Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University was awarded a grant of R200 000 for Best overall improvement in technology innovation at the Innovation Fund’s Annual Report function held in Cape Town recently.
Top honours for the most technologically innovative institution went to North West University who walked away with the prestigious title and a grant of R550 000. The awards, which ranked the top nine most innovative institutions in South Africa and which encompassed winners in five categories, were presented by Minister Mangena of the Department of Science and Technology. The Innovation Fund is an instrument of the Department of Science and Technology.
Acting Executive Director of the Innovation Fund, McLean Sibanda commented, “The Most Innovative Higher Education Institution (HEI) competition is aimed at supporting, encouraging and recognising not only excellence in innovation awareness and capacity but also improvement in those areas. As an instrument of the Innovation Fund, the competition furthermore aims to stimulate and develop entrepreneurial talent among academic staff and students to transform innovative ideas into viable businesses. Winning institutions not only received the title but also sizeable financial grants.”
The top HEIs were ranked from one to nine in terms of total performance in technological innovation. Winners, as judged and selected by a panel of independent adjudicators, include:
- North West University – Most Innovative HEI for 2008
- University of Cape Town. UCT also won two category prizes: Best Case Study and Best Improvement in the Technology Transfer Office capacity.
- Stellenbosch University
- University of Pretoria
- University of the Witwatersrand
- University of Kwa-Zulu Natal
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. NMMU also won Best overall improvement in technology innovation.
- University of Johannesburg.
- Durban University of Technology. DUT also won Best ‘new comer’ which is awarded to the most innovative HEI who is entering for the first time. In the future this will be for the best HEI who was not previously in the top 10.
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