This Centre acknowledges the outstanding contribution made by the Percy FitzPatrick Institute to the understanding of, amongst other things, biodiversity conservation. The research programme will be based on two inter-linked themes, understanding and maintaining biodiversity.

Research at this Centre focuses on chemical catalysis (homo- and hetero-) mainly for the conversion of gas to liquid fuels and for downstream processing aimed at adding value to bulk chemicals.

This Centre studies materials such as hard metals, metal alloys, metal oxides, ceramics, diamond and diamond-like materials and composites including carbon nanotubes. Strong materials retain their distinctive properties under extreme conditions and thus have wide applications in the manufacturing and mining industries in South Africa and abroad

The DST strives toward introducing measures that put science and technology to work to make an impact on growth and development in a sustainable manner in areas that matter to all the people of South Africa.

Research at this Centre includes all aspects of TB diagnosis, testing & treatment. This includes the molecular and clinical point of view as well as genomic and proteomic studies of the TB Bacillus and its interaction with humans. With the third highest incidence rate and second highest mortality rate in the world, South Africa is facing a tuberculosis (TB) problem of such magnitude that this disease has been declared a national health emergency.

This Centre acknowledges the outstanding contribution made by the Forestry and Agriculture Biotechnology Institute (FABI) to the field of biotechnology as applied to trees. This Centre will focus on the field of tree health, which is of tremendous importance, both nationally and internationally, yet which is not particularly well known outside the agricultural and forestry domain.