Faculty presentation ‐ Research and postgraduate education May 2017 Professor Stephanie Burton
2017 to 2021 : The 5 -Year plan Strategic Plan, UP 2025 – Vision: To be a leading research-intensive university in Africa, recognised internationally for its quality, relevance and impact, and also for developing people, creating knowledge and making a difference locally and globally. 5 Strategic goals in the 2017-2021 Plan: 1. To enhance access and successful student learning 2. To strengthen the University’s research and international profile 3. To foster and sustain a diverse, inclusive, and equitable University community 4. To optimise resources and enhance institutional sustainability 5. To strengthen the University’s social responsiveness and impact in society 2
Goal 2: To strengthen the University’s research and international profile Research remains central to UP’s vision – “We aspire to be an institution that advances the frontiers of knowledge and makes a positive impact on the world by focusing on areas of greatest societal need.” The starting point: - wide-ranging expertise and research platforms focussing on some of the major challenges confronting Africa and the world - well-positioned to play a leading role as a hub for African and global research networks - a solid history of international engagement and a primary focus on Africa. UP Strategic Plan 2017-2021
Intended outcomes in 2017-2021 plan: 1. Increased output and impact of research • heightened national and international profile and visibility and • improvement of UP’s position in the international university rankings 2. A more inclusive research environment • greater participation by students as well as academic staff 3. Enhanced postgraduate throughput and success . 4. Increased innovation • leading to successful commercialisation of research.
Update on research performance data…
Journal article publications - 2008 to 2016* 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 *2016 data to be confirmed
Journal article publications - 2008 to 2016* 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 *2016 data to be confirmed
Web of Science publications 2006-2015
National report on 2015…
Research output data from DHET report on 2015 2014 2015 Internation SA Total % Internation SA Total % al ISI and journals journal internation al ISI and journals journal internation IBSS output al IBSS output al UKZN 1197 405 1602 75 1201 444 1645 73 UP 1115 346 1461 76 1173 411 1584 74 UCT 1196 76 1372 87 1206 187 1389 87 WITS 1066 185 1272 85 1099 209 1308 77 SUN 994 340 1334 74 964 291 1256 58 UNISA 587 440 1027 57 681 488 1169 65 NWU 624 624 980 64 700 373 1074 65 UJ 567 194 761 75 638 261 899 71
Total of all publication units (with books and proceedings) Overall Units in 2015 % of overall Units nationally UP 1837 11.3 UKZN 1763 10.8 UCT 1653 10.1 WITS 1554 9.5 SUN 146 8.7
The really good news… Weighted research output per capita Research Weighted Per capita Masters Doctoral Total Weighted Research publications Graduates Graduates Units Research Output outputs per Units capita UP 1.54 1023 999 3859 3.24 SUN 1.32 924 801 3141 2.92 RU 1.53 195 207 889 2.80 UKZN 1.31 799 1014 3576 2.67 UCT 1.40 595 669 2917 2.47 WITS 1.36 588 609 2751 2.41 Thank you!
Target Target UP PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 2014 2015 2016 2016 2017 % academic staff with doctoral degrees 1 56.2 62.97 63.4 58 64.00 (excluding joint appointments) % Black staff (Department of Labour EE 2 41.2 42.78 53.8 44% 56.8% definitions) 3 Publication units per academic FTE staff 0.81 1.05 1.2 1.0 1.18 Weighted M and D graduate output per 4 0.88 1.34 1.4 1.05 1.85 academic FTE staff First-time entering undergraduate headcount 5 8 648 8 773 7868 8787 8 937 enrolments* 6 Total undergraduate headcount enrolments* 34 747 35 551 35698 33500 35 450 7 Master’s headcount enrolments* 6 853 6 911 6120 6853 6 721 8 Doctoral headcount enrolments* 2 155 2 279 2357 1967 2 283 Number of graduates in scarce skills areas 9 4 257 4 684 4759 4257 4 809 (excluding distance education) 10 % of UG black contact students 48.3 49.95 51.7 50.0 51.89 11 % of PG black contact students 55.4 56.80 58.9 56.6 58.47 12 % registrations in SET (contact students)* 53.3 52.50 53.0 53 52.70 % successful FTE students to total FTE 13 82.7 83.6 84.2 82 84.00 enrolments* FTE contact students per FTE teaching staff 14 21.2 26.44 29.3 25 25.77 member
Key strategies for research 1. Conducting research that has impact – “Research that matters” – Build world class, high impact research productivity • internationally recognised research • interdisciplinary approaches to complex challenges • partnerships with key stakeholders • external funding. – Play a leading role in research focussing on Africa – Develop institutional and faculty research focus areas Improve UP’s ranking position
High impact, emerging and new focus areas The environment, its natural resources and sustainability Food production, food security and nutrition Human and animal health Sustainable development, governance and human rights Computer science and computational opportunities New materials and energy Humanities and society Future cities and smart transportation Sport and exercise medicine and diseases of lifestyle Neurosciences Astrophysics and astronomy Data science and digital technologies
Greater impact is key RANKING SYSTEM IMPACT MEASURE % WEIGHTING Times Higher – Papers per research and academic staff Education (THE) 6% – Reputational survey 18% – Citation impact (normalised average citations 30% per paper) – proportion of internationally co ‐ authored 2.5% research papers QS 20% Citations per staff 40% Academic reputation QS BRICS 10% – Papers per staff member 5% – Citations per paper ( over 5 years) 30% – Academic reputation ( over 5 years) QS Subject % is weighted Citations per paper (over 5 years) rankings differently per Normalised H ‐ index per subject area (over 5 discipline years) Academic reputation (over 5 years) 17
Articles published in journals with IF > 2 and > 5 (2011-2016*) % of articles in journals with IF > 2 or > 5 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 docs with impact >=2 docs with impact >=5 18
Faculty papers and citations (WoS) FACULTIES: 2015/2016 2016/2017 Papers Citations Papers Citations Arts and Humanities 504 274 921 492 Engineering and Technology 1928 3711 2264 4486 Life Sciences and Medicine 4040 11358 4704 14244 Natural sciences 1651 3341 1840 4036 Social sciences & management 2239 2304 2108 2711 19
ESI subject fields where UP features in comparison with other SA research Universities by citations per paper 25 20 15 10 5 0 UP UCT WITS SU UKZN 23
What we can do to increase research impact Impact is influenced most by citations and peer review / reputation – Incentivise high impact publication • Reward publication in top (1 % normalised) impact factor journals using research subsidy allocation • Provide research subsidy allocation to drive publication in international journals • Incentivise book publications and monographs • Provide reduced subsidy for journals with impact measure lower than 50% within the normalised sector • Provide reduced subsidy for articles in South African journals with IF lower than 1, even if in the SA DHET list. • Discourage conference proceedings - Ensure author identification is associated with UP - ORCID 25
What faculties need to pay attention to • Publications in high impact journals • Beware predatory journals! (UP: 1.2% in period 2005-2014) • More international collaboration and co-authorships • Strategic partnerships • Increase international visibility • Have clear - and visible - research plans and focus areas • Reduce reliance on a few leading researchers, find succession plans • Increase external funding • Translate and commercialise research
Things NOT to do: X Decrease the number of article units X Encourage young researchers to go for low impact SA journals X Condone publishing in non-listed journals X Allow publications in predatory journals
Key strategies (2) 2. Creating a more vibrant and transformed research community • Build research capacity to enable transformation and development – Set targets for improving research output and impact – Support leading and emerging researchers • Provide an enabling environment – Strengthen programmes for development of emerging researchers – Strengthen programmes for supporting postgraduate students – Seek external funding • Support internationalisation activities to increase visibility and impact – Attract international staff and students to the University – Increase international postgraduate numbers – Build strategic partnerships
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