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The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits) is a leading national research institution, serving over 25 000 students, of which a third are postgraduates.
Wits-E was established in 2002 as a commercial subsidiary of Wits, focused on promoting and marketing the specialist skills of academics to commercial and government organisations, including more than 200 short courses on offer at Wits. Wits-E provides project coordination, financial and administrative services to over 150 externally-funded research and consulting projects including Wits' FP6 and FP7 projects (CAPABILITY, HYVOLUTION, GRAINLEGUMES, GENBENEFIT, IST-AFRICA). Wits-E also acts as Wits' Technology Transfer Office (TTO) and is responsible for the management and administration of the University's intellectual property and patent portfolio. Wits-E is Wits' key contact point for the EU's Framework Programmes, responsible for promoting participation in FP7, and assisting the Wits research community in proposal development, contract negotiation and project management.
Wits-E is a participant in the IST-AFRICA FP7 project, and leads the FP7 Training Workshops and Post Workshop Support work package. In this capacity Wits-E is responsible for advising SA researchers on issues such as IPR and proposal development through an innovative Helpdesk function that will share both African and European perspectives. Wits-E has access to powerful networks within all sectors of the SA and African research community, and has the necessary expertise to provide regional support for SA and African participation in FP7, as well as the necessary resources to provide project management services to the AeroAfrica-EU consortium.
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