Heidi Prozesky

Professor Heidi Prozesky is Associate Professor and Chair of CREST, which hosts the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Scientometrics and STI Policy (SciSTIP). Heidi holds a PhD in Science and Technology Studies, on the topic of gender differences in the publication productivity of South African scientists, as well as a master’s degree (cum laude) in social science methods.

During her career thus far, Heidi has published and presented extensively on various topics, mostly related to the sociology of science, and she has successfully supervised numerous postgraduate students, from honours to PhD level. She has more than 30 years’ experience in teaching on social research methodology and a variety of sociological topics. Heidi also has research-management skills, which she developed during her appointment as Research Manager at SciSTIP from 2015 to 2018, and within CREST, she chairs the Departmental Ethics Screening Committee.

During the past eight years Heidi has been involved in various large-scale research projects, primarily focused on the topic of human resources for science, technology and innovation in South Africa. She recently contributed her expertise as a member of the OECD Global Science Forum Expert Group for the project, “Promoting career options for doctoral and postdoctoral scientists”, and as a member of the Advisory Board for the Centre for Global Higher Education “Research on Research” project. As a sociologist of science, Heidi employs both quantitative and qualitative strategies to investigate her main research interests, viz. women scientists and early-career researchers. Currently, she is leading a project on postdoctoral research fellows in South Africa, which includes a national study commissioned by the National Research.