The Research Office has been providing support for academics without doctorates since the inception of the Emerging Researchers Programme (ERP). This support has ranged from seminars on the PhD process, training in postgraduate supervision which prepares staff members for both sides of the supervisory relationship and individual consultations with senior scholars or the Researcher Development Coordinators who all have PhDs and research and publishing experience themselves.

Although UCT currently has the highest proportion of permanent academic staff with doctoral degrees in the country, the institution cannot take this statistic for granted. Many of its senior academics are retiring. Many young appointees – in permanent as well as contract positions - still need to obtain a doctorate to develop as researchers and progress in their academic careers. Some of them are located in fields that do not have long traditions of PhD study, including some creative, professional and commercial disciplines. Some are part of the New Generation of Academic Programme (NGAP) of DHET which creates permanent trainee academic positions for black South Africans who may still be working on master’s or doctoral degrees.

With this changing profile of academic staff in mind, the Research Office is embarking on an initiative to provide focused support for academic staff without doctoral or master’s degrees. This programme aligns with UCT’s commitment to transform the demographic profile of its academic staff and includes consultations, targeted seminars, workshops and modest research grants.