Head of Department of Geology at the University of Pretoria, Prof Pat Eriksson won the award in the category of ‘Individual over a lifetime’ for studying a wide range of facets of the Pre-Cambrian sedimentary rock record and the history of the earth prior to 600 million years ago. Prof Eriksson has established an international research group, the Global Pre-Cambrian Sedimentation Syndicate (GPSS) which has interacted to study the evolution of the Pre-Cambrian Earth with special emphasis on basin analysis.

Prof Eriksson described receiving the award as a great honour and attributed it to the considerable efforts from the University of Pretoria. “To be able to work within the extremely enabling environment of the University of Pretoria has been a privilege and a pleasure for the past 28 years”, said Prof Eriksson.

Prof Eriksson also acknowledged the continuous support he gets from his senior colleagues who have set professional examples. Those are the UP’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Robin Crewe, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science Prof Anton Sröh and Prof Johan Malherbe, former head of the School of Physical Sciences at UP. “The support one has received lies at the root of any personal reward one might receive. Equally important is the seminal contributions of scientific collaborators globally, and more importantly, the inspirations of the previous and current students, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level”, added Prof Eriksson..

Prof Debra Meyer from the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Pretoria, also received an award in a category for a ‘Senior Black Female Researcher over the last 5 to 10 years’. Prof Meyer is the principal investigator of the HIV/AIDS laboratory and her research involves pioneering the use of classical analytical chemistry tools in the study of HIV/AIDS leading to first time publications on biofluid metabonomics for distinguishing HIV infected individuals from controls and demonstrating the effect of metals on HIV infection. Along with collaborators, Prof Meyer contributed to the analysis of the first metallo-drug, which is able to inhibit two HIV enzymes, and identified several more anti-HIV metallo-drugs.

The NSTF Awards are unique in South Africa, recognising the outstanding contributions of individuals and groups. It also affords an opportunity for recognition and celebration of all practicing scientists, engineers and technologists across the system of innovation.
                       
Prof Pat Eriksson                                            Prof Debra Meyer