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NATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION-RATED RESEARCHERS
The NRF describes the rating system (https://www.nrf.ac.za/rating/), as a key driver in the NRF’s aim to build a globally competitive science system in South Africa. It is a valuable tool for benchmarking the quality of our researchers against the best in the world. The NRF ratings are allocated based on a researcher’s recent research outputs and impact as perceived by international peer reviewers. The rating system encourages researchers to publish high-quality outputs in high-impact journals/outlets. Rated researchers as supervisors will impart cutting-edge skills to the next generation of researchers. The rating of individuals is based primarily on the quality and impact of their research outputs over the past eight years, taking into consideration the evaluation made by local and international peers. It identifies researchers who count among the leaders in their fields of expertise, and gives recognition to those who constantly produce high-quality research outputs. Several South African universities use the outcomes of the NRF evaluation and rating process to position themselves as researchintensive institutions, while others provide incentives for their staff members to acquire and maintain a rating, and give special recognition to top-rated researchers. Figure 23 shows the time series of NRF rating headcount from 2019 to 2023. The trending shows a polynomial fit with increasing tendency, although Figure 23 indicates that, in some years, the percentage increase has been higher than in others (0, 11, 5, 16 and 10). Figure 23 shows that from 37 researchers in 2019, by 2023 there were 55 researchers (Table 8).
Figure 23. NRF-rated researchers, 2019–2023
Figure 24. Percentage increase in NRF-ated researchers, 2019–2023
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