Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
Prof A Ströh, Dean
Telephone number: 012 420 3201
Fax number: 012 420 3890
E-mail address: dean.nas@up.ac.za
Preface by the Dean
The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science is known for its exceptional achievements in quality research outputs, and the year 2005 was no exception. For the past three years a definite upward trend is noticeable in the number of DoE subsidised publication units, with an overall high of more than 250 units reached during 2005. The Faculty rates among the best science faculties in the country. A significant number of our scientists are evaluated internationally and as a result, acknowledged through the National Research Foundation by their peers as researchers of high international standing.
A number of exciting new events and initiatives took place during 2005, which is expected to have a significant impact on future research:
In the School of Agricultural and Food Sciences: The launch of the new fruit orchards and post harvest facilities on the experimental farm initiated a new phase of research. Strong interest and support from various players in the industry provided a clear opportunity to implement research on problems in the horticultural industry in an integrated fashion by linking pre-harvest and post-harvest issues.
The Bureau for Agricultural and Food Policy (located in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development) launched for the first time ever a “baseline” report for the South African agricultural industry. This made an important contribution to improved information and scenario planning for agribusiness, government and farmers, and was well received.
The international exposure of Departments in the School of Agricultural and Food Science increased considerably over the year with researchers forming part of a research consortia funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Food Science); Rockefeller Foundation, SIDA, World Bank (Agricultural Economics) and the FAO (Plant Pathology, Plant Production and Soil Science, Agricultural Economics).
In the School of Physical Sciences: The (national) Department of Science & Technology funded a Chair in a strategically important area, viz. the DST Chair in Carbon Technology and Materials. This Chair was established in the Institute of Advanced Materials, which operates as a joint initiative of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology. The main aim of this Chair is to do research on the application of carbon in nuclear reactors. This stems from the decision by Government to continue with the development of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR). The manufacturing of highly refined carbon is a serious economical issue. It is, therefore, important for the PBMR to develop alternative manufacturing and purification methods. The research will be of a multidisciplinary nature spreading across physics, chemistry, materials science, chemical and metallurgical engineering.
The appointment of the new head of the Department of Chemistry, Prof Ignacy Cukrowski in 2005 will add a new research focus in Electrochemistry to the Department and during 2005 a three-year contract was signed with SASOL. The research will assist SASOL in the development of new homogeneous catalysts. This work will provide additional information, coming from non-aqueous electrochemical studies, towards fundamental knowledge related to the developed catalysts.
In the Department of Geography, Geo-informatics and Meteorology a routine weather forecasting system was developed by Prof Hannes Rautenbach and his team. It is the first time that an institution other than the South African Weather Service runs such a system. The system uses a first class numerical weather prediction model to produce weather forecasts of four days in advance on a daily basis. During 2005 results were validated against observations, which indicated that the model has significant skill in forecasting rainfall, temperatures and upper level pressure systems. This initiated further research in Africa where the system will be implemented at the Uganda Department of Meteorology during 2006 and 2007.
The year 2005 was the International Year of Physics, the Year of Einstein and the 50th Annual Anniversary of the South African Institute of Physics. The Institute was established in 1955 in Pretoria and the Department of Physics was requested to host the Annual Conference in July. For this special occasion, two Nobel Laureates Proff Gerhardus t’Hooft (The Netherlands) and Carlo Rubbia (Italy) gave public and plenary talks. The Conference was opened by Mr Mosibudi Mangena, the Minister of the Department of Science and Technology.
In the School of Mathematical Sciences: The Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics established an international linkage and partnership with the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy. A Federation Arrangement was signed according to which the ICTP will provide substantial financial support for young researchers from the department to visit the ICTP. The ICTP also makes a financial contribution to students from Africa to enrol for PhD degrees at the University.
The School initiated multidisciplinary research in the fascinating area of mathematical biology, with the emphasis on epidemiology. The Bioinformatics Unit took part in the seminar that was organised every two weeks.
In the School of Biological Sciences: New initiatives in the Department of Botany include two NRF/UK Royal Society research program focusing on the mechanism of protection in plants against stressful environments. This has resulted in student and staff exchange programmes with Queen’s College in Belfast and King’s College and Rothamstead in London. The Biochemistry Department has been included in an international consortium for the development of an anti-tick vaccine program for the next five years, funded by the Wellcome Trust. Collaboration in the field of water research with the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, USA has also been initiated in the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology.
2005 marked the ninth year of existence of the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) and in this short time, FABI has grown to represent a major force in the field of plant biotechnology and plant health in South Africa and internationally. Researchers linked to the Institute received numerous honours, awards and grants, in particular the S2A3 Gold Medal, awarded to the Director, Professor Mike Wingfield, by the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science. This award is truly an outstanding achievement in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the advancement of scientific research at FABI and in South Africa.
The African Centre for Gene Technologies (ACGT) started out as an initiative involving the University of Pretoria together with the CSIR, to build a network of excellence in advanced biotechnology, focusing on structural and functional genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics. During 2005 the inclusion of the University of the Witwatersrand in the ACGT was formalized through the signing of a tripartite Memorandum of Agreement between the three institutions with the aim to significantly increase the growth of modern biotechnology in the region, as well as stimulating collaborative research.
The year 2005 was a landmark for malaria research at the University, which, through the ACGT, led the way in the creation of the South African Malaria Initiative (SAMI). This involves not only the ACGT partners, but constitutes a national network of malaria researchers who have agreed to combine their resources to undertake research programmes in malaria drug discovery, molecular diagnostics, and studies on the interface between the mosquito and the malaria parasite. The Department of Science and Technology committed R11 million to the University for national malaria research programmes over a two-year period. This is expected to give a significant boost to malaria research at the University and nationally, and to provide opportunities to leverage the initial funding through international collaboration.
The Faculty is very proud of not only these, but also all the other accomplishments and awards reflected further in the report, and can confidently look forward to the future in pursuing its ideal of becoming international leaders in selected areas of expertise.
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