Annual report 2004/2005

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Who we are

The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) is South Africa's statutory research agency dedicated to the applied social sciences. It has approximately 150 researchers, mainly specialists, 40 interns and 100 support staff. Its revenue is now derived roughly equally from its Parliamentary grant and from earnings through tenders, commissions, and local and international foundation grants.

What we do

The HSRC does social science research that makes a difference?, concerned with all aspects of development and poverty alleviation in South Africa, the region, and in Africa. It undertakes policy-relevant, often large-scale, research for government departments at national, regional and local levels, other public entities, and for local and international development agencies.


How we do it

The HSRC has transformed itself to respond flexibly and comprehensively to users? requirements by

  • radically restructuring and expanding its research capabilities into ten inter-disciplinary Research Programmes aligned to major development challenges;
  • recruiting top-quality research executives and specialists
  • integrating many of its projects into large-scale national ventures, conducted in collaboration with researchers in other science councils, tertiary institutions and NGOs here and abroad, and international agencies.