By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
South Africa’s Deputy
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Nomalungelo Gina, has
unveiled new scanning electron microscopy (SEM) infrastructure and highlighted
the ongoing development of a BioImaging Laboratory at the DSTI-NRF Centre for
High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) at Mandela University
in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape.
The unveiling was attended
by representatives of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation
(DSTI), the National Research Foundation (NRF), Mandela University’s executive
management and the Centre for High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy.
The new facilities
strengthen South Africa’s national research infrastructure model by enabling
advanced scientific equipment and expertise to be shared across the research
and innovation system rather than duplicated at individual institutions.
The investment in new
instrumentation reinforces the country’s capacity to remain competitive in
advanced characterisation, while the expansion of biomedical imaging capability
demonstrates how strategic research infrastructure can support multiple sectors,
including energy, manufacturing, health and biotechnology.
The new SEM infrastructure,
alongside the ongoing development of the BioImaging Laboratory, strengthens the
Centre’s role as a national facility serving researchers in South Africa and
beyond.
The facility supports a
broad range of disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biology, medicine,
geology and agriculture.
