Stellenbosch University experts to be represented at SA’s ‘Science Oscars’
Stellenbosch University (SU) will be well represented at the 2022/2023 National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)/South32 Awards with no fewer than seven of the institution’s eminent researchers set to compete as finalists for South Africa’s prestigious ‘Science Oscars’. The 25th annual NSTF Awards will be held on Thursday 13 July 2023.
The NSTF Awards Gala Event will take place simultaneously in Cape Town and Johannesburg, while being broadcast live to an online audience from both cities via the NSTF YouTube channel. The patron of the Awards, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, has been invited to preside over the presentation of the awards.
Regarded as the most sought-after national accolades of their kind in the country, the NSTF/South32 Awards recognise, celebrate and reward the outstanding contributions of individuals, teams and organisations to science, engineering and technology (SET) in the country. Among the competitors are experienced scientists, engineers, innovators, science communicators, engineering capacity builders, organisational managers and leaders, as well as data and research managers.
According to the organisers, it is an extraordinary honour to be a finalist given the quality of the nominations received every year, the fierce competition that nominees face and growing interest from the SET community over the years.
The SU finalists (with their departments, divisions or environments) and the categories in which they will compete are as follows:
Lifetime Award
Prof Clive Gray (Molecular Biology and Human Genetics)
Prof Jonathan Jansen (Education Policy Studies)
Prof Francesco Petruccione (School for Data Science and Computational Thinking)
TW Kambule Award: Researcher
Prof Novel Chegou (Molecular Biology and Human Genetics)
Prof Marlo Moller (Molecular Biology and Human Genetics)
NSTF-South African Medical Research Council Award: Emerging Researcher
Dr Leigh van der Heuvel (Psychiatry)
Prof Shahida Moosa (Molecular Biology and Human Genetics)