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Two CoE-FS PIs, Prof Rina Swart and Prof Naushad Emmambux, and two CoE-FS affiliated researchers, Prof Mary Scholes and Prof Marshall Keyster, are finalists in the NSTF-South32 Awards. Photos Supplied.

Two Principal Investigators (PIs) from the DSTI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security (CoE-FS) have been named as finalists in the 2025/2026 National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)-South32 Awards, regarded as the “Science Oscars” of South Africa.

Professor Rina Swart, the CoE-FS Nutrition lead and the Head of Department of Dietetics and Nutrition at CoE-FS host institution, the University of the Western Cape (UWC), is a finalist in the “Lifetime Award” category. This category is for an outstanding contribution by an individual for over 15 years or more to Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) and innovation.

Professor Naushad Emmambux, co-PI of the Innovation and Technology programme, and professor of Food Science at CoE-FS co-host institution, the University of Pretoria, is a finalist in the TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Researcher category. This category is for an outstanding contribution to SET and innovation through research and its outputs, by an individual over a period of between six and 15 years, from the commencement of the research career, predominantly in South Africa.

The CoE-FS also extends warm congratulations to CoE-FS Steering Committee Chair, Professor Mary Scholes, and Professor Marshall Keyster, former CoE-FS Project Lead, who are also named as finalists in the NSTF-South32 Awards.

Professor Scholes holds the Chair: Sappi Research, Climate Change and Plantation Sustainability, Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences (APES), at the University of the Witwatersrand. She is a finalist in the Lifetime Award category.

Professor Keyster, who holds the SARChI Chair in Plant Improvement for Regenerative and Sustainable Agriculture at UWC, is a finalist in the NSTF-Agricultural Research Council Award category, for “contribution towards sustainable agricultural management, knowledge generation and solutions (by an individual or an organisation over the last 5-10 years)”.

The CoE-FS remains committed to conducting and delivering research that is rigorous, policy-relevant and grounded in the realities of South Africa’s food system. Work at the CoE-FS is driven by the need to respond to real societal challenges and to contribute to measurable improvements in food and nutrition security and food safety.

“We are proud of our community of researchers and affiliates, whose work continues to set the standard for excellence and impact in this field,” said CoE-FS Director Professor Julian May.