“We need to have a systematic way into the field of Structural Biology in our country. We have such a small community that it’s remarkable that we have gone as far as we have. This is because of the young people in the Carnegie programme in 2000, and then the START programme, which catapulted us into the modern world enabling us to make incredible advances very quickly – we need to keep up this momentum and make it sustainable.”
Professor Trevor Sewell, University of Cape Town, South Africa
To address the challenges and build on START’s legacy in moving forward, specific actions and suggestions were discussed by the conference delegates. Delegates agreed that Structural Biology should become a national priority, tied to key projects with wide appeal, such as vaccine development and pandemic preparedness.
Implementation should be through the START ‘hub and spoke’ model to grow Structural Biology and synchrotron techniques across South Africa and the continent of Africa. To achieve these aims, building networks with the right national and international organisations, research groups, government and industry stakeholders is a priority. Further details are summarised below, including examples of how to address some of the gaps.
Funding
A continuation of Structural Biology funding and greater collaboration among funders is required for sustainability:
- National funders such as the South African National Research Fund (NRF) and Medical Research Council (MRC), as well as universities, should create early and mid-career research posts.
- The NRF and universities need to work together to create funding opportunities to support the private sector.
- Large grants must be explored, from the Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and others.
- Funding structures for partial to full cost protein production as a service must be explored.
- Foreign grant funds will remain critical for early to mid-career research posts.
- NRF funding needs to be flexible with ad hoc support rather than the current six-month application time frames. Funding must reflect the reality of Structural Biology experiments providing rapid and repeated access to facilities as projects mature to data-collection status.
Capacity building/training
Teaching and training are critical for the sustainable development of Structural Biology. To address this challenge, we need to:
- Encourage the private sector, NRF and universities to work together to fund relevant professional qualifications, create jobs and enable career progression opportunities.
- Create and offer a Post-graduate Diploma in (PGDip) Structural Biology
- Advocate for a national qualification to train instrument scientists/technicians to support laboratories.
- Shift the science teaching curriculum to include Structural Biology in under- to post-graduate levels.
- Institute a programme of departmental or national seminars on Structural Biology in drug design, in biological mechanisms, or for industrial processes, and other purposes.
Infrastructure
- Investment in high resolution cryo-EM infrastructure is essential. Together with this infrastructure and training, labs should be set up with their own projects which cater for sample preparation at every level. People from across South Africa and further afield should be able to submit samples to save time.
- There is a strong case for cryo-EM facilities in South Africa, starting with universities/institutes which already have imaging capability like UCT.
- Invest in an advanced facility for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR).
- Explore options of strategic research equipment under the National Equipment Programme (NEP), within the NRF. According to the NRF, the NEP provides funding for R35 million worth of equipment, allocated over a three-year period to consider procurement. Funding criteria: multi-use, multi-footprint, wrap-around support for sustainable skills development.
- Some labs have equipment and others have none. Needs must be assessed nationally. Arrangements should be made to provide access to resources at locations that have the capacity to maintain those resources sustainably.
- More NRF flexibility in funding arrangements for maintenance costs.
Positioning Structural Biology locally and internationally
- The national and global importance of Structural Biology must be emphasised to the right people.
- Demonstrate how Structural Biology provides a strategic advantage nationally and at a global level.
- The case for Structural Biology must be tied to the broader national socio-economic agenda, for example as a component of South African Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) programmes and the South African Infrastructure Roadmap Programme so that Structural Biology becomes one of the nodes. This could include a 15-year commitment and funding for positions.
What organisational form should Structural Biology take?
- Any organisational structure must align with the realities of the current situation and with national priorities.
- Sub-groups within the South African Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SASBMB), the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP), or the South African Crystallographic Society (SACrS)? Of these, SAIP has the financial and structural capacity to support Structural Biology. It has demonstrated this by maintaining membership of the International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB).
- Look beyond the interests of organisations and institutions to make ourselves heard.
Membership of international organisations
- Pursue national membership of Instruct-ERIC to enable access to resources and valuable courses.
- Learn from previous successful models like the GCRF START grant and the programme funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Expand integration into Instruct-ERIC.
- Maintain the annual ESRF membership. Demonstrate capacity and demand, how money is spent, and impact such as publications.
- Craft specific arrangements for Structural Biology and submit to the NRF proving there is a specific demand for access to international research infrastructure.
- National funding arrangements to support access needs to be appropriate with inbuilt flexibility.
- Encourage national collaboration in sample shipping to synchrotrons.
- Encourage the NRF to approach Diamond Light Source directly. This presents a win-win opportunity for Africa and the UK.
Proposed Post-graduate Diploma (PGDip) in Structural Biology
“There is power in training and teaching students; there is power in growing interest, so we have to tell the younger generation. The biggest asset you need is the power of the human brain’s imagination.”
Addmore Shonhai, University of Venda, South Africa
The introduction of a Post-graduate Diploma in (PGDip) Structural Biology is critical in addressing the training and retention of early career scientists. The qualification would be an Intermediate entity/NQ level 8 (the same as an Honours degree), aimed at attracting people with a variety of undergraduate degrees. Entry would be an Honours, BSc. or BTech. The PGDip could be a step up into a Masters (MSc) and added onto degrees.
The PGDip Structural Biology should enable a move into private companies if offered in partnership with industry. It could be a steppingstone into the workplace and include people in the workplace. It could be run through a multi-institutional framework. Students and trainers can use the Diploma to network locally and internationally. Options for a joint– or full-time Honours in Structural Biology could be explored. Experts from national and international research facilities, universities, and industry would contribute to teaching and training. There is already experience of running multi-institutional post-graduate degrees within the START network.
Implementation of a PGDip in Structural Biology
- Promote PGDip Structural Biology as a career enhancement move. It must be good for CVs to attract students.
- Attract people from diverse undergraduate degrees and provide core expertise in Structural Biology. Candidates could continue to a post-graduate research degree in Structural Biology.
- Both in-person and remote learning options could be used, while national and international experts from the START network could be involved.
- The qualification should be positioned correctly within the South African Skills & Innovation Framework: Bio-discovery & Innovation.
- The PGDip must be a visible and enabling step to MSc and PhD level research.
- Companies should be brought on board. Candidates could move to vaccine-plants and protein production research companies that need staff with expertise in Structural Biology.
- Consider modular teaching with invited lecturers from inside and outside the university system.
- Make use of hybrid teaching and learning options to get around distance and cost issues but consider proximity for ease of collaboration.
- Use a nodal approach – such as a node in the South (University of Cape Town) and a node in Gauteng (University of Pretoria (UP)/University of the Witwatersrand (Wits)).
- Tackle multi-institute funding arrangements by allowing students to stay registered with their institution and the lecturers move around. This would enable institutions to hold onto students. Or fund the programme with an administration levy rather than institutional funding.
