The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
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 or ...
-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, pub ...
users, for
non governmental organisation
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
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.
Goals
The SADC's goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and se ...
(SADC) and in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
.
The HSRC also seeks to contribute to the
research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...
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 classi ...
through
economic development
In economics, economic development (or 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 object ...
, 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
Source:
* 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 resul ...
*
Adam Habib
Adam Mahomed Habib (born 1965) is a South African academic administrator serving as Vice-Chancellor of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London since 1 January 2021. Previously he served as Vice-Chancellor and Principal ...
, former Executive Director: DGSD, former Vice-Chancellor at
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...
* 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, an adjunct professor at Nelson Mandela University and research fellow of the University of the Free State. Thierry Luescher was born in Z ...
, 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 20 ...
, 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) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa.
Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...
, 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
Benjamin Turok (26 June 1927 – 9 December 2019) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, politician, and economics professor. He represented the African National Congress in the post-apartheid National Assembly from 1994 to 2014.
Early l ...
, NRF-rated researcher
* Alastair van Heerden, Research Director: HSC, honorary associate professor at
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...
, NRF-rated researcher
* Heidi van Rooyen, current Executive Director: HSD, honorary professor at
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...
, NRF-rated researcher
See also
*
Department of Science and Technology (South Africa)
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
* Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
*
National Research Foundation of South Africa
South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) is the intermediary agency between the policies and strategies of the Government of South Africa and South Africa's research institutions.
History
It was established on 1 April 1999 as an ...
References
External links
HSRC website
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Science and technology in South Africa
Research institutes in South Africa