Challenges

Funding of Antarctic research has come a long way since The Royal Society of South Africa presented a token 25 pounds to Robert F Scott towards scientific work on his 1913 expedition to Antarctica. South Africa’s funding of research connected to the Antarctic received a 30% boost in 2004/2005 and DEA has committed itself to increasing its annual funding.

As of 2005, DEA (then DEAT) and DST have agreed to some exciting additions to the research opportunities offered by SANAP. The research community is challenged to “break the ice” (without the SA Agulhas this time) and thrash out creative ideas and new directions. Researchers in the social sciences (politics, international relations, and sociologists), humanities (literary studies, visual arts and cultural studies) and law (Law of the Sea) as well as engineering can now participate in SANAP.