Speaking about F’SATI, Deputy Vice Chancellor RIE, Dr Vathiswa-Papu Zamxaka, mentioned that the University has benefited greatly on the partnership with F’SATI. “F’SATI is considered a national asset that contributes to the creation of knowledge and the transfer of technology in South Africa by establishing collaboration with other higher education and research institutes. We remain grateful for the partnership the spirit of which was echoed in the meeting. Indeed, the collaborations and beneficial relations have brought greater synergy between the South African and French Institutions and is leading to the evolution of domains to other disciplines such as Management. It is significant to mention that our students and staff continue to benefit from the programme” said Dr Papu-Zamxaka.
Over the years, the objectives of the Institute have continued to be relevant to its ethos and aspirations. The benefits of the F’SATI programs are clearly aligned with national policy, which aims to increase the number of students and supervisors, to improve the quality of education, and to promote international exposure. The following are objectives of the Institute:
- Be an Internationally Recognized Research & Innovation Centre in Africa
- Promote International Activities
- Establish Active Industrial Partnerships
- Promote The Exchange of Staff & Students
Dr Papu-Zamxaka added that the programme has made significant contributions to human capacity development over the last 15 years which include: “graduating 120 Master’s, 40 Doctorates. Through its collaboration with various French Academic Partners, it has also contributed to the graduation of 21 Joint Doctorates and 140 Collaborative Master’s. The programme has also contributed to 10 staff members at TUTcompleting their Joint Doctorates while 9 staff members completed their Collaborative Master’s. Furthermore, through joint research, the programme has contributed to over 1300 research outputs, 9 patents being filed, and an Augmented Mobility startup being established.
Prof. Anish Kurien, Node Director of F’SATI at TUT stated that the success of the F’SATI programme can attributed to the immense support from both the French and South African Governments. These include the French and South African Academic Institutions involved in the programme, various Funding Agencies in France and in South Africa, and Industry such as:
- Academic partners - TUT (Host), CPUT (Co-Host), University Paris-Est, Creteil (UPEC), University Gustave Eiffel (Uni Eiffel) as main partners. University of Montpellier (UM), Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), Nelson Mandela University (NMU) as associate partners.
- Funding Agencies - South Africa: DSI, NRF; France: Ministry of Foreign Affairs which includes the French Embassy in South Africa, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Paris Ile-de-France region (CCI-IDF), Agency for French development (AFD)
- Industry - Telkom, Nokia, Comsis France