Abstract
The South African government has a long tradition of supporting research at public higher education institutions. Such support commenced in the early 20th century, although the exact nature of the support at that time is poorly documented. The oldest research funding model in the country was agency funding, which started as early as 1911 through the Royal Society of South Africa. A few years later, in 1918, a more coordinated funding body called the Research Grant Board (RGB) was established in the Union of South Africa. The RGB offered competitive funding to individual academics in the natural and physical sciences. The human sciences were only supported much later with the establishment of the Council for Educational and Social Research in 1929. Here we review the history of research funding in South Africa, with a special focus on the work of the RGB between 1918 and 1938.
Highlights
Many people assume that a limited number of models exist for the public funding of modern research systems
It is not uncommon to have a system of core funding that consists of both formula funding and performance funding
In addition to funding received from government, the Research Grant Board (RGB) administered research funding entrusted to it by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which made available to it an allocation of GBP10 000 for the period 1928–1932, with a further USD30 000 for 1933–1937.21 The fact that the RGB acted as an ‘agent’ of the Carnegie Corporation of New York is noteworthy, as it signifies the trust already accorded to the RGB, but is not unusual in itself
Summary
AFFILIATIONS: 1Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST), Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2DST–NRF Centre of Excellence in Scientometrics and Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa. The early history of research funding in South Africa: From the Research Grant Board to the FRD. The South African government has a long tradition of supporting research at public higher education institutions. Such support commenced in the early 20th century, the exact nature of the support at that time is poorly documented. A few years later, in 1918, a more coordinated funding body called the Research Grant Board (RGB) was established in the Union of South Africa. We review the history of research funding in South Africa, with a special focus on the work of the RGB between 1918 and 1938
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