Innovation at the Edge: Building Research Capacity, Infrastructure and International Partnerships from the Southern of Africa

Abstract

For universities in the Global South, developing internationally competitive research programmes requires navigating unique challenges while leveraging distinctive opportunities. Drawing on experiences from the University of the Western Cape, the seminar explores the development of research capacity, innovation ecosystems, and international partnerships from the southern tip of Africa. The presentation explores the practical realities of building research infrastructure, managing biological collections, and translating biodiversity-based research into innovation and impact. Through examples from national and international initiatives, the seminar will demonstrate how international partnerships can serve as critical enablers of research development, knowledge exchange, access to specialised infrastructure, and participation in major international funding programmes. The seminar will further highlight how South Africa's exceptional biodiversity presents unique opportunities for innovation. In particular for the development of biobased products and processes for amongst others the pharmaceutical, cosmeceutical and agricultural industries and industrial processes. The seminar will also argue that while physical infrastructure and financial investment remain important, the most transformative infrastructure is often relational. Trusted partnerships and sustained international collaboration are essential for overcoming geographical constraints, strengthening research capacity, and advancing innovation and sustainability to co-create solutions to global sustainability challenges.

The speaker biography

Dr. Anita Burger is a biotechnologist by training with extensive technical and management experience in the technology innovation and commercialisation environment. Her work experience is mainly in the agricultural and industrial biotechnology sectors. Since April 2016, she holds the position of Research and Innovation Manager at the IMBM. Her primary role is to accelerate the translation of the research into commercial opportunities. She developed and manages a portfolio of national, interinstitutional, intercontinental, and interdisciplinary projects. Projects include technology development for South African industry partners, while the majority of projects focus on valourising the South African microbial biodiversity and the development of novel, high-value bio-based products for the pharmaceutical, cosmeceutical, food and beverages, and agricultural industries as well as products for industrial processes. She holds several national and international leadership and advisory roles, including membership of the South African Biodiversity Biobank Management Committee, the BlueRemediomics Innovation Board, an EU-funded consortium spanning 23 organisations across Europe and South Africa, the Scientific Organising Committee of the first GGBN conference hosted in Africa, and as a member of the international reference group for a South African-funded biosurfactant and antibiofilm research project. Her contributions have been recognised through a nomination for a national South African Science Management Award and receipt of the UWC Innovation Award in 2022.