SARAO Human Capital Development Programme – Creating excellence in radio astronomy - South African Radio Astronomy Observatory

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The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) Human Capital Development Programme (HCD) was started in 2005 to ensure that a sustainable and demographically representative workforce of highly skilled engineers, scientists, technicians and artisans would be available to build, operate and use the SKA and MeerKAT radio telescope facilities, as well as other local radio astronomy experiments.

To date, the programme has provided funding to 1054 postdoctoral fellows, postgraduate and undergraduate students studying science and engineering degrees, and to FET students training to be artisans. In addition, the programme is funding five Research Chairs at South African universities, as well as a large number of faculty positions, research fellows and visiting professors.

From a sample of 246 HCD alumni, 38 are currently employed in university positions in South Africa, and 18 in positions in universities elsewhere in Africa. In addition, 62 alumni are employed by SARAO, as scientists, engineers, technicians and artisans. In total, including alumni employed in industry and at other National Facilities, the HCD programme has added 173 individuals to the South African knowledge economy.

In addition to its contribution to the local economy, the HCD programme has also “contributed” 52 graduates into the international research and university sector. These figures may seem small, however, this is from a small sample of the alumni, as HCD is still in the process of tracking all it’s alumni.

“We must remember that each one of the HCD alumni is more than just a data point, it is a person, who, without the support of SARAO, may not be in the position they are in today. That is 246 success stories, 246 people working in research and development, and in turn many of them training and developing the next generation of scientists and engineers,” says Kim de Boer, Head of the HCD Programme at SARAO. “It is really gratifying to see these young people working in the fields they love, especially because we have known and supported many of them since they were at undergraduate or honours level.”

From the onset, the HCD programme has partnered with local universities and colleges to support academically excellent young people, to obtain the skills and qualifications needed by the radio astronomy sector. In addition, the programme has always provided financial support which is competitive with industry, and which covers the full cost of studying, so that the student’s focus in on their studies and research. Adopting these principles has ensured a higher than average graduation rate at all the academic levels supported by the programme, as well as a high throughput rate of students moving to the next academic level.

Graduation rates