NRF SARCHI Chairs

The South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) was established by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the National Research Foundation (NRF). The aim is to attract and retain excellence in research and innovation at South African public universities through the establishment of Research Chairs.

The main goal of the Research Chairs initiative is to strengthen and improve research and innovation capacity of public universities for producing high-quality postgraduate students and research and innovation outputs.

The key objectives of SARChI are to:

Expand the scientific research and innovation capacity of South Africa.
Improve South Africa’s international research and innovation competitiveness while responding to the social and economic challenges of the country
Attract and retain excellent researchers and scientists
Increase the production of masters and doctoral graduates; and
Create research career pathways for young and mid-career researchers, with strong research, innovation, and human capital development output trajectory

Visit South African Research Chairs Initiative

The Research Chairs at the University of the Western Cape are:


Professor Alan Christoffels Bioinformatics and Health Genomics	Professor Ruth Hall Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies	Professor Joy Papier Teaching and Learning in PSET

Professor Roy Maartens Astrophysics	Professor Emmanuel Iwuoha Nano Electrochemistry and Sensor Technology	Professor Marla Trindade Microbial Genomics

Professor Cyril Julie Mathematics Education	Professor Smarajit Triambak Nuclear Science	Professor Asha George Health System, Complexity and Social change

Professor Nico Steytler Multi-level Government, Law and Development	Professor Patricia Hayes Visual History and Theory	Professor Helen Schneider Health Systems Governance

Professor Catherina Schenck Waste and Society	Professor Nicolette Roman Development of Human Capabilities and Social Cohesion	Professor Priscilla Baker Analytical Systems and Processes for Priority and Emerging Contaminants

Professor Sarojini Nadar Desmond Tutu Research Chair in Religion and Social Justice	Professor Mario Santos Cosmology with Multi-Wavelength Data	Professor Russ Taylor UCT-UWC-SKA South Africa Chair in Radio Astronomy

Professor Stephen Devereux Social Protection for Food Security in South Africa