SECTION C: DIRECTORS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION

Achievements of the research strategy over the past IOP period is not possible without a good team. Directors have contributed significantly in driving the research and innovation agenda. We take this opportunity to say thank you, Dr Hames, who retired at the end of 2020. Her valuable contribution was to drive gender equity and raise the awareness of the seriousness of transformation in higher education. We wish her well with her future endeavours. In addition, we bid farewell to Prof. Fielding as the Director of Research Development as he moves to his new position as Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences. We thank him for driving the research agenda and staff development within the research office. We wish him well in his new job from 2022.

DIVISION FOR POST GRADUATE STUDIES UNIT

The IOP 2016-2021 identified the creation of an enabling environment for student success and research productivity. The Division for Postgraduate Studies supports faculties to realise the institutional goals for postgraduate education as summarised in Goals 2 and 3 of the IOP. The 2020 academic year posed many challenges to continued operations linked to the pandemic. The division demonstrated responsiveness and innovation to leapfrog postgraduate student support into a more efficient digital and online format. The core goals of the division are to:

• Improve retention and throughput.

• Build capacity through transferable skills training and supervision support.

• Assist with funding applications.

• Facilitate mobility and internationalisation.

• Support good governance in PG research education.

In 2020 the following milestones were achieved:

1. Transferable skills training:

Transferable skills training is the cornerstone of postgraduate research training.

Pre-lockdown: Contact workshops with 205 attendees.

April 2020 – March 2021: A total of 98 narrated slide presentations were developed and deposited into therepository. The resources were downloaded 23 266 times by students, staff and supervisors. A total of 2 269 unique registered student users were identified.

Impact: important information research methodology was presented in digestible format and made more accessible. The visibility and value of the training resulted in requests to present existing training and bespoke training to cohorts as part of their curricularized PG training.

2. Academic mentoring and coaching:

Percentage of non-returning students was reduced to 7%

3 key activities assisted in this achievement:

• the early identification and financial assistance with clearance for registration;

• leveraging funds to procure study devices and subsudised data and

• increased visibility through the development of a postgraduate digitial space on the learningmanagement system of UWC (iKamva).

4. Supervision Training

Capacity development workshops were facilitated for supervisors.Training provided an opportunity for reflexive engagement onsupervisory practice and quality assurance. PhD candidates wereable to attend the two international online training events andgain exposure as potential or future supervisors.

5. Writing fellowships

Fellowships in the form of editing supportwas provided for the preparation of thesesfor examination.

120 supervisors participated in 4 training events.

With funds leveraged against the UCDG project, a total of 42 students were assisted. The impact was that studentslearnt how to procure editing services and the qualityof theses were improved which added to the success ofthe examination process.

6. Internationalisation

The Division represented UWC as part of an international collaborative project involving 7 SouthAfrican and 5 European universities (YEBO!). The consortium focused on the internationalisation of PhD studies. A training conference was hosted at UWC in March 2020. UWC staff members formed part of international panels of expert presenters at three training events in the course of 2020. UWC, through the work of the Division on this platform, contributed to the development of a community of practice on internationalisation.

7. Governance

The Division supported the role of Senate Higher Degrees and Faculty Higher Degrees Committeesin establishing and maintaining good governance for postgraduate studies.

LIBRARY SERVICES

RESEARCH DATA MANAGEMENT

The spike in COVID-19 cases, coupled with the uncertainties plagued South African Higher education libraries in 2020. The UWC libraries transitioned rapidly to virtual services and platforms for sustained support to save the 2020 academic year. Academic needs and access for scholarly information increased, creating an increased demand for faculty and research librarian support services. The library webpage was bolstered to reflect enhanced access and a more responsive student experience.

Some of the highlights, despite lockdown were:

Thesis and Research Repositories currently has a total of 4452 records, reflecting a 9% growth.

Digitisation of print theses: 8 000 items of older print theses were digitised. The ResearchGateproject was initiated to grow and update the UWC repository.

Virtual Reference Service (Ask a Librarian Service) continued to be the central access point and preferred communication channel during 2020. More than 72% dealt with online via live chat.

16 Webinars and Online Researcher workshops were hosted by the library.

Research Data Management:

The URL “https://kikapu.uwc.ac.za/” was approved for use in October to associate the repository with the university more directly.

Statistics provided by the repository (Figshare) show that the UWC records have been viewed 31 272 times and downloaded 8 175 times in total. For the current year the records were viewed 6 139 times and downloaded 2 155 times.

Data Management Planning: Online training sessions were conducted to guide researchers to develop data management plans; A Google sheet was created outlining the basic elements for a DMP and tutorial videos were uploaded.

RedCap research productivity software has now been installed. It is currently undergoing testing in preparation for roll-out to the university community early in 2021.

The Ilifu - RDM Cloud storage project was concluded early in the year. The remaining task is the application for Core Trust Seal certification of the repository.

The Research Data Management Policy had reached the final stages, with the inclusion of a clear statement of compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act.

RDM and Research Support Videos: A series of short informational videos were created to support UWC researchers. They include Conducting a Literature Search; Predatory Publishing; Selecting a Journal; Depositing Research Data, and several more (The FAIR Data Principles; Data Management Plans) are in progress.

Thesis and Research Repositories: The Thesis Submission Portal functions well. The library was able to capture all of the graduation theses. The total number of records in the Thesis Repository currently stands at 6 019. A total of 628 theses were added, growing the repository by 10,4%.

The Research Repository currently has a total of 4 452 records. The addition of 401 articles grew the repository by 9%.

Online Publishing Support Service The service also provides advice and support for journal editors and individual authors with regard to various aspects of publishing.

Journal Publishing: The Journal of Entrepreneurial Innovation (JEI) was launched in 2020; Multilingual Margins, African Journal for Gender and Religion, Writing Threesixty and Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning; Kronos: Southern African Histories were published by the library.

The UWC Researcher Identifier database records the Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science and ORCID identifiers (online) of UWC researchers.

The UWC Research Week OA Webinars 2020

The UWC was awarded 50TB of free data storage space at the Figshare international competition for second place, awarded to the library.

Dr Reggie Raju (UCT); Dr S Neerputh (UWC); Ms E. Tise (SUN) presented on: Academic Libraries leading the Open Access Movement under the SDG theme: Building Inclusive Societies. The purpose of the online webinar was to advocate for African Academic Libraries as the Change Agent in driving the Research Transformation Agenda; Academic Libraries as institutes for knowledge creation and pathfinders for researchers.

The sessions conducted - Data intensive research at the UWC (Prof. Vaccarri, e-Research Director, UWC); Data Carpentries services in Africa (Dr Van Rensberg, The Carpentries). Introduction to Figshare (Ms Hardeman, Head of Engagement, Figshare). RDM services and facilities (Mr Snyders -UWC Library). Open Access publishing under the COVID-19 pandemic (Mr Nqotole, UWC Library). Open Access publishing: The UWC editors’ perspective (Prof. Shambare and Prof. Dinbabo, Economics and Management Sciences Faculty).

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OFFICE

The Technology Transfer Office (TTO) has been instrumentalin the strengthening of the R&D-led innovationecosystem at the UWC. In the 2016-2020 period, theTTO drove the establishment of UWC Innovations (Pty)Ltd, a wholly-owned UWC company, involved in themanagement of UWC spinout companies. During thattime, the UWC was involved in the creation of 2 companiesto commercialise some of its innovations: ZenzeleniNetworks NPC and Hyrax Biosciences (Pty) Ltd. The TTOwas also engaged in the sourcing and management ofSeed Funding from the Technology Innovation Agency todevelop innovations to a stage where these move closerto commercialisation: over 20 projects were funded witha combined total of R10M. During this period, 44 disclosures were received by the TTO, leadingto 18 patent family applications being filed, resulting in 19 granted patents up to 2020. Over 50research partnerships with industry were developed, leading to 5 IP transactions in the form oflicenses and assignments. In 2019-2020; the TTO redefined itself with the arrival of a new Director,and the creation of specialist functions within the office: Commercialisation Specialist, IntellectualProperty Specialist and Intellectual Property Administrator.

On the 1 st of April 2020; the UWC TTO welcomed a new Commercialisation Specialist, as lockdownforced all TTO staff members to work remotely. The transition to remote work was done smoothly,and the TTO remained fully operational while making use of virtual platforms. Innovation awarenessevents were successfully presented making use of virtual platforms, and the attendance of thesehas significantly increased. Despite all logistic challenges due to the lockdown restrictions, theTTO was able to engage with internal and external stakeholders and add value to the innovationundertakings at the UWC.

Achievements May 2019 - Apr 2020:

8 new disclosures were received by the TTO

2 new provisional patent applications were filed in South Africa

2 new national phase applications were filed, 1 in South Africa and 1 in Europe

2 new trademark applications were filed in South Africa

2 new design applications were filed in South Africa

2 new design applications were filed in the UK

2 patent families were granted, 1 in the USA and the other in South Africa and Europe

1 Trademark was registered in South Africa

The TTO undertook 10 Innovation/Intellectual Property Awareness Events

The TTO showcased technologies at 4 Technology Marketing Events

The TTO assisted with 176 UWC Agreements

The TTO was involved in receiving TIA Seed Funding for 4 new projects to the total value of R1,82M

The TTO facilitated the assignment of the Exatype Technology to an IP Holding Company and subsequent licensing to Hyrax Biosciences on 31 July 2020.

Ensuring NIPMO compliance, including the UWC’s biannual reporting of IP7 forms (April and Oct 2020), application to the IP Fund Rebate in July 2020, and reporting on the TTO Support fund in Jan and Mar 2021.

The TTO manages over 50 active inventions in its current portfolio

Highlights May 2019-Apr 2020:

• Investment of R10M to Hyrax Biosciences to commercialise the Exatype technology developed at UWC.

• Management of TIA Seed Funding programme, including 6 ongoing projects to the value of R3M and 4 new projects to the value of R1,82M (total R4,8M).

With its current staff complement, the UWC TTO is well-positioned to support the UWC to fulfil its research and innovation strategy. The focus for the next 5 years will be to build and strengthen partnerships with innovation partners, to support the commercialisation of UWC innovations. The establishment of an internal Innovation/Seed Fund will allow the development of technologies and social innovations to a stage where commercialisation is feasible. The TTO will work towards providing an enabling environment for quality research and innovation.

GENDER EQUITY UNIT

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused so many disruptionsand uncertainties to the activities of higher educationinstitutions around the world. Despite the challengespresented by COVID-19 during 2020/2021, this has been aremarkable year for internal and external collaboration onresearch and scholarly work.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH

The Unit played a leading role in the UWC Teamcomprised of Prof. Marietta Du Plessis and Prof. SisaNgabaza in the consortium formed to respond to thecall for funding to advance gender analysis and womenleadership in science. The following countries formed partof the consortium: Mozambique, Lesotho, Portugal and Switzerland. The Proposal was submittedon Canada’s International Development Research Centre. Other funding opportunities are alsoexplored.

The Unit is involved in the Trafficking-in-Persons (TIP) study focusing on people being traffickedand those who are vulnerable for being trafficked. This study explores service providers’ knowledge,determines the prevalence of victims in high-risk settings, and conducts a social media analysis ofTIP.

60 th Anniversary: Celebrating Women’s Contributions to Societal Change

In recognition of the 60 th Anniversary of the UWC celebrations, a special Women’s month virtualproject was hosted by the Unit in collaboration with the office of the DVC: Research and Innovationand Institutional Advancement. The purpose of the programme was to celebrate and commemoratethe contributions of the UWC women to the University’s 60 years of existence as well as to societyat large.

Virtual Breakfast

The first Annual UWC Breakfast was held in 2001 with only eighty women. Over the years morewomen joined the annual event, a safe, social, and interactive platform where women staff acrossthe University community were affirmed in multiple ways.

Webinars and Seminars

To celebrate Women’s Day, the Unit in collaboration with the Cape Town Museum hosted a webinar,themed “Reimagining Cape Town as a Women-friendly City” on 9 August 2020. The webinar wasfacilitated by Maria van Staden and Juliana Davids from the Unit. Ntombi Mbadlanyana, a genderactivist working for the Provincial Department of Local Government, described how historicallycities were built as an economic hub for men. Apiwe Hotele, Technology CommercialisationSpecialist at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), advocated for the need tohave more women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. NomfundoMakhubo, Stakeholder Coordinator at the SARAO/Square Kilometre Array (SKA), stressed thatcreating local economies is an important part of creating a more equal city. Slee Mbhele, Project

Coordinator, Division of Human Biology at the University of Cape Town and volunteer firefightershared her passion to break gender stereotypes that limit women and girls from reaching theirpotential. Finally, Dr Miranda Pillay, a retired senior lecturer at the University of the Western Cape(UWC) perceives religion as playing an important role in transforming cities as many policymakersand lawmakers in charge of our cities are members of faith communities.

The Unit also participated in the Critical studies Virtual panel discussion entitled “Hunger andUniversity Students in South Africa” on 19 October 2020. Panellists Dr March Wegeref,

Prof. Desiree Lewis, Ms. Oluwafunmilola, and Limpho Makapela discussed the following specific issues:

• Students’ food access and university food cultures

• The priorities of the entrepreneurial neoliberal university

• Critically assessing existing measures for addressing students’ hunger

• Critically assess the role of corporate and state “stakeholders”

• Changing mindsets and forging collective responsibility

Farewell of the Retiring Director

At the 16 days of activism against Gender-based violence closing ceremony held on the 10December 2020, staff, students; and Friends of the Gender Equity Unit gathered at the River ClubObservatory to bid farewell to Dr Mary Hames, who has been the head of the Gender Equity Unitat the University of the Western Cape for the past twenty-one years. She has served on variousboards such as DELTA, Cape Town Pride, Pride Shelter Trust and the Forum for the Empowermentof Women (FEW), which was the first organization for black lesbians only. She completed her PhDon feminist interventions in higher education, at the then African Gender Institute at the Universityof Cape Town.

RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

The research development initiative for UWC research staff (Academic, Postdoctoral Fellowsand Professional Support) is designed around an effective and participatory learning approach.Therefore, a cohort approach will be used for groups of participants. It is envisaged that eachparticipant identifies training initiatives required for their professional development and attendchosen training sessions. Where needed, communities of practice (COP) will be created to facilitateand support development. Subject experts (internal and external) will facilitate all training sessionsand workshops.

E-RESEARCH UNIT

e-Research Strategy & UWC IOP 2021-2025: Prof. Mattia Vaccari was part of the UWC’s IOP 2021-2025 Information Technology Task Team (TT10), where he led the Research Sub Task Team and played an important role in the compilation of the Task Team reports. Also - thanks to our work, as part of its recently approved IOP 2021-2015 the UWC “will develop and implement an e-research strategy to guide and coordinate activities in support of this area” and “improve support to data-intensive research requirements through cloud-based capacity solutions”. A draft e-Research Strategy describing the rationale for e-Research at the UWC and making the case for investment in additional e-Research support was produced to contribute to the IOP discussion, and is now being updated to reflect the recently approved IOP. We note that significant results in Data Intensive Research at the UWC are being achieved despite limited institutional support. We stress the opportunities to build on these strengths and outline specific needs for the development of eResearch infrastructure and support across the university, and conclude prioritizing the establishment of an expanded eResearch team.

A survey of Data Intensive Research Activities at the UWC : In September 2020, at the request of the ICTGC, we completed a survey of ongoing Data Intensive Research Activities at the UWC. The survey outlined several existing strengths and identified some barriers to further growth, concluding that for the UWC to grow data intensive research and data science more organically across its different faculties, and for the institution to more effectively compete for external funding in this competitive area, a degree of institutional investment in infrastructure and crucially in user support is required.

ilifu Facility: The DIRISA/NICIS-funded ilifu project formally came to an end on 31 March 2021, and Prof. Mattia Vaccari (ilifu Facility Director) and IDIA/ilifu Operations Manager Mr Jeremy Smith prepared the ilifu final report and submitted it to the ilifu Project Steering Committee. The DIRISA/NICIS funding for the ilifu facility has supported UWC-led projects in Astronomy and Bioinformatics but perhaps more importantly allowed us to strengthen ilifu operations so as to offer expert and timely user support. Our recent agreement with SARAO will allow us to continue supporting Astronomy research well beyond 2021, and we are currently pursuing different avenues to guarantee the sustainability of Bioinformatics support as well. The ilifu facility is routinely being used by a substantial fraction of the UWC staff, postdocs and students in Astronomy and Bioinformatics.

Computing Resources: Thanks to their distributed / remote operations, the ilifu facility and the meerkat cluster are seeing sustained usage in COVID-19 times. Extensive ilifu training activities for old and new users alike were carried out in March and April.

Cloud Computing Environments & Data Intensive Research Training Resources: We have liaised with industry (Amazon / Google / IBM / Microsoft / Nvidia) to compile an introduction to Cloud

Computing Environments and Data Intensive Research Training Resources which can be made available to researchers and students, with the aim to increase adoption and expertise within the UWC community and thus allow them to more effectively use such resources for their research. A preliminary set of resources are provided via our website, and related training activities (Webinars / Workshops) are being planned for later in the year.

RDM Practices and Needs Survey: Following the approval of the RDM policy, we completed an RDM Practices and Needs Survey which will be used to plan future RDM activities. We are now busy compiling a summary of the responses and plan to produce a related publication.

REDCap: This secure web platform for building and managing online databases and surveys was made available to all the UWC staff and students at https://redcap.uwc.ac.za in January 2021, and is now being used by a small but growing community.

Kikapu: The UWC’s Institutional Data Repository (IDR), Kikapu, is available at https://kikapu.uwc. ac.za and provides a user-friendly platform for the UWC staff and students to publish their research data in accordance with the FAIR (i.e., Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) principles. During the past year the Kikapu portal and the associated training activities have been revamped in collaboration with the Library Services.

Fundraising: We obtained funding: from the EU for the Professional Development of Astronomy PhD Students; from the FSNet-Africa Programme for Research Expenses and Student Bursaries in Food Systems; from MICTSETA for 4IR Student Bursaries.

Data Intensive Research Emerging Niche Area: The eResearch Office coordinates the Data Intensive Research emerging niche area funded by the DVC R&I line as part of DHET’s HDI Development Grant. This initiative aims to foster multi-disciplinary research with our other partners on and off campus. Our team published research spanning Food Systems, Climatology/Meteorology and Astrophysics and we supervised one BSc Hons and five MSc Students.

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE- FOOD SECURITY (COE-FS)

During 2020, the CoE-FS has been particularly activein strengthening our role in providing locally relevantresearch outputs to support COVID-19 mitigation. Wesupported submissions to the government concerninglockdown measures including one concerning InformalFood Traders, and a second concerning School Feeding.We published frequently in the non-academic media,including proposals for place-based poverty mitigationstrategies in the Business Day and the impact of the lockdown on child nutrition in the Conversation.We raised several grants to investigate aspects of the COVID-19 response, including two projectsfunded by UNICEF on food safety.

ACHIEVEMENTS

The CoE-FS plays an important role in growing a research-enabling environment at the UWCthrough the provision of research grants and post-graduate bursaries, and by supporting researchmanagement of these. A total of 95 students were involved in CoE projects, of which 47 were fundedby bursaries awarded from the NRF grant of R15m, and 48 from leverage funds which amountedto R22,8m in 2020. To build a critical mass of researchers, we also funded 11 post-doctoral Fellows.Mindful of the need to increase the numbers of highly qualified women academics, women madeup 65,3% of the students supported

During 2020, 47 bursary holders graduated and the CoE-FS has supported 203 students to graduation in the current IOP period. Building a culture of research active postgraduates, these bursary holders presented 15 papers and posters at national and international conferences in 2020, most of which were held virtually

Research output also continues to grow, with 66 academic publications in 2020, taking the total output of the CoE-FS during the current IOP to 237 journal articles and book chapters.

Activity May 2019 - Apr 2020:

Articles in Refereed/Peer-reviewed Journals - 55

Books /Chapters in Books - 11

Refereed/Peer-reviewedConference Output -15

Conference Output (seminars, workshops) - 19

Policy Briefs - 3

Journal articles – Impact factor greater than 3 - 21

As a part of our contribution to UWC’s goals of growing its global recognition, during the current IOP this research has been cited 1 889 40 times, with of these papersbeen cited more than 40 times.

COMMUNICATION/ VISIBILITY:

The CoE-FS makes available its research, events, and activities through various communication channels, including the website, social media channels (Facebook and Twitter), video and audio platforms, as well as email lists whose content is distributed to a diverse group of stakeholders including students, researchers, host and affiliate institutions; government, funding agencies, and the national media through whom, the public is exposed to the work undertaken by the CoE-FS. Our Strategy has borne fruit during 2020, with 404 media activities including radio, television, and the national press; 278 website views and 2818 Facebook likes. Media coverage during the current IOP now stands at 952 activities. Previous global and regional impact during the IOP includes the award of the UNESCO Chair in African Food Systems in 2018, the hosting of the Global Food SecurityConference in 2017 and the World Public Health Nutrition Conference in 2016. In recognition of this work, the CoE-FS was short-listed for an NSTF award for science communication in 2019. Sadly, we bade farewell to Ms Loga Makwela, our Communications Manager at the end of 2020, who left the UWC to take up a position in the private sector.

LOOKING TO IOP 2021-2025

Looking forward, the annual Lekgotla of the CoE-FS has identified our comparative advantages. Weare a trans-disciplinary and multi-institutional centre that has adopted virtual and flexible practicessince our inception. We have focused on providing enabling research management and sciencecommunication since inception under the guidance of Dr Elaine Sinden, our Centre Manager, andMs Elaine Petersen, our finance manager. We have research strengths in the analysis of multi-levelfood system governance, knowledge co-production and impact pathways. We have strengths inresearch and innovation for the production and utilisation of climate-smart indigenous African andother locally available foods. And we have strengths in the analysis of diets and practices thatprovide quantity, quality, diversity and safety to reduce all forms of malnutrition.

To contribute towards the goals of the UWC’s IOP 2021-2025, we plan to further promote transdisciplinaryresearch and to encourage the formation of research teams across faculties. We willpromote collaborative work amongst researchers within and across faculties, making it possible forresearchers to work in teams. We intend identifying joint training opportunities to postgraduatestudents and early career researchers across faculties. We will need to rebuild and expand ourScience Communication activities to contribute towards knowledge translation and utilisation.Finally, we will engage with the proposed establishment of a School of Sustainable Agricultureand with the e-Research director to explore options for Big Data research on food systems.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

The Office for Special Projects has supported academicand administrative staff towards the completion of theirPhDs, supported Mid-Career Researchers, EstablishedResearchers, Faculty Mentors, Faculty Leaders andPost-Doctoral Support. The UWC’s Goal three of theInstitutional Operational Plan (IOP) 2016-2020, aims“To strengthen the UWC’s position as an excellentresearch and innovation university with local relevance,regional impact and global recognition”. The Office hasbuilt on the strengths and successes of the universitythrough the Strategic Research Plan for 2016-2020which aims to grow capacity in research and knowledgemobilization. Thus, in order to address the local, nationaland global challenges through research, we havesupported innovation and excellence as a collective. Wehave continued to identify opportunities for the UWCs interdisciplinary research strengths whilebuilding critical mass in areas that are globally relevant and strategically important.

During the COVID-19 lockdown many of our supported researchers expressed their difficulties faceddue to the pandemic, which included but was not limited to the inability to access laboratories,carrying out data collection which required face-to-face contact and balancing the demandsof work, home life, and studying. Consequently, and despite these challenges, we have devisedinnovative plans and actions to adapt our programmes to ensure that completion of outcomes wasadhered to as best as possible. Below are milestones achieved:

The University Support Development Programme (USDP) Collaborative Projects

The University Staff Doctoral Programme (USDP), is a collaboration project between local andinternational partner universities, The PHD candidates receive individual coaching which focuseson matters of degree completion and developing a publication agenda related to research.

University Capacity Development Grant (UCDG)

The University Capacity Development Grant (UCDG) aims to bolster and support the UWC’s strategic framework document, namely its Institutional Operating Plan (IOP) 2016 – 2020, with the primary goal of addressing transformation imperatives in the university system and is implemented under the auspices of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60Historically Disadvantaged Institution Grant (HDIG)

The HDI Projects are rooted in the IOP 2016-2020 with a focus on the UWC’s core capabilities and aim to increase innovation in mutually beneficial and sustainable ways with external partners.The following Niche Projects have been identified and supported by the DVC-R and I:

The HDI projects over the past few years have seen an increase on their research deliverables.The following graph tabulates the outputs from 2018-2021.