South African science ministries respond favorably to State of the Nation address by president
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of that plan is a series of QIS centers. So far, specifics on these centers are few but it is believed to follow the path of other research consortia. Dozier suspects the participating institutions will combine their interests, expertise, staff, equipment, facilities, and funding apparatuses for the QIS centers. “The [planned] centers will likely be affiliated with national laboratories,” Levy says. As far as the numbers of centers to be created, that is “very much up for grabs.” Also, unlike previously legislated centers, NQIP has no stipulation that specifically encourages institutions for underrepresented minorities, Dozier says. Is the maximum allotment of USD$625 million enough to compete against the rest of the world? “It is certainly a really good start,” Lau answers. “I suspect that more investment will be made/needed to be truly competitive against Europe and China. There’s a lot of talk of significantly ramping up investment,” she adds. Though exactly
South African science ministries respond favorably to State of the Nation address by president
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lade Nzimande, who heads South Africa’s Departments of Science and Innovation and of Higher Education, Science and Technology, supports President Cyril Ramaphosa’s commitment on moving South Africa toward a low carbon growth trajectory. The country’s energy challenges have provided researchers with an opportunity to look differently at, for example, the use of hydrogen fuel cell technology (HFCT). The Minister confirmed that the National HFCT Research, Development and Innovation Strategy will continue to aim at
stimulating innovation to further contribute toward the national electricity grid. “We have also started rolling out demonstrations for the provision of electricity and mobility using platinum-based hydrogen fuel cells. These include the rolling out of fuel cells to a rural school in the North West,” Minister Nzimande says. The Minister welcomes the President’s announcement of the establishment of a new University of Science and Innovation to be located in the city of Ekurhuleni, a major economic hub in the country. The university will be closely
how the monies will be divided has not yet been decided, Levy says. “The actual investment is not fully in place.” That future investment is planned in five-year tranches: the National Institute of Standards and Technology is to fund up to USD$400 million; NSF is to fund up to USD$50 million for each center (see MRS Bulletin, March 2020; doi:10.1557/ mrs.2020.76); and DOE is to fund up to USD$125 million for each center, according to the legislation. But many a program has been derailed with money that was promised but not delivered. MRS will urge Congress to provide more funds when it makes its semiannual visit to Capitol Hill, Dozier says. Lau cautions, “On the other hand, at this time of [a] tight budget situation, further investment in QIS might mean undercutting budgets in other muchneeded areas of basic and applied research— in my opinion this is a danger that funding agencies should strive to avoid.” Cli
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