Fundraising priority areas
At the heart of Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences is our strong commitment towards making a societal impact which advances societies and the communities we serve. This is a vision embedded in our key strategic endeavours of teaching, learning, research and innovation.
Our challenging economy has caused critical financial constraints on many poor and middle-class families - heightening student appeals for financial support. This means a majority of our financially challenged and talented students are unable to complete their studies due to a lack of fees. In order to support inclusive access to quality education, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS)
iThemba
bursary initiative continues to aid several students although much more support is needed.
Through your support and our commitment to our four focus areas, you can make a meaningful difference which will be felt by the communities we serve and the medical and health sciences industry as a whole.
Student access and success
A common predicament faced by many of our students is the struggle with paying student fees or clearing student debt to complete their studies. Students from families disqualified from accessing stated-funded bursaries find themselves in a financial dilemma, inhibited by access to any type of state-funded support. To alleviate these problems, the
FMHS iThemba Bursary Fund was established to prioritise support for South African students faced with discontinuation of their studies due to financial limitations.
Our university is ranked as one of Africa's top five universities, translating to high student attraction from the rest of the continent, many of whom are awarded external bursaries or grants to study with us. However, these types of bursaries often tender insufficient financial cover towards the actual cost of living, transportation, and meals required during the bursary recipient's residence period in South Africa. Consequently, these students seek immediate compensation by taking out high-interest loans which is inevitable due to their Supernumerary status. Supernumeraries are graduate students employed for community service without remuneration. To address this plight,
the Supernumeraries Fund was established to cater for these students' specific needs, with funds awarded on a case-by-case top-up basis.
How you can help
The FMHS iThemba Bursary Fund
Donations of R180 000 annually cover a single student towards starting or completing their studies through a bursary.
The Supernumeraries Fund
This fund provides top-up funding on a case-by-case basis to assist African students with accommodation, transportation, and nutrition to prevent them from falling into a debt cycle. Sufficient top-ups can range between R10 000 to R100 000 from individual donors and R5 million from organisations.
Wraparound/holistic support mechanisms
This kind of support provides proper nutrition, hygiene products or stationery, student counselling, and mental health support -
donations from R10 000 are acceptable and channelled to our Annual Fund.
Building our future
To create the future we desire we need to invest in it – and build it – and by that, we are committed to raising capital for the infrastructure development of our key strategic knowledge centres to promote competitive world-class medical research and solutions for Africa.
Research for Impact
Research for Impact is one of Stellenbosch University's (SU) six institutional strategic themes. Achieving this requires a careful balance between continuity and consistency as well as transformation and rejuvenation of the university's academic researcher cohort. At the same time, we strive for our research to be socially relevant which means our research efforts are not only aimed at academic success but also at making a significant impact in Africa and the world.
A means of advancing research is by appointing or establishing
Research Chairs. SU currently hosts a total of 49 Chairs, 18 of which are industry-funded. The FMHS alone hosts 11 Research Chairs, seven of which form part of the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI), funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), through the National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa.
Research Chairs strengthen and improve research and innovation competitiveness and capacity, and help produce high-quality postgraduate students and research and innovation outputs. The Chair also attracts and retains excellent and globally acclaimed researchers and scientists in various fields. To sustainably manage a single Chair annual funding of approximately R3.5M is required to cover all operational costs.
FMHS Research Chair of Reconstructive Surgery
The FMHS seeks to establish a Chair of Reconstructive Surgery - an endowed Chair
seeking R60 million funding.
Biomedical Research Institute (BMRI) collaborations
The BMRI is an institute dedicated to understanding the genetic and biomolecular basis of diseases which pose the greatest risk to communities in South Africa and the rest of Africa. We are looking at
private-public partnerships to support the functions of the BMRI.
Next-Gen Researchers
We intend producing high-quality postgraduate and doctoral research outputs through our Next-Gen researcher's platform which was established to play a vital role in driving the continued improvement of the healthcare system and addressing the social and ecological determinants of diseases.
Social impact and justice
South Africa ranks as the one of the most unequal countries in the world. Its past regime imposed adverse economic disparities, specifically on persons of colour, which has inflicted a prolonged negative bearing on the current divide between the haves and the have-nots.
A large proportion of our students are from disadvantaged backgrounds and common social difficulties include anxiety from exposure to unfamiliar environments that culturally contradict the norms of their home origins. Students also experience food shortages due to financial setbacks which may culminate in mental distress, a slump in academic performance, and affect their overall wellbeing.
To help curb these psychosocial challenges, the FMHS and the broader SU network established initiatives such as
#BridgetheGap and
#Move4Food that are financially housed within our Annual Fund and are open to all kinds of donations.
Our Student Learning Centres
When students leave the Tygerberg campus to pursue community service internships they often move to areas with limited ICT and connectivity support. SLC offers off-campus students access to study facilities with ICT support near communities of practice.
We are open to donations from R10 000 and above.
The On-Call Student Support Crisis Service
In our efforts to alleviate mental distress faced by many of our students, FMHS has created an
on-call student support crisis service. The platform connects students with qualified Health Care Professionals (HCPs) and emergency services as the first point of contact for those experiencing mental distress crises.
We require ongoing support to keep it running.
Psychosocial Support
This initiative aims to provide meals for those experiencing food insecurity at Tygerberg Campus.
We accept donations upwards of R1000 for this initiative.
