Public Lecture and Dialogue
Theme: Bridging Science and Society: Reflections on the SAPRS Survey Results and Conference Outcomes
📅 Date: 17 July 2025
🕘 Time: 09:00 – 11:20
📍 Venue: Inkanyezi Building (Building 127), Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha
Jointly convened by: Nelson Mandela University & the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI)
In a symposium where we interrogate paradoxes, dualities, and the unseen layers of science through the playful yet profound image of Schrödinger’s Cat, this session zooms in on one of the greatest paradoxes of all:
How can science be both trusted and doubted? Known and misunderstood? Present in daily life yet distant in discourse?
This is the core of the SAPRS 2022 Survey — the first comprehensive study of public attitudes, knowledge, trust, and engagement with science and technology in South Africa, led by the HSRC on behalf of the DSTI.
Programme Highlights
• Welcome: Prof Azwinndini Muronga (Nelson Mandela University)
• Policy Framing: Mr Isaac Ramovha (DSTI)
• Survey Keynote: Dr Vijay Reddy (HSRC)
• Conference Reflections: Dr Livhuwani Masevhe & Mr Brsean Lesch (DSTI)
• Audience Dialogue & Closing: Facilitated by Mandela University & Dr Mamoeletsi Mosia (SAASTA)
Why This Session Matters
• Discover what South Africans know, value, and believe about science
• Explore how trust, knowledge, and access differ across demographics
• Understand what it takes to foster a science-literate, science-aware society
• Connect research findings to community outreach, education, and policy
📲 Survey site: https://hsrc.ac.za/SAPRS
📷 Look out for the QR code on symposium posters and materials.
This flagship session invites all researchers, students, communicators, and policymakers to help shape a national conversation on science in society - where the cat is not just dead or alive, but observed, understood, and engaged with.
Issued by: Theoretical and Computational Sciences Forum
In collaboration with DSTI and NITHeCS