Terms of Reference

Faculty of Health Sciences

	Performance indicator	Assessment/reporting timeframe	Audit Arrangements
Committee function	70% quorum for meetings Action items completed within timeframes	Annual December reporting for the previous year	Monitoring attendance Monitoring of action log
Strategic planning	Short-term strategies defined in line with terms of reference and Research strategic plan 2016-2021 are met	Annual December reporting for the previous year	Monitoring of strategies achieved and outstanding against the Research strategic plan 2016-2021 and ToR
Process	All processed completed within required time frames Research governance approvals Publication and other awards Postgraduate student reporting Annual report	Annual December reporting for the previous year	Monitoring of outcomes based on predetermined established timelines
Medicine research day	Number of abstract received Number of attendees	Annual December reporting for the previous year	Statistics collated and plotted against previous years Review of feedback

Purpose

To enable research and training productivity at all levels, through monitoring, supporting and guiding departmental research activities; ensuring alignment with Departmental and Faculty priorities and compliance with Faculty procedures and ethics requirements.

Governance

To assist the Head of Department in developing a departmental research and equipment strategy.
To provide strategic guidance to the HSFRC and Deputy Dean for Research on how HSFRC funds are disbursed, in alignment with UCT’s and the Faculty’s mission.
To maintain records of research projects and to audit research publications and other outputs on an annual basis.
To maintain records of postgraduate students within the department and monitor and support their progress reports
To audit all research activities within the Department, to identify areas of current and potential strength in research and to advise on research priorities and new initiatives.
To provide representation on the Health Sciences Faculty Research Committee (HSFRC) and sub-committees thereof, including, FHS HREC, FHS AEC, etc, and to communicate the departmental research and equipment strategy thereon.
To submit annual written reports on departmental research to the Faculty Research Committee and the URC, for inclusion in the Faculty Research Report

Enabling Research

To assess priorities and to allocate funding derived from the HSFRC and other sources to departmental research projects.
To assist the Head of Department in soliciting, reviewing and prioritising submissions for funding of large equipment and research infrastructural support to the HSFRC and UEC, consistent with the departmental research & equipment strategy.
To create an enabling environment for emerging researchers by referring them to sources of information on research funding, grant writing, the research process, FHS procedures and protocols, and mentorship.
To foster and encourage postgraduate enrolment, clinician-scientist mentoring programmes, and support for new supervisors.
Organise facilitiated post-graduate student training to allow for inter-department collaborative research.
To encourage inter-departmental and inter-institutional collaborative research.
Organise a departmental research day for showcasing research activities across the department with the focus on postgraduate student presentations
To encourage specific initiatives to increase scientists within the department that are female or from previously disadvantaged backgrounds.

Need dedicated focus on each of the priority categories – MMed, PhD, early and established researchers, and transformation

Ethics

To oversee the rigorous scientific review of Departmental research proposals (including postgraduate research proposals), in order to ensure that only well-designed and scientifically sound research is submitted for review by the Faculty Ethics Committees.
To ensure that reviewers of proposals for submission to Ethics Committees are:
- independent of the study and research team under review; and
- experienced in the field of study under review.
To ensure that all regulatory requirements pertaining to the recombinant DNA, biosafety and radiation safety are adhered to for all research activities in the Department.
To ensure that submissions to external funders comply with Faculty requirements
To ensure that postgraduate proposals are reviewed for their suitability for the degree being undertaken.