Funding Cycle

The WRC's financial year extends from 1 April to 31 March. All annual project budgets will be required to coincide with this financial year period.

Fund Allocation - 2008/09 Financial Year

The total investment in research for 2008/09 amounts to approximately R119 million. Funding of new research projects constitutes the largest portion of this amount (approximately R74 million). The remaining portion is made up of contracted commitments (roll-over) allocations for consultancies, workshops and conferences, research sponsorships and mobility funding for capacity building. The latter supports mobility of researchers with a view to building competence in historically disadvantaged research organisations and individuals, and is additional to the capacity building which takes place primarily through the involvement of students in research projects.

The strategic allocation of research project funds between the KSAs addresses the overall needs of the water sector and the country and is reflected in the research portfolio of each KSA. The allocation for 2008/09 resulted in Water Resource Management receiving 30% of the funds, Water-Linked Ecosystems 14%, Water Use and Waste Management 29% and Water Utilisation in Agriculture 22%. The balance of 5% is reserved for the central fund.

This allocation does not differ greatly from that of the previous year (2007/08) and only minor adjustments are planned for 2009/10. It should be noted that, for each KSA, strategic needs are re-assessed on an annual basis and the distribution of available project funds adjusted accordingly.

Distribution of Project Funds per KSA (2008/09 and 2009/10)

The tables below provide an overview of the distribution of funds for ongoing (committed) and new projects in 2008/09 and the corresponding distribution, as proposed, for 2009/10 (subject to revised budget approval). As indicated, the relative allocation for ongoing and new projects differs from KSA to KSA according to both future needs and life-cycles of specific research thrusts and programmes within each of the KSAs.

Proposed Fund Distribution per Funding Stream for New Projects (2009/10)

The following table indicates the anticipated distribution of funds for new projects within each KSA for each of the 2 main funding streams (NB: This is important to consider when responding to the 2008 call for proposals). Please note that these allocations are only an indication of the proposed distribution. The final amounts may differ and are subject to change at the discretion of the WRC Executive.