Speaker
Description
Research software underpins nearly every aspect of modern science, from data processing and simulation to modelling, visualisation, and workflow automation. In South Africa, as around the world, HPC users and administrators play a substantial role in developing and maintaining the research software that drives the models, simulations, and workflows behind scientific discoveries. Unfortunately, few mechanisms exist to incentivise and recognise these contributions, leaving much of the foundational work behind research software undervalued and overlooked.
To address this gap, the UCT eResearch Centre initiated and designed the framework for a new National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) award category, working in partnership with the University of the Western Cape, South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) and the NSTF. The introduction of this category, launching in 2025/2026, has been made possible through financial support from SADiLaR and will recognise exceptional contributions to science, engineering, technology and innovation enabled by research software.
