2025 NRF Lifetime Achievement Award for Prof. Jill Farrant
Dr Fulufhelo Nelwamondo, NRF CEO, and Dr Blade Nzimande, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation with MCB's Prof. Jill Farrant and her Lifetime Achievement Award
Professor Jill Farrant was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at 2025's NRF Awards. Over the course of a distinguished career as a plant molecular physiologist, Prof Jill Farrant has combined scientific excellence with a deep commitment to capacity building, mentorship, and societal impact. Her life’s work, aimed at the improvement of drought tolerance in African crops, has redefined our understanding of this critical field and has contributed to food security in the face of climatic changes on a continent challenged by a future that will be hotter and drier.
Professor Jill Farrant, who holds the SARChI Chair in Plant Desiccation Tolerance and is based in UCT’s Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, is an internationally acclaimed plant molecular physiologist. As the world’s leading expert on resurrection plants, her work has positioned South Africa at the forefront of climate-adaptive agricultural science. Her transformative contribution to the field has far-reaching implications for global food security and climate resilience (excerpt from UCT News article).
Read the full article by Sarah Marriott here.
Read the NRF's article here.