Pretoria, Friday, 22 August 2025 — The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and partners will host a hybrid seminar to officially launch the highly anticipated 2025 Engaged Research Conference and Science Diplomacy Summer School. The launch will be held at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Boardroom 1, on 26 August 2025 at 09:00.
The launch event aims to outline the objectives of both the conference and the summer school, engage young professionals and researchers, and raise awareness of how science diplomacy and engaged research can drive sustainable progress.
Additionally, it will spotlight South Africa’s capacity to serve as a continental leader in promoting science-informed diplomacy and policy frameworks driven by innovation.
The event is designed for a diverse and strategic audience, reflecting the multi-stakeholder nature of the engaged research and science diplomacy.
Key participants will include:
• Early career researchers and postgraduate students (to benefit from capacity-building opportunities)
• Policy practitioners and government officials (critical to bridging research and policymaking)
• Diplomats and international partners (key to fostering cross-border collaboration)
• Science councils, research institutions, innovation leaders, and civil society organisations (ensuring broad representation and inclusive dialogue within the national system of innovation)
Bringing together stakeholders from research, government, academia, and international cooperation, the event will lay the foundation for a successful conference and summer school to be held in October 2025, while reinforcing a collective vision for research that drives societal transformation and diplomacy that advances and accelerates development.
The programme will commence with high-level keynote addresses from senior government officials, diplomatic representatives, and research experts. These addresses will provide strategic insights into how engaged research and science diplomacy can support South Africa’s development agenda and reinforce its leadership role on the African continent.
The event is organised in collaboration with the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, Department of International Relations and Cooperation, South African Young Academy of Science, Academy of Science of South Africa, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Science Diplomacy Capital for Africa.
Registration information and programme details are available on the HSRC’s website https://hsrc.ac.za/events/events/invitation-foundations-of-science-diplomacy-a-training-for-early-career-professionals/
For more information, please contact Lumka Luzipho at lluzipho@hsrc.ac.za
Details of the event
Date: 26 August 2025
Time: 09:00–13:00
Venues: DIRCO, Boardroom 1, OR Tambo Building, 460 Soutpansberg Rd, Rietondale, Pretoria, 0084. (You will be required to present some form of identity at the entrance)
Link: Join the meeting now | Meeting ID: 365 317 518 921 7 | Passcode: we3S2Sz3
For media enquiries, please contact Adziliwi Nematandani: Cell: +27 82 765 9191 Email: anematandani@hsrc.ac.za
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Notes to the editor
About the Engaged Research Conference and Summer School
The Engaged Research Conference, hosted by HSRC in collaboration with the National Research Foundation and other organisations within, and beyond the National System of Innovation (NSI), will act as a national platform for fostering cross-sectoral knowledge co-creation on engaged research as a pathway to bridging the gap between knowledge creation and practice, and as a viable avenue for impactful science diplomacy. It will promote research practices rooted in participation, responsiveness, and mutual learning among researchers, policymakers, communities, and practitioners. This initiative resonates with South Africa’s growing commitment to integrating public values and epistemic justice into the NSI.
As a key feature of the three-day conference, the Science Diplomacy Summer School will be introduced to cultivate expertise in this evolving field among early-career researchers, government officials, diplomats, and science advisors. The summer school addresses a strategic imperative for South Africa to enhance its footprint and role in global science-policy dialogues and reinforce the science-policy interface across Africa.
About the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)
The HSRC was established in 1968 as South Africa’s statutory research agency and has grown to become the largest dedicated research institute in the social sciences and humanities on the African continent, doing cutting-edge public research in areas that are crucial to development.
Our mandate is to inform the effective formulation and monitoring of government policy; to evaluate policy implementation; to stimulate public debate through the effective dissemination of research-based data and fact-based research results; to foster research collaboration; and to help build research capacity and infrastructure for the human sciences.
The Council conducts large-scale, policy-relevant, social-scientific research for public sector users, non-governmental organisations and international development agencies. Its research activities and structures are closely aligned with South Africa’s national development priorities.
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