, breakthrough(s) or contribution(s) to research, as a team, which is/are acknowledged at national and international levels. iii.
      • Have gained respect and recognition as a team, from their peers, for the work for which they are nominated.
      • Have produced science research outcomes which have already had some demonstrable uptake and/or impact in society.
      • Have contributed towards extending the boundaries of scientific research in Africa, as well as achieved breakthrough which played a role in their country being recognised as an international research destination; and
      • Have reached a broad audience which included especially the girl child, women and persons from the designated groups.

Award Information

• Lifetime Achievement Award: R500 000 grant
• Public Engagement with Research Award: Cost for attendance of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Conference
• Hamilton Naki Award: R200 000 grant
• Research Excellence Award for Next Generation Researchers: R50 000 grant for research-related activities of the awardee.
• Research Excellence Award for Early Career/Emerging Researchers: R50 000 grant for research-related activities of the awardee.
• Champion of Research Capacity Development and Transformation Award: R300 000 research grant
• Science Team Award: R500 000 research grant. The distribution, terms and conditions for this award will be defined by the NRF and will depend on the nature of the Team and their research.

Eligibility Criteria

• In addition to the specific criteria for nominations, applicable to the different categories, the following applies across all categories:
  • Only NRF-recognised research institutions (Higher Education Institutions, National Research Facilities and Science Councils) may submit nominations for the awards;
  • An NRF rating is not a requirement for any of the awards presented in this document; and
  • Nominated individuals should be from the following research areas: natural, engineering, social, humanities, indigenous knowledge, etc.
  • All Nominees should be registered on the NRF Connect system with Updated CVs.

For more information, visit NRF.