Administrative and support service activities

The University of Cape Town is an inclusive and engaged research-intensive African university that inspires creativity through outstanding achievements in learning, discovery, and citizenship; enhancing the lives of its students and staff, advancing a more equitable and sustainable social order and influencing the global higher education landscape. UCT’s Research Contracts and Innovation (RC&I) supports UCT’s research activities, technology and innovation development, assists with the protection of the IP and supports job creation through commercialisation.

The University strives to be a quality-driven University of technology at the cutting edge of innovation. Pursuant to this vision, the University endeavours to contribute innovatively to the socio-economic development of the Republic of South Africa. The generation and application of knowledge is one of the critical components in attaining its vision. As such TUT strives to identify and protect any IP emanating from publicly funded R&D activities.

Innovus manages the commercialisation of the University innovation and intellectual property portfolio through patenting, licensing and the formation of spin-out companies. We carry out all technology transfer, entrepreneurial support and development and innovation at the University. One of South Africa's oldest university tech transfer offices and one of its most successful, we have spun out 23 companies, licensed 67 technologies and filed 114 international patents.

The mandate for the NRF, which it strives to uphold, is to promote and support national research through funding, human resource development and the provision of the necessary facilities. This is to enable and encourage the creation of knowledge, innovation and development in all fields of science and technology. Including indigenous knowledge, thereby contributing to the improvement of the quality of life of all the people of South Africa.

Wits Commercial Enterprise (Pty) Ltd is a private company, wholly owned by the University of the Witwatersrand, focused on the marketing and commercialisation of the University's intellectual capital through short course management, research support, and Intellectual Property management and Technology Transfer. We are focused on facilitating the identification, protection, and utilisation of intellectual property created through research, for social and/or economic benefit.

The University of Limpopo is the result of a merger between the former Medical University of Southern Africa and the University of the North, which merger occurred on 01 January 2005. The Campus is situated to the north-west of Pretoria. Its grounds extend over some 350 ha adjoining the Ga-Rankuwa Township and are easily accessible by roads and rail. The university strives to be a leading African University focused on the developmental needs of its communities and epitomising academic excellence and innovativeness.

The University of Venda  (Univen) is committed to quality and excellence, we offer a diverse range of academic, professional and career-focused programmes with an emphasis on job market relevance. Our programmes range from Agriculture, Health Sciences, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Law, Human and Social Sciences, Management Sciences, Environmental Sciences and Education. We are mandated by the government to become more comprehensive and thus are re-engineering our core processes to engender innovation.

Unisa is the largest open distance learning institution in Africa and the longest standing dedicated distance education university in the world. We enrol nearly one-third of all South African students.

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is a public university located in Johannesburg. It is one of the largest comprehensive contact universities in South Africa, with 9 faculties, having more than 90 departments and an enrollment of approximately 48 000 students spreading over four different campuses. UJ's Commercialisation and Technology Transfer Office (CTTO) assists entrepreneurs and inventors with the commercial implementation of innovative technologies or business processes especially in developing strategies for the protection IP.

The University of the Free State (UFS) is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in South Africa. It opened its doors in 1904 on the Bloemfontein Campus with a mere six students in the Humanities. Since then, our institution has grown to more than 37 851 students, spread across seven faculties over three campuses. Inspiring excellence. Transforming lives. These objectives are the driving forces at the heart of the UFS. Through our Human and Academic Projects, we are a university internationally recognised for human reconciliation and compassion as well as for excellence in academic