The National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) calls for nominations for the 28th NSTF-South32 Awards.
The awards focus on science, engineering and technology (SET) and innovation in South Africa.
The NSTF’s theme for 2026 is ‘Healthy Aging’ in recognition of the Decade of Healthy Aging as proclaimed by the United Nations (UN).
The aims are to change the attitudes of society towards aging, including creating age-friendly environments, delivering integrated and person-centred health care, and access to long-term care for those who need it.
In 2026, the NSTF will recognise outstanding contributions to SET and innovation towards healthy aging, that is – research that helps us understand aging better in all its facets, and that holds the promise of improving the lives of older people, their families and communities, particularly in South Africa with its unique challenges, and homegrown technological innovations that will assist the elderly.
The awards are for individuals, teams or organisations (as applicable) nominated under any of 13 categories:
| 1. Individual Awards | a) Lifetime Award – contribution over 15 years or more
b) TW Kambule-NSTF Researcher Award – contribution through research and its outputs over a period from 6 years up to 15 years of research work from the commencement of the research career, predominantly in SA (Prize sponsor: proSET) c) TW Kambule-NSTF Emerging Researcher Awards – contribution through research and its outputs over a period of up to 6 years of research work from the commencement of the research career, predominantly in SA (Prize sponsor: SAYAS) d) Management Award – contribution through management of SET and innovationactivities over the last 5-10 years in SA |
| 2. Engineering Research Capacity Development Awards – contribution by an individual or a team over the last 5-10 years | |
| 3. NSTF-Water Research Commission (WRC) Award – contribution towards sustainable water management, knowledge generation and solutions by an individual, team or an organisation over the last 5 to 10 years (Sponsor since 2017: WRC) | |
| 4. NSTF-SAMRC Clinician-Scientist Award – contribution through research and its outputs over a period of up to 6 years of research work from the commencement of the research career, predominantly in SA (Sponsor since 2023: SAMRC) | |
| 5. NSTF-TIA Green Economy Award – contribution towards achieving biodiversity conservation, environmental sustainability and a greener economy by an individual, team or an organisation over the last 5-10 years (Sponsor since 2023: TIA) | |
| 6. Science Diplomacy for Africa Award – contribution for impactful solutions and/or collaborations through science diplomacy between and among countries, for the benefit of SA and the African continent by a team or an individual within the last 10 years (Sponsor since 2024: SDCfA) | |
| 7. NSTF-Agricultural Research Council (ARC) Award – contribution towards sustainable agricultural management, knowledge generation and solutions, by an individual, team or an organisation over the last 5-10 years (Sponsor since 2025: ARC) | |
| 8. Research Software Awards– contribution through the development, maintenance, or extension of research software within the South African context by an individual or a team within the past 10 years regardless of when the software was released (Sponsor since 2026: SADiLaR) | a) Research Software – contribution that enables research in any scientific field, including humanities and social sciences (HSS)
b) Research Software: Human Language Technologies (HLT) – contribution that enables the processing, understanding, generation, or analysis of human language in written, spoken, or signed form |
| 9. Data for Research Award – contribution for advancing the availability, management and re-use of research data by an individual or a team | |
| 10. Innovation Awards – contribution for innovations and their research and/or development by an individual, team or an organisation over the last 5-10 years | a) Corporate Organisation (Sponsor since 2025: NIPMO)
b) SMME (Sponsor since 2019: NIPMO) |
| 11. Communication Award – contribution for outreach and creating awareness by a team or individual over the last 5 years | |
| 12. Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Award – contribution, including technology transfer, and education and training activities over the last 5-10 years (Nominations of specific projects undertaken under the auspices of professional bodies/societies can also be nominated here.) | |
| 13. Special Annual Theme Award:Healthy Aging – contribution through sustainable science (awarded according to criteria in any of the other categories) | |