African regional conferences as an indicator of research trends in South Africa

Abstract

The 2011 African Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering is the 15th in the series of 4 yearly conferences. The majority of the early conferences were held in sub-Saharan Africa with significant contributions from South African researchers and practitioners. Recently, more of the conferences have been held in northern Africa with smaller South African participation. An analysis of the origin and type of papers in terms of Academic, Research, practitioner and international over the past 13 conferences has been carried out and shows interesting trends of research in relation to the available research funding in South Africa. It is clear that there is a declining trend in fundamental and basic geotechnical research in South Africa. Recommendations to overcome this problem are suggested.