N E W S  2009

Call for Proposals 2009
For African Origins Month 2009, SAASTA wishes to appoint a team of people to develop communication material that would promote South Africa's sites of archaeological and palaeontological significance among tourists. The team will travel to key paleontological and archaeological sites (i.e. Cradle of Humankind, uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape) across South Africa to develop appropriate material that would be used to stimulate the tourism market (both national and international) to visit these sites. The deadline for submitting proposals is close of business, 26 August 2009.

N E W S  2007

Call for Proposals 2008 (issued 14 November 2007)
For the fifth year running, the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST) has declared four thematic months for 2008, namely Antarctica Month (June), Marine Biosciences Month (August), African Origins Month (September) and Astronomy Month (October). The closing date for proposals for African Origins Month is 1 February 2008.

Calendar of Events 2007 (issued August 2007)
In order to get an idea of the types of events held during the month, have a look at the calendar of Events held during African Origins Month 2007.

Walking Tall with PAST (issued August 2007)
The Palaeontological Scientific Trust, PAST, has an education project called WalkingTall. This initiative was developed from workshops presented to learners at fossil sites near the Sterkfontein Caves. These workshops were initially presented almost exclusively to private schools. It became clear to PAST that the workshops required a far broader reach, specifically targeting previously disadvantaged learners who now had to engage with the topic of evolution and palaeontological science within the public school curriculum. To address this need Walking Tall was developed.

Call now closed (issued February 2007)
Please note that as of 28 February 2007, the call has closed. Panels are currently evaluating proposals and the outcome will be communicated to all successful and unsuccessful applicants.

Call for Proposals 2007
For the fourth year running, the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST) has declared four thematic months for 2007, namely Antarctica Month (June), Marine Biosciences Month (August), African Origins Month (September) and Astronomy Month (October). The closing date for proposals for African Origins Month is 28 February 2007.

N E W S  2006

Calendar of Events 2006
The full calendar of events for 2006 has been released.

Check out the new cartoons
In celebration of African Origins Month 2006, SAASTA has produced a series of cartoons which will appear in the media and are available for download in PDF format.

Palaeosciences strategy workshop
DST held a workshop in September 2006 to finalise the OAP strategy and implementation plan. Contact: Dr Gilbert Siko on tel: (012) 843-6859. View the Draft Strategy in PDF format.

Talking dinosaurs
Invitation issued 28 August 2006
FREE public talks at Sci-Enza, University of Pretoria campus, during September 2006, African Origins Month. Talks include: Dinosaurs: How we know what we know, Human origins: Where do we come from?, and Jurassic Karoo. Limited seats! Brought to you by the Department of Science & Technology, SAASTA and Sci-Enza

African Origins - it all started here!
Media release issued on 31 August 2005
In an ongoing campaign to highlight South Africa's world-class research and scientific contributions, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) declared September 2005 African Origins Month.