In her opening address, Professor Marian Jacobs, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, told the panel that "the notion of a broad spectrum of health services is actually fundamental to what the Faculty does. We have inherited a rich legacy, from people such as those on the review panel and we, as a Faculty, now need to build on that to contribute to science in South Africa and globally."

Professor Hussey explained the focus of the review: "Attention will be paid to current and past research activities and productivity in order to identify strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. This will be accompanied by an exercise in forecasting, to identify those disciplines, platforms and approaches necessary to secure the faculty's future as a leading research institution internationally."

There will also be a focus on partnerships and collaborations, not only with institutions in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe, but also examining South-South collaborations and the potential for forging strong links with institutions in countries such as Brazil.

Among the issues to be discussed were the ageing academic cohort, the need to create the next generation of academics; and remedying racial and gender imbalances. Professor Danie Visser, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, said that of the articles produced in 2009 by UCT academics, 50% were over the age of 50, women researchers accounted for only 25-30% of the total, and only 15% of the academics were black.

Professor Visser was quick to commend the Faculty on their record of playing host to 20 of the 60 University Research Committee and Medical Research Council units, eight of the 27 National Research Chairs and two of the five University signature themes. He also praised the Faculty's recent efforts to stimulate clinical research activities.

He said that in order for UCT to meet its aspiration of being research-led, it means that the research activities of the faculties had an imperative to "do something that has value to others", and more importantly, these research activities must inform not only the teaching in the university, but also to identify ways for the community to benefit, either directly through social responsiveness, or indirectly through informing policy and professional practices.

The review panel is chaired by Dr Leon Fine, Professor of Biomedical Sciences and Medicine Chair, Cedars Sinai Department of Biomedical Sciences, Director of Graduate Research Education, Cedars Sinai Medical Center and the panelists are:

• Professor Siamon Gordon, Emeritus Glaxo Professor of Cellular Pathology at the University of Oxford;
• Dr Malcolm von Schantz, Reader in Neurosience and Assistant Dean: International Affairs for the University of Surrey;
• Professor Robert Millar, Director of theMRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit, The Queen's Medical Research Institute, Edinburgh;
• Professor Alejandro Cravioto, Executive Director, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh and Professor of Microbiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, National Autonomous University of México;
• Professor Wieland Gevers, Emeritus Professor, University of Cape Town;
• Professor David Beatty, Emeritus Professor, University of Cape Town;
• Professor William Pick, Emeritus Professor, University of Cape Town.

The review ends on Wednesday, 24 November 2010.