Rhodes University Research Report 2005
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:560 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011951
- Description: [From Introduction] Rhodes University has once again had a very successful year in terms of research and I would like to congratulate and thank the staff and postgraduate students for their research efforts in 2005. Research outputs in the form of articles in accredited journals have once again increased. The audited but still to be awarded journal units for 2005 is 232.6 which is the highest submitted total for Rhodes University and will maintain Rhodes as one of the top research institutions in the country. While this is very encouraging, it is still somewhat disturbing that a large percentage of the journal publications are produced by a small number of staff as indicated in the Vice-Chancellor’s preface. A recent analysis indicates that over the past 4-5 years less than 35 academic and research staff (approximately 10% of the total staff) have been responsible for over 50% of the journal units produced. I would therefore like to encourage all staff to pay special attention to the publication of research findings, particularly in accredited journals where possible. As I’m sure most staff are aware, the subsidy value of a publication unit is now substantial and has become one of the major factors determining the value of the Government subsidy awarded to the University. Increasing the proportion of this component of the subsidy will clearly impact positively not only on the University as a whole but more specifically on our research activities. Another important component of our research output and again a significant one in the context of the new funding formula is the graduation of research Master’s and Doctoral students. While the final numbers are not available, 2005 appears to again have been a very successful one in terms of Master’s and PhD graduates and thanks must go not only to the students but their supervisors. Supervision is becoming an increasingly difficult and onerous task. It is a responsibility which is taken very seriously by Rhodes staff and is one which is done very well. I would also like to thank the Postgraduate Liaison Sub-Committee for their efforts in assisting postgraduates and representing their interests so effectively. This is a somewhat unique body in Higher Education Institutions in this country and has received high praise from a number of outside groups and organisations. The past year was also an important one for the University and for research at Rhodes as a result of the HEQC Quality Audit which took place in September. Special attention was paid to research during the audit since we consider Rhodes to be a research intensive institution. The audit report has recently been released and while the research section contains a number of recommendations, the University was generally commended for its research activities and quality of its postgraduate training. Many of the recommendations are of a strategic nature while most of the more specific ones are aspects which we had ourselves identified as issues for attention. A number of these have in fact already been dealt with. Finally, this is the last full year in which Dr Woods has served as our Vice-Chancellor and I would like to acknowledge the enormous contribution he has made to research at Rhodes in the past 10 years. He identified the need to establish a Research Office and to appoint a fulltime Dean of Research. As the first appointee to this post it has been my privilege to work very closely with Dr. Woods on all aspects of research. Not only has he always been very supportive and given constant encouragement but has been a source of sound advice and guidance. Rhodes research will be the poorer for his retirement and I would like to take this opportunity to wish Dr and Mrs Woods a very happy and successful retirement in Cape Town.
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- Date Issued: 2005
Rhodes University Research Report 2004
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2004
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:559 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011950
- Description: [From Introduction] Rhodes University has had another successful year in terms of research activities and outputs in what has been an exciting Centenary year and I would like to add my congratulations and thanks to those of the Vice-Chancellor to all staff and postgraduate students for their research efforts in 2004. This report documents the research highlights and outputs in its many forms during 2004. Research which is not disseminated in this manner is wasted and I would like to encourage all staff and students to continue to publish their research in the most appropriate way. I would particularly like to stress the importance of publishing research findings in subsidy earning journals and of converting conference papers into journal articles where possible. Outputs in accredited journals are one of the principle means by which the University earns research subsidy and increasing the subsidy earned in this way will directly benefit internally funded research activities. In terms of journal publications 2004 has been a very good year with the audited but still to be awarded journal units increasing to 202 units from 165 awarded in 2003. I am confident that this is a sustainable trend and it is particularly encouraging in the context of a national trend of declining research outputs. A particularly successful publication was the special edition of the SA Journal of Science which was dedicated to the Rhodes University Centenary. I would like to thank all of those staff and students who submitted articles for publication in this edition and Professor Barker for initiating and co-ordinating this publication. An aspect of research outputs which remains a serious concern is the continued poor recognition by the Department of Education of publications in the form of books, chapters, refereed conference proceedings and patents. Not only are a small fraction of these outputs accepted for subsidy purposes but to date no feedback has been given in terms of which books, chapters, etc have in fact been subsidised or why the majority of submissions are not accepted. The Department of Education has, however, indicated that such feedback will be forthcoming from 2005. A further, and possibly even more problematic, aspect of recognition of research outputs (and NRF rating) is the inability to assess outputs in the Performing and Visual Arts. Attempts have been made to address this issue at a national level but no solution appears to be likely in the near future. A concerted and unified national approach to addressing the issue of recognition of research outputs other than articles in accredited journals is urgently needed at the highest level if the research efforts in many disciplines are not to be undermined. My thanks once again to all staff and students for their continued commitment to research.
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- Date Issued: 2004
Rhodes University Research Report 2003
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:558 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011947
- Description: [From Preface and Introduction] The core business of a university is teaching and research and Rhodes has excelled in both. Our success in research is also exemplified by the graduation in April of 39 PhD and 111 Masters students. Postgraduate throughput together with research outputs will play a crucial role in the new funding formula for determining Government subsidy to Institutions. In assessing the research output of universities it is important, for comparative purposes, that this is done in relation to the size of an institution. Currently this research output, per size or per capita, is calculated by dividing the research publication output by either the audited FTE’s (i.e. number of students) or the state subsidy, which is largely based on the size of the university. These calculations show that Rhodes has had the best research output per capita for the previous four years. I would like to congratulate the members of staff and postgraduates, particularly in those Departments that are consistently increasing or maintaining their research output, for their contribution to the research effort of the university. I am aware that the research contributions mentioned in this report have been made amidst many demands such as increased student numbers and a very competitive funding environment, to name a few. Asa result of positive feedback received this year we have maintained the layout and format of the first formal research report published in 2002 Please note that each Department’s/Faculty’s highlights section are as provided by the Head of Department as are the research outputs produced. The table of provisional subsidy units earned by each Department/Faculty have been included as there is often a misconception that one journal article equates to one subsidy unit. This is the case if all the authors are from Rhodes University but where articles are jointly published, a pro-rata share is calculated. Likewise due to the complex funding formula used by the Department of Education, the total research outputs produced do not equate directly to the subsidisable units. Please note that "in press" articles in 2002 but published in 2003 have already been claimed in 2002 and hence do not appear in the table but are recorded in the report. Articles that have been submitted for possible publication have not been included in the table nor the report as it is not possible to prove if the articles had been accepted for publication by the time our submission to the Department of Education was audited. Also please note that subsidy units earned for book/chapter/patent/conference proceedings publications are not included in the subsidy unit tables since we receive no feedback from the Department of Education in terms of which books/chapters/patents/proceedings are finally accepted for subsidy purposes each year. Only a small fraction of such books, chapters, patents and proceedings which are submitted actually receive subsidy. I would like to stress the need to publish in subsidy earning journals and to submit accurate information so that the University can claim as many units as possible. The total audited (but not yet awarded) publication subsidy units for journal articles which have been submitted to the Department of Education for 2003 is 180.56 units. This is some 26.08 units down on our 2002 submission and is of concern. Of this figure, publications in current non-subsidy earning journals in 2003 amounted to 5.5 units. These have been forwarded to the Department of Education for consideration for subsidy purposes. Despite the decrease in publication outputs in 2003, postgraduate student graduation, particularly PhD’s, was encouragingly high in 2003 and in general it was once again a highly successful year for research at Rhodes. I would therefore like to add my congratulations to that of the Vice-Chancellor to all staff and postgraduate students for their research efforts in 2003.
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- Date Issued: 2003
Rhodes University Research Report 2002
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:557 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011943
- Description: [From Introduction] This is the first formal research report published by Rhodes University in this format. Each Department’s/Faculty’s highlights have been included as provided by the Head of Department as well as the research outputs produced. In addition, a table of provisional subsidy units earned by each Department/Faculty have been included as there is often a misconception that one journal article equates to one subsidy unit. This is the case if all the authors are from Rhodes University but where joint articles are written, a pro-rata share is calculated. Likewise due to the complex funding formula calculated by the Department of Education, the total research outputs produced do not equate directly to the subsidisable units. Please note that "in press" articles in 2001 but published in 2002 have already been claimed in 2001 and hence will not appear in the table but are recorded in the report. Articles that have been submitted for possible publication have not been included in the table nor the report as there is no way of proving that the articles have been accepted for publication by the time our submission to the Department of Education was audited. Also please note that subsidy units earned for book/chapter/patent/conference proceedings publications are not included in the subsidy unit tables since we receive no feedback from the Department of Education in terms of which books/chapters/patents/proceedings are finally accepted for subsidy purposes each year. Only a small fraction of such books, chapters, patents and proceedings which are submitted actually receive subsidy. I would like to stress the need to publish in subsidisable journals and submit accurate information so that the University can claim as many units as possible. The total audited (but not yet awarded) publication subsidy units for journal articles which have been submitted to the Department of Education for 2002 is 206.64 units. The average number of units awarded for the past three years (1999-2001) was 205.35 units. Based on past performance, the University can expect to earn an additional ±11.85 subsidy units for book, chapters, patents and proceedings publications in 2002. Publications in current non-subsidy earning journals in 2002 amounted to 16.00 units. These have been forwarded to the Department of Education for consideration for subsidy purposes. Finally, I would like to add my congratulations to that of the Vice-Chancellor to all staff and postgraduate students for their research efforts in 2002.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Rhodes University Research Report 2001
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2001
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:556 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011936
- Description: [From Introduction] This is the first formal research report published by Rhodes University. The reason research reports have not been published previously is that the annual Council and Senate report was largely a research report and it was unnecessary to duplicate this report. However, the required format of the University’s Annual Report has changed considerably from 2001 and no longer includes detailed information on the research outputs. I would like to add my congratulations to that of the Vice-Chancellor to all the staff and postgraduate students for their research efforts in 2001. Rhodes continues to be the leading Institution in South Africa in terms of research outputs relative to its size (determined by Government subsidy income). This is very significant and it is critical that this prominence be maintained, particularly in view of the recent restructuring of Higher Education in South Africa and the greater emphasis likely to be placed on research productivity by the revised funding formula. Research at Rhodes is actively supported by the University’s Management and a variety of internal support services including, amongst others, the Library, Information Technology, laboratory and equipment support services and the entire academic, administrative and financial infrastructure. Without this support it would be impossible to conduct research. Special thanks must go to the staff in the Research Office for all their efforts in promoting research and in particular to Moira Pogrund who complied the majority of this report.
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- Date Issued: 2001