Newsletter: June 2016

National Science Week (NSW), an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST,) is a countrywide celebration of science involving various stakeholders and/or role players conducting science-based activities during the week.

National Science Week is run in all nine provinces simultaneously at multiple sites per province. SAASTA has been appointed by the DST as the implementing agency and play the role of the National Project Manager for the National Science Week.

Each year a different theme is chosen and activities are offered around the theme to the target audiences. The theme of the NSW 2015 was “The international year of light and light based technologies”.

Last year, the National Science Week took place from 1 to 8 August 2015. The launch was on Saturday, 1 August 2015, at the University of North West in Mafikeng.

This year, 2016, the National Science Week will be formally launched at the University of Western Cape (UWC) and thereafter take place from 6 to 13 August throughout the country.  The start of NSW will be marked by a national launch event led by the Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor and local government leaders.

The call for proposals for the appointment of service providers to offer a series of activities during the National Science Week of 2016 through funding by SAASTA closed on 11 March 2016. The theme of the NSW 2016 is “Science for sustainable development and improved quality of life”.