Every second year since 2006, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) dedicates two days to its 'Science real and relevant' conference to share research progress, breakthroughs and impact in an open forum.

In 2010, the conference will be shaped around the research fields in which the CSIR believes it is equipped to fulfil its mandate - improving the quality of life of South Africans through industrial and scientific development. These research impact areas are health; energy; defence and security; natural environment; built environment; and industry. Further there will be a session that will be dedicated to ICT for society.

Within the framework of these impact areas, the conference is an opportunity for the CSIR to share research that could help its stakeholders in government and the private sector to strengthen their competitive edge and to demonstrate how research contributes to the country¿s national priorities. The conference will also showcase to fellow research and academic institutions CSIR¿s contribution to the global knowledge pool and opportunities for collaboration.

The conference will also feature local and international specialists who will contextualise and probe the topics.

The CSIR Biennial Conference will be held on 31 August and 01 September 2010. The theme of the conference will build on the successes of the 2008 conference.

Also, for the first time in the history of the conference, the CSIR will host Emerging Researcher Symposium on 30 August - a curtain raiser to the conference. This will allow young researchers to highlight the impact of their research on society. Emerging researchers include current and former participants in the CSIR internship, studentship and postdoctoral programmes, as well as recipients of the young researcher establishment fund (YREF).

"We believe that the name of the conference reflects its objective. We want to showcase research and development that is real, hinting at the ultimate aim of having impact; and relevant, pointing to the close correlation between our research objectives and what our country needs, what our national priorities are," says Dr Thulani Dlamini who is the Co-Chair of the Organising Committee.

"We hope to show a healthy mix of projects with some early breakthroughs, but also projects where a positive outcom e- for example, uptake of a technology by an industry - has been achieved, with good indications of a longer-term impact,' he concludes.

The year 2010 will be remembered for numerous big events and one of them will be the celebration of 50 years of the laser. Laser technology is one of the key technologies that the CSIR employs in its efforts to make a difference, so we as an organisation intend to give some prominence to this technology