About JIAS
The Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS) is an institute based at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Although only launched in May 2015 as the first fully-fledged institute for advanced learning in Gauteng, South Africa’s economic and political heartland, JIAS has grown to be one of the leading institutes of its kind based in the African continent. Its purpose is to promote advanced research in the humanities and natural sciences, beyond the regular teaching and research activities at institutions of higher learning.
JIAS aims to create the conditions in which scholars can deliver cutting-edge interdisciplinary thought and research at the highest academic level. This is done by reaching beyond the regular teaching and research routines of contemporary higher education, and by encouraging collaborative scholarly cooperation in both the humanities and natural sciences.
Governance
JIAS is UJ’s institute for advanced study. The director of JIAS reports to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Internationalisation) at UJ, and through this office to the University structures. As such, JIAS is a university-based institute for advanced study as opposed to free standing institutes for advanced study.
About other Institutes for Advanced Study
Institutes for Advanced Study are at the apex of the research and higher education ladder. They are designed to afford top quality researchers with an opportunity to focus entirely on their central calling in their respective fields, either individually or in collaborative enterprise.