research support uct

Research Support Hub

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Meet the team

UCT’s Research Support Hub website is your first stop for all your research support needs. Owned by the Research Office, the website will guide you through the various support services available to our researchers at every step of the research project lifecycle.

Executive |  Research Support Enterprise  | Data Analytics and Reporting |  Research Support Services | International Grants Hub | Postgraduate Funding Office | Research Finance and Operations | Global Strategy and Visibility |  Postgraduate Studies and Researcher Development |  Office of Research Integrity |  eResearch |  Research Systems

Research Support Enterprise

The research support enterprise unit encompasses data analytics and reporting , research support services , the international grants hub and the postgraduate funding office.

Data Analytics and Reporting

The data analytics and reporting hub in the Research Office provides research analyses to support institutional strategy planning. The hub also helps the advancement of international research collaboration and the impact of UCT’s research. It is responsible for the statutory reporting on Research and Development activity.

Research Support Services

Research support services are responsible for a number of services in support of the university’s researchers and the research endeavour. These include the support of UCT’s evaluation applications and funding proposals to the National Research Foundation; the servicing of UCT research funding and strategic committees (such as the University Research Committee and its sub-committees); and statutory reporting requirements to government such as submission of research output data to the Department of Higher Education and Training. Contact the research support services team at [email protected] .

International Grants Hub

The international grants hub provides both proposal development and administrative support to UCT’s academic staff seeking and applying for international funding for their research. Proposal development support services are geared towards multidisciplinary, multinational collaborative grant applications to international funders, and include writing, editing, proof-reading, strategic advice on proposal content, budget development, liaising with the funder, and coordinating and integrating inputs from multiple collaborators. Administrative support services range from identifying suitable sources of funding to being the expert port of call for the submission process and guiding researchers on internal UCT processes for submission to different funders. To request proposal development support, please contact the team at [email protected] .

Postgraduate Funding Office

The postgraduate funding office (PGFO) is responsible for the management and administration of postgraduate and postdoctoral awards. It is made up of three teams: General Awards Team , NRF and Departmental Awards Team and Info, Fellowship and Development Team . Find out how the PGFO can help you navigate funding opportunities in this presentation . You may also request a one-on-one session with PGFO staff by sending an email to [email protected] .

Research Finance and Operations

The finance and operations unit manages the financial planning and budgeting, financial analysis, evaluation and reporting as well as financial control and risk management for the Research Office. The operations arm of the cluster covers all administrative and financial coordination within the Research Office, as well as space management, health and safety liaison and the logistical coordination of visits to the office.

Global Strategy and Visibility

The global strategy and visibility unit is the strategic arm of the Research Office, and includes a number of functions all to a greater or lesser extent focused on lifting the university’s international profile, particularly its research, and strengthening communication around the research endeavour. This includes supporting the Executive in the Vice-Chancellor’s Office in their global engagements, identifying and nurturing international partnerships and networks with a research focus, supporting strategically important interdisciplinary research groups, and the communication and marketing of research. Contact the team at [email protected] .

The office of research integrity works collaboratively with research ethics, animal ethics and biosafety committees as well as individual researchers under the auspices of the senate ethics in research committee and senate animal ethics committee and the institutional biosafety committee, to promote responsible conduct of research (RCR). Our scope and function is broad and includes topics such as research ethics, (financial) conflicts of interest, misconduct, authorship issues, regulatory and funder compliance and, whistle-blowing. We provide advice and support, facilitate many compliance processes and strive to promote RCR across the broad research landscape. Contact the office of research integrity at [email protected] .

Postgraduate Studies and Researcher Development

The postgraduate studies and researcher development unit supports the development of research capacity through seminars, workshops, one-on-one consultations and some research funding. Recognising that academics can have very different research backgrounds, we aim to help them achieve their individual research potential. We support academics to reach key research milestones - their PhDs, publications, successful postgraduate supervisions and winning grant proposals, among others; throughout, we are mindful of their responsibility towards broader society through engaged scholarship.

UCT eResearch is a distributed organisation that promotes the use of advanced information technologies to support innovative research practice. eResearch partners with research groups to accelerate and transform research, connecting them to the most appropriate systems and services to support the research lifecycle. Contact the eResearch team at [email protected] .

Research Systems

The research systems unit ensures that innovative, ICT-based management and information systems – aligned with UCT’s Research Strategy – are implemented to support the UCT research community. This includes the eRA system. The systems manager is tasked with working across a range of professional staff departments that support research (Research Office, Postgraduate Studies, International Academic Programmes Office and Research Contracts & Innovation) to ensure integration with other ICT systems, provide business systems leadership for current and possible future research and student mobility requirements, and provide overall management and support coordination of these systems.

Research Impact Library Guide: Research Support Services

• Your Research Identity
• ORCID iD This link opens in a new window
• Tracking Yourself on Web of Science
• Tracking Yourself on Scopus
• Tracking Yourself on Google Scholar
• Tracking yourself using Altmetrics
• Your h-index
• Research Support Services
• Journal Citation Reports (Thomson Reuters)
• Scopus (Elsevier): CiteScore, SCImago Journal Rank & SNIP
• Bibliometric workshops

UCT Research support

• DHET Accredited Journals
• Research Support Hub
• South African Research Institutions & Councils
• Research Portal

For additional journal information, please visit the Ulrich's Periodical Database .

The mission of the Research Support Hub is to provide expert support to research as a core activity at UCT. This includes building new research capacity as well as sustaining existing excellence, whilst critically reflecting on, and evolving, our own systems and procedures.

The Research Office is responsible for grants funding, research quality assurance and the management of an information system that serves multiple research-specific purposes. The Office supports research planning and policy implementation, and manages the government requirements for research subsidy. Besides contributing to academic staff development through a series of targeted interventions to enhance research capacity, the Office is responsible for a range of annual reports, international research exchange and a series of research benchmarking activities. It further drives and supports the research activities that ensue from strategic partnerships and formal agreements with research councils, research institutions and government departments.

Publication Count Guideline

The publication count is an annual submission of the University's accredited research output, in the form of books, journals and refereed conference proceedings, which is submitted to Department of Higher Eductation and Training (DHET), for the allocation of government subsidy to the Universities each year.

This vital process influences directly on the amount of funding the University receives from DHET.

The purpose of the DHET policy is to encourage research productivity by rewarding quality research outputs at public higher education institutes. However, the policy is not intended to measure all outputs, but to enhance productivity by recognising the major types of research output produced by higher education institutions. 

As a rule, (DHET Policy Guidelines, Higher Education Act, 1997 {Act No. 101 0f 1997}) research output emanating from commissioned research or contracts paid by contracting organizations will not be subsidised by DHET.

Commissioned Research is that which is funded and or paid by an external organization, such as World Health Organisation, UNESCO, World Bank, NGO etc.  This includes reports / annual reviews completed for such organizations, and also for organizations such as the CHE etc.

Research output is defined, as textual output where research is understood as original, systematic investigation undertaken in order to gain knowledge and understanding.  Peer evaluation of the research is a fundamental prerequisite of all recognised output.

Each department is responsible for collating research publications and loading data on the system, for government subsidy and the annual research report.

Here is an abridged guide of the publication count process,  extracted from the DHET’s policy and procedures for measuring research output of public Higher Education Institutions.   

Please note that all outputs in the recognised categories must meet the criteria of accreditation in order for these to qualify for inclusion in the publication count.

• ARC - Agricultural Research Council
• ASSAf - Academy of Science of South Africa
• Council for Geosciences
• CSIR - Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
• Department of Science and Technology
• Grassland Society of Southern Africa
• HSRC - Human Sciences Research Council
• Institute for Water Research
• NRF - National Research Foundation
• SA MRC - South African Medical Research Council
• SARIMA - Southern African Research & Innovation Management Association

Follow the Research Portal Project .

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Data-intensive research |  High-Performance Computing  |  IDIA  | ilifu | Virtual Machines | Research Systems  |  REDCap | iThenticate | eRA |  Research Data Management | Digital Library Services | ZivaHub | UCT DMP |  FAQ

Data intensive research.

As complex and large amounts of data become a pervasive aspect of our world, the increasing need for data-intensive research (DIR) has propelled scientists to re-think the ways in which their research is carried out. Advances in digital hardware and software technologies continue to accelerate, and researchers nowadays have to grapple with unprecedented amounts of data. This has renewed interest in the field of applied Artificial Intelligence, whereby algorithms can to some extent be trained to mimic human behaviour and intuition in tackling sophisticated tasks.

The UCT  High Performance Computing Facility   provides a reliable, scalable and economic computing facility to UCT’s researchers. UCT HPC is an affordable and environmentally friendly means of granting researchers access to computing resources.

The HPC clusters are housed in the ICTS data centres in order to make use of existing support infrastructures such as UPS, generators, cooling, fire suppression and secure access. This ensures that UCT’s investment in the HPC facility is well spent and that the facility can continue to grow according to researchers’ needs. Permanent staff members have also been given extensive training in supporting the HPC infrastructure and researchers’ computing requirements. This training and time is seen as an investment by the university in providing long term HPC support.

Researchers that make use of the HPC resources are bound by the  Acceptable Use Policy  and are required to  reference the HPC resource in their citations . There is currently no service level agreement for HPC resources and user support is on a best effort basis. Should a department or research group need to use specific infrastructure on the HPC facility that does not fall within the generic offering then they need to include it in their budget and engage with ICTS regarding the provisioning thereof.

Currently, HPC operations are catered for in the budget and maintenance for the standard procurement and life cycle of ICTS equipment, and UCT provides these advanced computing resources to the research community at no extra cost. The long term aim, however, is for the facility's hardware to be sustained through research funding. For more information see https://ucthpc.uct.ac.za/index.php/acceptable-use-policies/ . 

Annually, the  Advanced Computing Committee  (ACC) reviews the strategic allocation of compute resources to support the University community to acquire large items of compute equipment for research, congruent with the strategic objectives and goals of the University and in line with its vision, mission, and values. Researchers who want to discuss their needs can reach out to the team by logging an eResearch Request . 

The Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA) was launched in 2015 as a partnership of South African universities and industry. It was created in response to the emerging challenge of the new era of big data in astronomy. Together, the partner universities (UCT, the University of Pretoria and the University of the Western Cape) established a computational facility that is data-centric and based on cloud technology. This is called the ilifu Facility, which was designed specifically for data-intensive computation in astronomy with a focus on the large science programmes of the South African MeerKAT radio telescope, which is a precursor to the Square Kilometre Array. The facility prioritises MeerKAT projects that are led by or include significant participation by researchers from South Africa belonging to one of the IDIA partner institutions. 

MeerKAT Large Projects with participation from IDIA currently include LADUMA, MIGHTEE, MONGHOOSE, Fornax, ThunderKAT and the related MeerLICHT project. It is open for use by large survey projects from South Africa outside of IDIA and to international collaborators, subject to agreement and provision of resources.

Visit the  IDIA website to find out more .

During 2016, UCT led a consortium of institutions in the Western Cape to put in a bid to the National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System (NICIS), supported by the Department of Science and Technology with a goal to build a data-intensive research facility in the Western Cape that would cater explicitly to the needs of researchers working in astronomy and bioinformatics – two areas in which universities in the Western Cape have a strong international presence. The bid was successful; and today, this project is known as ‘Ilifu’ (‘cloud’, in isiXhosa).

Astronomy and bioinformatics are amongst the sciences with the greatest challenges of data intensity. In astronomy, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) drives one of the most significant big-data challenges of the coming decade. Biomedical and other biological research is rapidly adopting high-throughput technologies, driving a growing demand in bioinformatics for expertise and facilities for big data management, storage and analysis. New modalities and technologies are required to empower research and discovery in this data-intensive era, and research organisations and national communities that do not rise to this challenge will be marginalised.

Ilifu addresses the need for support in data-intensive research in South Africa, and is intended to be a research tool that enables South African researchers at partner organisations to be world leaders in the strategic science domains of astronomy and bioinformatics. It is made up of a consortium of Western Cape institutions that established and operate a data-centric, high-performance computing facility for data-intensive research. UCT is the lead institute, and partner institutions are the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Stellenbosch University, Sol Plaatje University, South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO, formerly SKA South Africa), and the University of the Western Cape. 

Learn more on the  Ilifu website . 

Virtual machines abstract underlying hardware to emulate multiple independent operating systems on a single host, creating an environment where those multiple systems can coexist. These software-based emulations of physical computers can create a dynamic and flexible computing environment, allowing for multiple operating systems and applications to be run on a single physical host, which enables efficient resource utilisation as well as an enhanced computing experience. 

We have (limited) capabilities to accommodate workloads that are not suitable for the UCT HPC, and while we do not currently have a fixed pricing structure for virtual machines for research, all requests are handled individually. Please log an eResearch Request  for a quote. 

Research Systems

The research systems unit ensures that innovative, ICT-based management and information systems – aligned with UCT’s Research Strategy – are implemented to support the UCT research community. The Research Systems team is tasked with working across a range of professional staff departments that support research (Research Office, Postgraduate Studies, International Academic Programmes Office and Research Contracts & Innovation) to ensure integration with other ICT systems, provide business systems leadership for current and possible future research and student mobility requirements, and provide overall management and support coordination of these systems.

UCT is a partner in the  REDCap Consortium , and UCT researchers can benefit from the broad range of data collection functionality that REDCap offers. At its most simple, REDCap is a web-based interface that empowers researchers to take control of their data collection work. REDCap is a neutral data collection platform, able to capture any type of data, for any purpose.

You can access REDcap with your valid UCT login details at  REDcap.uct.ac.za . You can also aget more information about the platform and request assitence at the same  link .

  iThenticate is a leading provider of professional plagiarism detection and prevention technology used worldwide by scholarly publishers and research institutions to ensure the orginality of written work before publication. This is an online web-based system that can be used by researchers at UCT. Researchers and institutions can feel confident that their academic reputation will be protected.

All UCT staff are able to log into iThenticate directly, using their network credentials, and all support queries can be logged directly with the Research Systems Support team by completing the form in the link provided.

Visit the iThenticate website for more information and resources.

As research contracts are signed and the number of postgraduates and postdoctoral fellows continues to grow each year, UCT continues to increase our publication count and attract more donations and funding. At the same time, the business of research management is rapidly changing with the exponential growth of big data, open access and international collaboration and universities face additional challenges as governments restrict research funding and donors demand more from research groups. It is clear that supporting the research enterprise of a university is becoming an increasingly complex task. In order to remain on top of our game and continue to make our mark both locally and internationally, UCT has implemented an electronic research administration (eRA) system.

The eRA is a ‘one-stop shop’ to manage and track the administrative workflow within a project lifecycle and beyond. The software guides researchers from the point where an idea is born and a funding opportunity identified, through to ethics approval and post-publication. It aims to streamline and automate workflows, where all parties involved (including finance and research contracts) are automatically notified of a project application coming their way. It also gives researchers the opportunity to track their applications through the automated process, reducing the risk of an application lying unseen in an inbox, and it enables researchers to keep on top of their contract compliance requirements. Through its online portal, researchers can create and manage their CV which they can draw on to apply for grants and funding and use to create a publicly visible profile. 

Find out more about  eRA  or  Login to ERA .

Research Data Management

Working with data can be challenging. Research data management (RDM) is the the active curation of data throughout the research life-cycle. It includes various methods of organising and documenting data processes (collection, description, curation, archiving and publication) within a research project, ideally towards making it FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and accessible).

Today, actively managing data has become a very necessary part of research, and it is something that needs to occur within every research event, in every department. 

Even if a researcher cannot make their research data completely open, practising good research data management helps make the research more efficient, searchable and findable. Professional data management practices can make research more coherent and shareable, which translates to research being relevant and valuable. By understanding RDM and using available RDM tools, researchers at UCT can achieve far more efficiency with their data, and thus ensure that their research is far-reaching and impactful.

• UCT policy for research data management

The UCT Digital Library Services  (DLS) team offer a wealth of experience and expertise in Digital Scholarship and Research Data Services at UCT. Their services include ZivaHub, UCT DMP, Geographical Information Systems ( GIS ) Support, and digitisation.

    ZivaHub is UCT’s institutional data repository. It serves as a publishing and access platform for research data and scholarly outputs. ZivaHub is powered by Figshare for Institutions and is available to all students and staff at UCT. Using ZivaHub simplifies the process of making data FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable), and it has been shown that sharing data increases citations and boosts research metrics.

You can access ZivaHub with your UCT login details at zivahub.uct.ac.za .

  Increasingly, funding bodies mandate the submission of a Data Management Plan (DMP) to ensure that data can be preserved and shared. By managing your data through a plan, you make it easier to understand the details and procedures relating to your data and data collection throughout the life cycle of the project.

UCT DMP has been developed to help UCT researchers write data management plans. The tool assists with DMP creation by providing questions related to the data and the research life-cycle and gives tips to answering them. There are a number of DMP templates available in UCT DMP, which help with the requirements of specific funders, departments or projects depending on discipline.

UCT DMP can be accessed with UCT credentials.

Frequently asked questions

For specific queries, email [email protected] . 

The eResearch Centre was created in order to provide support and services to researchers in the use of resources including (but not limited to) computing, software, data management and storage, digital scholarship and ensuring access and visibility. In an ever-changing and evolving environment, the eResearch Centre helps to ensure that UCT is ready to respond to changes in the global research landscape. It occupies an important space between research and research-supporting PASS (professional, administrative and support staff) to make sure that services match needs.

The eResearch Centre partners with researchers and research groups to accelerate and transform research, connecting you to the most appropriate services to support the research lifecycle.

The ICTS Helpdesk offers a broad scope of support to UCT staff and students, while the eResearch Centre offers specialised support and services, with a focus on computing, software, research data management, digital scholarship and Open Science.

Email [email protected] or log an eResearch request .

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Advancing Health Through Innovation: The Journey of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) at the University of Cape Town

The Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) is a leading centre for combating diseases in Africa. With over 30 research groups and multiple collaborative partners, the IDM fosters interdisciplinary research and innovation.

The IDM stands as a beacon of scientific excellence in Africa. Established in 2004, its primary mission is to combat major diseases affecting the continent, focusing on tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and various other infectious diseases alongside non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like cervical cancer and sickle cell disease.

With over 30 research groups, the Institute operates as a collaborative hub with 33 full and 12 associate members leading the charge. Supported by a diverse team of over 460 staff members, including 60 postdoctoral fellows and 250 postgraduate students, the IDM fosters an environment of interdisciplinary research and innovation.

The IDM Fellows Program nurtures early- to intermediate-level researchers aligned with the IDM's vision. E xemplified by Anna-Ursula Happel and Melissa-Rose Abrahams, Ruby Bunjun, Michael Zulu, Ryan Dinkele, Simon Mendelsohn, Kathryn Wicht, and Musalula Sinkala it showcases the Institute's commitment to impactful global research and talent development.

Dr Anna-Ursula Happel , who began in the IDM Fellows Program and is now an Associate member epitomizes the IDM's commitment to global collaboration and impactful research. Trained in Germany, Dr Happel's immersion in Professor Jo-Ann Passmore's laboratory at the IDM sparked her passion for HIV-related research in South Africa. Now a permanent resident, she aims to contribute to maternal and child health, aligning with the Institute's mission to address African health needs .

Through her mentorship by IDM members, Dr Happel aspires to establish a research centre focused on local health challenges, embodying the IDM's ethos of innovative, community-driven solutions. “ Women and infants affected by HIV, including infants who are HIV-exposed but uninfected, make up a substantial proportion of the population on the African continent. Identifying strategies to improve maternal and infant health in this region will contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages.”

Bridging Science and Society

The IDM's global recognition in HIV/AIDS research is bolstered by initiatives like the Genital Inflammation Test (GIFT), developed to improve women's health in resource-limited settings. This reflects the IDM's mission to translate research into practical applications, fostering holistic innovation from laboratory to community. In March, GIFT in collaboration with UCT Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking Afrika (d-school Afrika) and the IDM held a Speculum Deign-A-Thon , aimed at redesigning the 150-year-old speculum used during general gynaecological check-ups. Collaborative partnerships with numerous institutions locally and internationally underscore the Institute's dedication to interdisciplinary research and its pivotal role in driving scientific progress.

Dr Melissa-Rose Abrahams highlights the importance of fostering curiosity in scientific research, “Like many others in science, my interest stems from a love of ‘figuring things out’. I find the complexity of living organisms fascinating. Also, having a job in which you are discovering and learning new things all the time is awesome!”

Her focus lies in HIV research, particularly understanding barriers to HIV cure in African women. Recognising the disproportionate impact of HIV on African women, Dr Abrahams aims to implement strategies to study and address these barriers locally.

She commended the Institute for its assistance, “The IDM supported travel to the United States for my postdoctoral fellow to learn a laboratory assay for characterising HIV persistence on treatment, which we are now implementing locally.”

This support underscores the IDM's commitment to talent development and technology transfer. The Institute prioritises capacity building evident in the numerous prestigious international fellowships awarded to its younger researchers, including those from the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, the Royal Society’s Future Leaders–African Independent Research (FLAIR) program, and the Wellcome Trust’s Investigator Awards.

Look out for the next article in this series, which will explore the ongoing research endeavours and impactful contributions of the IDM's emerging scientists, shedding light on their innovative approaches to combating infectious diseases in Africa and the world.

Read the full article . Top of Form

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Appointment of Professor Mashiko Setshedi as Head of the Department of Medicine

Dear Staff and Student Colleagues  The UCT Faculty of Health Sciences and Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) are delighted to share that Professor Mashiko Setshedi, a joint employee of UCT and GSH, has been appointed as the new Head of the Department of Medicine, effective  1 July 2024 . She is currently Head of the Medical Gastroenterology Division and succeeds Professor Ntobeko Ntusi who assumes his new role as President and CEO of the South African Medical Research Council from July. We express our profound gratitude to Professor Ntusi for his seminal contribution to UCT and GSH in steering the Department of Medicine to new heights during his eight-year tenure. As Head of the Department of Medicine, Professor Setshedi will play a critical role in shaping the vision, direction and success of the department across clinical, academic, research and administrative domains.

Professor Setshedi completed her MBChB and Fellowship of the College of Physicians (specialist training) at the University of Kwazulu-Natal. She joined UCT in 2005 initially as a clinical research fellow in hepatology (a discipline focusing on the liver) and subsequently as a gastroenterology registrar. In 2009, she went to Brown University in the United States of America to study for her PhD in gastroenterology, which she completed in 2011.

Upon her return to UCT, she forged a large teaching portfolio mainly at undergraduate level, where she served as a convenor, tutor and examiner. In 2015, she was awarded the Oxford Nuffield Medical Scholarship and spent two-and-a-half years at Oxford University on a post-doctoral fellowship in cancer immunology. She returned to UCT in May 2018 to assume her current role as the St Anne’s Trust Chair and Head of Medical Gastroenterology, where she has led the Division in all aspects of its functioning.   Professor Setshedi was nominated for the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)-BHP Billiton Awards, TW Kambule NRF-NSTF Award for an Emerging Researcher in 2013 and has been the recipient of the Helen and Morris Mauerberger Clinical Scholarship, Hasso Plattner Research Fellowship and Claude Leon Merit Award. Halala, Professor Setshedi, on your significant career achievement. This new season ushers in great promise as you take up leadership of a department that plays a substantial role on the joint public health platform. We look forward to working alongside you as you navigate this new chapter.  

A/Prof Lionel Green- Thompson Dean: Faculty of Health Sciences

Dr Shaheem de Vries CEO: Groote Schuur Hospital

Three years on: UCT fire – update on restoration work

Dear colleagues and students

On 18 April 2024, we commemorated the third anniversary of the devastating Table Mountain fire that caused some significant damage on our campus. The fire affected a number of buildings on upper and middle campuses, most notably the Jagger Library.

With last month having marked three years since then, colleagues in the UCT Libraries have shared an update on the recovery processes and the completion of restoration projects.

In resharing this update from UCT Libraries with the university community, we continue to acknowledge and appreciate the invaluable efforts of the libraries team to rebuild what was lost in 2021. We also remain grateful to the various internal and external stakeholders for their continued outpouring of support throughout the three years of the recovery process.

Please see below the update, initially issued by UCT Libraries on the third anniversary of the Table Mountain fire on 18 April 2024.

A new recovery normal

In normalising recovery, the major outsourced recovery projects involving digitisation of paper and audio-visual materials were completed, the restoration of antiquarian books is almost completed, and the major collection of deep-frozen materials will be addressed in the coming year.

The Audiovisual Archive Digitisation project was completed by March 2024. This enabled the Special Collections AV archive materials and staff to move to new premises, Birkdale 3, at Maitland House.

Work continued around the recovery and digitisation of selected Special Collections Manuscripts and Archives and Africana. This included:

• over 2 000 pre-1925 Africana pamphlets
• office records and drawings by architectural firms Black and Fagg, Hawke and McKinlay, and prolific South African architects, Max Policansky and Roelof Uytenbogaart
• selections from the papers of James Stewart, principal of Lovedale College, Professor Neville Alexander and Monica Wilson
• the salvaged administrative archives recovered from the Jagger Archive Office.

The team has also completed stock taking and rehousing of more than half the manuscript collections / archives that were salvaged, approximately 120 collections, over 3 000 box files replaced and relabelled. These collections are now in stored in Special Collections Oppenheimer storeroom and available to researchers.

New map cabinets have been purchased for the rehousing of the architecture collections restored by the service provider supporting the process, Memorist, as well as the Libraries All Things UCT Collections.

Rebuilding the African Studies Collection, the kernel of the future African Library

The checking in of the African Studies Library books has been completed. This was accomplished through the involvement of contract staff. More than 1 000 rare books have been restored by DK Conservators. The implementation of reference services has also been put in place, including available books and archives.

The Conservation Unit: a new reality

The newly-established Conservation Unit is well on its way towards becoming embedded into Special Collections. The unit is also making it possible to provide teaching and learning opportunities towards the continued growth of conservation studies in South Africa. The acquisition of necessary conservation equipment has accelerated the work being done. Nearly 1 000 items have been stabilised or restored to date.

Reopening of the Government Publications reading room

The refurbished Government Publications reading room on level 5 of the Chancellor Oppenheimer library opened for use in March 2024. The Government Publications team has moved in and once again are offering a service to researchers. They are also able to begin the reconciliation of the materials that survived the fire. Operating hours for the first term are from 08:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday. This will be reviewed at the start of the second term, depending on the demand for services.

Maintaining visibility of recovery efforts

The Special Collections team continue to share the recovery efforts undertaken by the Libraries and the lessons learnt. These include:

• quarterly reports to the Library Working Group, publications, presentations at national and international professional conferences such as LIASA, and IASA
• the blog, Memory@UCT continues to showcase the restoration of the different types of material salvaged from the basements
• an article, What we lost in the Jagger library fire , has been published by Cambridge University Press
• the Jagger Recovery webpage continues to be a site for all information. UCT Libraries is working on a dashboard that will detail future collection developments and recovery progress.

What’s next?

The priorities for the year ahead are:

• finalising the commercial solution for the vacuum freeze drying of the 10 000 items in cold storage
• relocating the affected Special Collections to a new location as the current premises are proving to be increasingly challenging for our purpose
• commencing the first phase of the Libraries Master Plan, namely a comprehensive spatial audit of all sites in the Libraries network, including the Jagger. This will then inform the purpose, requirements and design of the Jagger as a separate project.

As can be seen from the above update, our UCT Libraries colleagues have made substantial progress in the recovery and restoration process. Work continues in earnest, and we remain upbeat that even more progress will have been made by the time we arrive at the fourth anniversary in April 2025.

Emer Prof Daya Reddy Vice-Chancellor interim

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