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30 May 2006

The Director-General of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Dr Phil Mjwara, has confirmed his Department’s support for the establishment of a National Institute for Theoretical Physics in South Africa.

The establishment of such an institute was first announced by the Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Mosibudi Mangena, in October 2005 at the opening of the World Conference on Physics and Sustainable Development held in Durban.

This development follows the submission to DST of a proposal by the theoretical physics specialist group of the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP), responding to one of the main recommendations in a report Shaping the Future of Physics in South Africa by an international panel of physicists. This report on the state and future of physics in South Africa had been commissioned by DST, the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the SAIP.

The National Institute of Theoretical Physics (NITheP) will be modelled on similar institutes in the world like the USA Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara and the Perimeter Institute in Canada, which are leading international research institutes. Apart from forefront research NITheP will be intimately involved in human resource development at the graduate student level. This will include a continuation of the internationally renowned series of annual summer schools which have been organised in South Africa since 1981. Also other specialised workshops and courses will be offered. Research skills will be developed among the young academics. For this reason and to maximise opportunities for all communities, a geographically distributed model will be implemented with a central hub at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) and regional nodes at the Universities of KwaZulu-Natal and the Witwatersrand.

NITheP will be managed as a national facility in co-operation with the National Research Foundation (NRF). Professor Hendrik Geyer, Chairperson of the working committee which drafted the NITheP proposal, will act as an interim director for one year to co-ordinate the initial implementation phase.

For information please contact:
Nhlanhla Nyide
General Manager: Science Communication
Cell: 082 871 6767
E-mail: nhlanhla.nyide@dst.gov.za

Hendrik B Geyer
Professor of Theoretical Physics
University of Stellenbosch
Tel: (021) 808 3658
Fax: (021) 808 3385
E-mail: hbg@sun.ac.za

Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
30 May 2006
Source: Department of Science and Technology (http://www.dst.gov.za/)