Sasol In Society Report - Book - Page 63
5
Research Support
Due to historical reasons, HDIs in comparison with other SA public universities, do not generate enough
revenue from third-stream income sources such as donations, industry partnerships, contract research,
etc. Universities generally use third-stream income for research activities in the main. HDIs depend heavily
on first and second income to support research endeavours.
First-stream income is in the form of a block
grant/government subsidy, which is their main
source, and the second income is generated
through tuition fees, largely received through
NSFAS since HDIs cater more for low-income
students. It is against this background that the
Sasol Foundation donated funding of R4,2 million
for critical research equipment to four universities
in our network. Procurement of the much-needed
instruments began towards the latter part of
2022, with some of the instruments having been
delivered. Sasol R&T also donated instruments
and chemicals to the University of Venda.
The Sasol Foundation has over the years, been
donating research equipment at HDIs and this has
improved the training of postgraduate students
at these institutions. For example, instead of
sending samples for analysis at other universities,
which inadvertently deprives students of
an opportunity for research training, their
samples are now analysed by the students
themselves at their institutions. Furthermore,
when new equipment is purchased, this creates
an opportunity for training/upskilling of staff
such as the Lab Technicians and other research
students in new technologies as the instruments
get advanced. There’s an overall reduced cost
of student research support for the Sasol
Foundation, with students no longer needing to
travel to other institutions to access equipment
for their research. Important to highlight also, is
that donated equipment is ultimately utilized by
all postgraduate students in the Departments of
Chemistry and other related disciplines within
the universities.
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Sasol Foundation Alumni
Tracking Platform
In the last financial year, the Sasol
Foundation developed and Alumni tracking
platform as part of the bigger Sasol Social
Impact tool for impact measurement,
monitoring and reporting. The Alumni
platform seeks to track and trace all the
Sasol Foundation’s bursary recipients since
inception of the first bursary programme
in 2010. The portal will help connect the
alumni and build a community that can
work towards giving back to society,
while also providing them with a platform
to expand their professional and social
networks. With this platform, the Sasol
Foundation also seeks to capture the
journey and stories of all its alumni in order
to understand the real social and economic
impact of our bursary programmes.
SASOL IN SOCIETY 2023
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