Senior scholars acknowledge the AECRS programme’s utility, and call for urgent other reforms to address systemic challenges

Senior academics and research leaders have called for deeper reform in South Africa’s higher education system to strengthen postgraduate pathways and improve research leadership.

These sentiments emerged at the Advancing Early Career Researchers and Scholars (AECRS) Workshop, recently hosted by Universities South Africa at an OR Tambo International Airport venue, in Gauteng, from 27 to 28 November 2025.