Women still under-represented in S&T, is consensus at TWOWS Conference July 12, 2010
Posted by Andrea in : International Relations, Liaison , add a commentRepresentatives from the South African chapter of the Third World Organisation for Women in Science (TWOWS) attended the TWOWS Fourth General Assembly and International Conference on “Women Scientists in a Changing World”, which was held in Beijing, China on the 27-30 June 2010. (more…)
SciELO SA is growing! June 10, 2010
Posted by Louise in : Open Access Scholarly Publishing , add a comment
The Scholarly Publishing Unit of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) is happy to report that four more journal titles are in the process of being added to the SciELO SA Open Access platform! They are:
- Psychology in Society (PINS)
- South African Journal of Industrial Psychology (SAJIP)
- South African Journal of Animal Science (SAJAS)
- South African Journal of Agricultural Extension (SAJAE).
This will bring the total number of journals on the SciELO SA platform to eleven titles. ASSAf is continually negotiating with the editors of prestigious South African journals regarding placing their titles on this platform.
To date, 1064 articles have been added to the SciELO SA collection. According to Google Analytics, the SciELO SA site has been visited 14, 830 times by 163 countries and 2 112 cities between 10 May 2010 and 9 June 2010. At present, the countries accessing SciELO SA the most are South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, India, Germany, Canada and China.
Securing the Humanities in an Age of Failing Economics April 7, 2010
Posted by Peter in : Humanities and Education Studies, Projects, Uncategorized , add a commentProf Peter Vale, Co-Chair, ASSAf Consensus Panel on the Humanities
From almost every corner of the Anglophone world, the complaint is the same: “The Humanities are under threat”. I use the qualifier because, sadly, my ability to access other language worlds – beyond the Dutch-Afrikaans link – is limited.*
The question is what is to be done to recover and revive the Humanities?
Research and deliberations into ASSAf’s own Consensus Report on the Humanities in South Africa is well under way and the hope is to issue a preliminary report in late October, 2010. My own view of this issue is framed by an understanding of political economy – the rise of neo-liberal economics has emphasized economic growth and efficiency and, in this particular universe, the Humanities have no place ( the State of Science in South Africa, pg 210). This is a fallacy, of course. Take the creation of jobs. In this country alone, right now, one of the strongest areas of economic growth is Afrikaans cultural production – most of this is both creates jobs and pushes economic growth. (more…)
Welcome, Zarina! February 16, 2010
Posted by Andrea in : Uncategorized , add a comment
ASSAf is proud to have a new member on the team – Zarina Moola. Zarina has taken the position of Project Officer, focussing specifically on the Low Carbon Cities Project, and the Water Project.
Born and raised in KwaZulu-Natal, Zarina completed her BSc (Hons) in Environmental Management at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2006.
She then worked as an intern at GroundWork, a non-governmental organisation based in that province, where she conducted research on landfill sites in South Africa.
Thereafter she pursued a MSc in Environmental Management, focusing on forecasting GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions for the City of Durban. During this time, she also worked as a climate change intern at Golder Associates, working specifically on energy and carbon-related projects. Zarina is passionate about nature and the environment.
Welcome, Zarina – we hope that you will be very happy with us!
TWAS conference benefits South Africa November 23, 2009
Posted by Mutheu in : International Relations , 2comments
From left: Prof Robin Crewe (ASSAf), Prof Jacob Palis (TWAS), Prof Mohamed Hassan (TWAS), President Jacob Zuma (RSA), and Minister Naledi Pandor (DST).
The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) hosted an International Conference of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) from 18 – 23 October 2009 at the Durban International Convention Centre. The conference was attended by 452 participants from 63 countries in the developing world.
These participants included TWAS Fellows, TWAS Young Affiliates, DST senior officials, representatives from other government departments, Presidents of Science Councils in South Africa, Presidents of African science academies, and university representatives. The conference was also attended by the Ministers of Science and Technology of South Africa, Brazil, and India, other high ranking technical advisers of various governments in the developing and developed world, and representatives of Indian, Chinese, and Brazilian diplomatic missions in South Africa.
Watch the TWAS Conference live! October 20, 2009
Posted by Andrea in : Uncategorized , add a commenthttp://www.livestream.com/twasconference2009
TWAS Conference approaches: the final countdown October 13, 2009
Posted by Andrea in : Events, International Relations, Liaison , add a commentPreparations for the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) 11th General Conference to be hosted by ASSAf at the International Convention Centre (ICC), Durban from 19-23 October 2009 are well underway. Over 400 TWAS Fellows and invited guests are scheduled to attend what promises to be a momentous event. The theme for this year’s conference is “Science for Africa’s Development”. TWAS Committees and Council will assemble for two days prior to the start of the conference. Science and Technology (S&T) in South African will be showcased in a symposium comprising invited presentations from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and representatives from the Centres of Excellence in South Africa. (more…)
A round of applause for our new colleagues! September 29, 2009
Posted by Andrea in : Events , add a commentTwo new colleagues have joined our ranks at the Academy of Science of SA. I’d like to say a big welcome to Tawanda and to Philistas.
Tawanda is our new IT genius in residence (a much-needed one at that), joining us as our new System and Database Manager. Philistas will be our new (strongest) link between the Academy and its Members, taking on the position of Liaison Officer.
Welcome to you both, and we’re really happy to have you with us!
Possible online course system for scientific scholarly writing services August 19, 2009
Posted by Thabo in : Open Access Scholarly Publishing , add a commentThe Academy supports the idea of the proposed free-online scientific writing course system explored at an earlier Academy workshop. These online writing services would be a relevant intervention of the ASSAf Scholarly Publishing Programme on the capacity development side of the programme.
The issue of such online writing services was discussed during the National Scholarly Editors’ Forum meetings held in October 2008 and June 2009, where general support was expressed by the Forum members present. The project had, however, for a variety of regrettable reasons, not moved further than the previous stages of identifying a suitable four-tier model, namely: (more…)
