The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

is Africa's largest dedicated social science and humanities research agency and policy think tank. It primarily conducts large-scale,

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

-relevant, social-scientific projects for

public-sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, i ...

users, for

non governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

s and international development agencies in support of development nationally, in the

Southern African Development Community The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security coopera ...

(SADC) and in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The HSRC also seeks to contribute to the

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

strategy of the HSRC's parent Department of Science and Technology, especially through its mission to focus on the contribution of science and technology to addressing poverty. The HSRC originates in the National Bureau of Education and Social Research (founded in 1929). In recent years the HSRC has undergone major restructuring, aligning its research activities and structures to South Africa's national development priorities: notably

poverty reduction Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics ...

through

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and ...

, skills enhancement, job creation, the elimination of discrimination and inequalities, and effective service delivery. In essence, the HSRC is looking at the following broad dimensions of Poverty, Inequality and Inclusive Development under the following banners, which are: * Economic Inclusion: including growth, competitiveness, regional integration, infrastructure, technological innovation ICT, resources (natural, human, land), labour markets and spatial dynamics (urbanisation, agglomeration, density); * Social Development: including well-being (quality of life, security, social and spatial mobility, migration), human capabilities (education, skills, health, etc.), social relationships (race, class, gender, identity, etc.), social institutions and cohesion (family, community, etc.); * Governance and Decision-making: including political participation, democracy, trust-building, nurturing legitimacy in public structures, capacity-building in the state, enhancing leadership, distributing power, accountability, responsiveness, social movements, multi-level government and coordinated decision-making.

Organisation

It currently comprises more than 200 researchers and 250 support staff in five different locations, across several multi-disciplinary research programmes, namely: * Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) * BRICS Research Centre (BRC) * Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII) * Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery (DGSD) * Economic and Performance Development (EPD) * Education and Skills Development (ESD) * HIV/AIDS, STI's and TB (HAST) * Human and Social Development (HSD) * Population Health, Health Systems and Innovation (PHHSI) * Research Use and Impact Assessment (RIA) The HSRC is a statutory body which was established in 1968; its current CEO is Prof. Crain Soudien. The HSRC's scholarly publisher, th
HSRC Press
is South Africa's largest academic publisher focused on social sciences and humanities.

Rated and other notable current and former researchers

* Leslie Bank, current Deputy Executive Director: EPD, Professor extraordinaire at

Walter Sisulu University Walter Sisulu University (WSU) is a university of technology and science located in Mthatha, East London (Buffalo City), Butterworth and Komani (Queenstown) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, which came into existence on 1 July 2005 as a result ...

Adam Habib Adam Mahomed Habib (born 1965) is a South African academic administrator serving as Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London since 1 January 2021. He served as Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Universit ...

, former Executive Director: DGSD, current Vice Chancellor at

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

* Peter Jacobs, current Research Director: EPD, NRF-rated researcher * Glenda Kruss van der Heever, current Director of CeSTII, NRF-rated researcher *

Thierry Luescher Thierry M. Luescher is a South African-Swiss author and researcher at the Human Sciences Research Council and affiliated professor at the University of the Free State. Early life Thierry Luescher was born in Zofingen, Switzerland, in 1971, gre ...

, current Research Director: ESD, NRF-rated researcher * Musawenkosi Mabaso, current Chief Research Specialist: PHHSI, NRF-rated researcher * Sylvester Maphosa, current Chief Research Specialist in AISA, NRF-rated researcher * Sizulu Moyo, current Research Director: PHHSI, NRF-rated researcher * Priscilla Reddy, current Deputy Executive Director: PHHSI, NRF-rated researcher * Vijay Reddy, former Executive Director: ESD, current Distinguished Research Fellow * Tamsen Rochat, current Chief Research Specialist: HSD, NRF-rated researcher *Olive Shisana, former CEO of the HSRC, Counsellor of the Order of the Baobab (Bronze) *

Leickness Simbayi Leickness Chisamu Simbayi is a South African research psychologist and professor. He is the current Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Research of the Human Sciences Research Council where he studies the social aspects of STIs and HIV/AIDS. In 2 ...

, current Deputy CEO of the HSRC, NRF-rated researcher * Crain Soudien, Emeritus Professor in Education and African Studies, former Deputy Vice-chancellor:

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

, current CEO of the HSRC, NRF-rated researcher * Sharlene Swartz, current Executive Director: ESD, NRF-rated researcher * Ivan Turok, current Executive Director: EPD, son of South African politician

Ben Turok Ben Turok (26 June 1927 – 9 December 2019) was an anti-apartheid activist, Economics Professor, convicted criminal and a South African member of parliament as a member of the African National Congress. Biography Turok was born to poor working ...

, NRF-rated researcher * Alastair van Heerden, Research Director: HSC, honorary associate professor at

, NRF-rated researcher * Heidi van Rooyen, current Executive Director: HSD, honorary professor at

, NRF-rated researcher

References

External links

HSRC website
{{authority control Science and technology in South Africa Research institutes in South Africa

Organisation

Rated and other notable current and former researchers

See also

References

External links