The National Research Foundation Act, passed in the National Assembly on 18 May 1998, creates a new single agency funding body the National Research Foundation (NRF), to replace the Foundation for Research Development (FRD), distributor of research funds for mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering, and the HSRC's Centre for Science Development (CSD), which has disbursed funds for the humanities and social sciences. The Act comes into operation on 1 April 1999, when the FRD and the CSD will merge. (Current research projects and initiatives are assured until at least the year 2000.) The newly appointed NRF Board will have 180 days to finalise the administrative structures and staff composition of the new Foundation. Consulting widely, it will also begin its work of deciding about procedures, policy and programmes. This article summarises key aspects of the Act, emphasising points from interviews with three key figures in the Act's progress to date: the deputy director-general of the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Dr Rob Adam; the CSD's Executive director Professor Mala Singh; and the vice-president of the FRD, Dr Gerhard von Gruenewaldt.(1)
