News, January 2015
1 January 2015 marked the 20th birthday of the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST) at Stellenbosch University. CREST was established on 1 January 1995 as CENIS (Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies), but the name changed to CREST in 2003.
Initially our academic programmes focused on social science methods, with some interest in evaluation, and we offered these via the Department of Sociology, explains CREST director Prof Johann Mouton. When the MPhil in STS (Science and Technology Studies) was introduced in 1997, it was the first of its kind in South Africa.
In response to a growing interest in “Monitoring and Evaluation”, CREST introduced a dedicated diploma in this field in 2006. Since then, more than 400 M&E students have graduated from CREST and an MPhil and PhD were introduced in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
Dual status as research centre and academic department – achieved in 2010 – was an important milestone for CREST.
In 2014 CREST made history at Stellenbosch University when – for the first time – a new Centre of Excellence and Research Chair were awarded to the same academic department in the same year. Since 1 April 2014 CREST is the official host of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Scientometrics and Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (SciSTIP). Shortly before the end of 2014, the Department of Science and Technology awarded South Africa’s first research chair in science communication to CREST.
