The University’s research efforts have been further strengthened as Dr Maryam Amra Jordaan, NRF Administrator at MUT earns a certificate after taking part in the Professional Development Programme (PDP) on Intellectual Property Innovation Policy. The programme was organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the National Intellectual Property Management Office (NIPMO) of the Department of Science and Innovation in South Africa.
The programme ran over five months from 13 June-30 October 2022.
Dr Jordaan said that Phase 1 of the PDP comprised the completion of a course in Intellectual Property Management; Phase 2 consisted of a two-week advanced hybrid workshop (in-person in Cape Town and online), while the third phase of the PDP consisted of a research study project during which she generated a report on the state of innovation at MUT and the development of an Intellectual Property (IP) protocol for MUT.
Dr Jordaan said that the research project was well-received by both WIPO and NIPMO Advisor, Antoni Miranda Aranda, said Dr Jordaan was “diligent in providing updates, projects progress and findings. She took my comments and suggestions constructively.” Aranda said Dr Jordaan did a “great job reorganising her project ‘story’ to create an excellent flow for the report and implementation plan.”
Dr Jordaan was awarded a final evaluation mark of 94%.
Dr Jordaan’s project was titled: ‘Challenges faced by the Research Management (RM) in Intellectual Property Management (IPM) and Technology Transfer (TT) at Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT): a case study’.
“This certification not only acknowledges my acquisition of expertise in Intellectual Property Management but also raises the prestige of the Institution. I am grateful to all the staff within the Research Directorate for all the support I received to obtain this competency. It is incumbent on the university to also use the avenue of commercialisation of research outputs as well as sponsored research to generate a stream of revenue for the University, enabling self-sufficiency and less dependency upon time-limited public funding. This will strengthen the Research and Innovation ecosystem at MUT and to a larger extent South Africa,” Dr Jordaan explained.
She concluded that the University is considered an innovation provider as there is an increased demand for universities to contribute to building diversity of the South African knowledge base to meet societal development challenges.