Metascience in South Africa

In March 2025, RoRI delegates James Wilsdon, Deborah Farmer and Similo Ngywenya travelled to South Africa to attend the CREST 30th anniversary conference, as well as a series of meetings with delegates from the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF), a core partner of the RoRI Consortium, to strengthen RoRI’s collaborations in the region.

The Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST) 30th anniversary conference, held from 17 to 20 March in Stellenbosch, brought together delegates from around the world to share their perspectives on metascience.

RoRI Executive Director James Wilsdon gave two presentations: one on metrics for responsible research assessment, and another on the prospects, pitfalls, and opportunities facing metascience and metascientists. He shared insights into the current metascientific moment and its implications for the South African research system.

Heading to Pretoria next, we were delighted to take part in an inaugural transdisciplinary partnership meeting with the South African National Research Foundation (NRF), a RoRI core partner. The two-day event, held from 24 to 25 March 2025 at the NRF headquarters, provided a valuable platform to exchange ideas on transforming research systems and deepening collaborative ties.

The meeting, themed “Transforming Research Systems through Partnerships & Cooperation”, brought together 45 participants from eight organisations across four countries – including executives and senior managers from the NRF, as well as researchers, funding professionals, and representatives from both the public and private sectors. In addition to the NRF and RoRI, attendees included colleagues from the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAF), the University of Pretoria, the University of Stellenbosch, and Nobangule Business Engineering Services.

RoRI researchers based at the University of Sheffield, University College London, Aarhus University, and Leiden University gave presentations, contributing perspectives from across our international network.

A key highlight of the meeting was a lively discussion on identifying and building synergies for future collaborative projects. As Dr Gugu Moche, Group Executive: Digital Transformation and Acting Deputy CEO: RIISA, noted:

In this part of our world, the NRF is the biggest funder of research. Therefore, it becomes important that in engaging with our partners, that we contribute to the global and our national science system transcendent initiatives that will allow us to evolve from where we are.

The partnership between the NRF and RoRI, co-led by Dr Thandi Mgwebi and Dr Gugu Moche, was established in September 2024, with a focus on building metascience capacity in South Africa. It empowers the NRF to contribute to global conversations on transforming research systems, bringing a uniquely African perspective to the table.

Both Dr Gugu Moche and James Wilsdon emphasised the importance of these efforts in enhancing the quality and impact of research globally. As James noted:

The UK is the first country to have created a metascience unit inside central government, working jointly with UK Research and Innovation, our public funding agency. This is just one example, among many around the world, of policymakers, funders, and metascientists joining forces to build capacity and strengthen the evidence base for research policy and funding.

Among funding agencies in Africa, the NRF is at the crest of this wave, and RoRI is excited to be collaborating with them—and others—to support and strengthen metascience in South Africa.