The University of Johannesburg (UJ) hosted the first forum of the Deputy Vice-Chancellors of Research and associated portfolios on 4 and 5 April 2019. This was the first of the two meetings of the forum which occurs twice a year.
Given UJ’s overarching strategic contextualisation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the forum shared this thematic blend and received a presentation by Prof Tshilidzi Marwala, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, UJ.
Following this presentation, the discussion range included: postgraduate student funding, the rising cost of library or journal subscriptions, research ethics generally and a focus on veterinary sciences, research, innovation and creative outputs; the forum was joined by senior officials from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and the National Research Foundation (NRF).
In relation to research and associated portfolios, the forum serves as a platform to share best practices, develop common positions, for networking and collaboration.