东京热

Prof Shireen Motala

Prof Motala was awarded the South African Research Chair: Teaching and Learning (SARChI: T &L) in July 2020. This is a Tier 1 national research chair supported by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and by the National Research Foundation (NRF). The SARChI: T&L is located within the FoE. Prof Motala was the Head of the Postgraduate School (PGS) at the 东京热 (UJ) until September 2020 and is a professor in the Faculty of Education (FoE). She is a member of the Academy of Science in South Africa (ASSAf).

She has held numerous leadership roles related to higher education including Chairperson of the Education Policy Consortium (2006-2010), Chairperson of the UNESCO South African Commission (2001-2006) and first inaugural president of the South African Research Association (SAERA) (2013-2014). She was appointed by the Minster of Higher Education and Training to serve on the Council of Higher Education (CHE) for two terms from 2010-2018. In 2013, she served on the Ministerial Committee to review the national Senior Certificate examination. She is currently a trustee at the South African Institute for Distance

Education. She is on the Assessment and Accreditation committee of UMALUSI-the Council for quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training.

An NRF rated researcher, Prof. Motala has initiated collaborations between universities across Africa and with Asian and European institutions which have led to the formation of long-term regional and international partnerships. As a leader in research, she was the principal investigator for the international Consortium for Research on Equity, Access and Transitions in Education (CREATE). Her recent publications include three co-edited books

鈥� From Ivory Towers to Ebony Towers: Transforming Humanities Curricula in South Africa, Africa and African American Studies (Jacana, 2020)

鈥� Transforming Universities in South Africa: Pathways to Higher Education Reform (Brill, 2020),

鈥� Creating the New African University (Brill, 2023).

Promoting scholarship and a sound intellectual culture have been in the forefront of Prof. Motala鈥檚 activities. In her tenure in the Chair she aims to develop the next generation of scholars in order to contribute to societal transformation.

Selected Projects

Motala, S. (2025). Beyond decolonisation: joining the dots鈥揵etween the material and the epistemic in higher education in South Africa.听Comparative Education, 1-18.

Jansen, J., Motala, S., & Singh, M. (2025). Beyond decolonisation: criticism, comparison and conjectures from the global south.听Comparative Education.

Tabe, H. T., Motala, S., & Chiramba, O. (2025). Transformative Practices in ODeL: Advancing Higher Education Teaching and Learning.听Progressio, 14-pages.

Projects

Lead Investigator:

A postcolonial critique of curriculum Change in South African Higher Education.

Access and Success: Supervision for Quality Postgraduate Education: Postgraduate Size and Shape Study in South Africa

Prof Jace Pillay

Prof Jace Pillay holds a South African National Research Foundation Research Chair in Education and Care in Childhood. He heads a research team focusing on the educational, psychological, and social care of orphans and vulnerable children.

Prof Salim Vally

Prof Salim Vally holds the Research Chair in Community, Adult and Worker Education (CAWE). He is also a visiting professor at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. He completed his doctorate at UKZN and studied at Wits and York universities. He was a visiting lecturer at the universities of York, Columbia, Virginia and Fort Hare. His scholarly interests include educational and social policy as they relate to human rights, democracy and socio-economic justice.

Prof Rasmus Lema

Rasmus Lema is a development economist with 20 years of experience in research, consultancy and teaching. His areas of specialisation are听sustainable industrialisation, technological learning and green transformations.

He has a strong track record in leading international research projects. He听has published extensively in top academic journals, and he is known for agenda setting research and theoretical development. As a frequent adviser to development and STI agencies he is known for connecting original research to policy.

He is an editor of and member of the Scientific Board at the Global Network for Economics of Learning, Innovation, and Competence Building Systems ().

听Education

DPhil in Development Studies, University of Sussex
MSc in Development and Public Administration, Roskilde University

Graduate Certificate in International Studies, University of Sydney

听Research interests

Green Transformations; New and emerging technologies; Innovation and Industrial policy; Global Value Chains

Links:

听Selected publications

Lema, R., Fu, X., & Rabellotti, R. (2021). Green windows of opportunity: latecomer development in the age of transformation toward sustainability. Industrial and Corporate Change, 29(5), 1193鈥�1209.

Lema, R., Bhamidipati, P. L., Gregersen, C., Hansen, U. E., & Kirchherr, J. (2021). China鈥檚 investments in renewable energy in Africa: Creating co-benefits or just cashing-in? World Development, 141, 105365.

Lema, R., Pietrobelli, C., & Rabellotti, R. (2019). Innovation in global value chains. In S. Ponte, G. Gereffi, & G. Raj-Reichert (Eds.), Handbook on Global Value Chains (pp. 370鈥�384). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Lema, R., Rabellotti, R., & Gehl Sampath, P. (2018). Innovation Trajectories in Developing Countries: Co-evolution of Global Value Chains and Innovation Systems. The European Journal of Development Research, 30(3), 345鈥�363.

Lema, R., Hanlin, R., Hansen, U. E., & Nzila, C. (2018). Renewable electrification and local capability formation: Linkages and interactive learning. Energy Policy, 117(August 2017), 326鈥�339.

Lema, A., & Lema, R. (2016). Low-carbon innovation and technology transfer in latecomer countries. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 104, 223鈥�236.

Lema, R., Quadros, R., & Schmitz, H. (2015). Reorganising global value chains and building innovation capabilities in Brazil and India. Research Policy, 44(7), 1376鈥�1386.

Lema, R., Kraemer-Mbula, E., & Rakas, M. (2021). Innovation in developing countries: examining two decades of research. Innovation and Development, 11(2/3), 1鈥�22.

Lema, R., Pietrobelli, C., Rabellotti, R., & Vezzani, A. (2021). Deepening or delinking? Innovative capacity and global value chain participation in the IT industry. Industrial and Corporate Change.