Combatting the challenge of low research capacity in African universities and establishing a pool of competent researchers is a key focus of DRILL’s work. DRILL seeks to support improvements in the environments in which researchers are based as well as strategies to develop both the individual research and the institution.

The University of KwaZulu-Natal has restructured and moved away from being a primarily teaching and learning institution to becoming a research leader in academic scholarship.

A Senate Task Team was established in 2010 to examine the University’s research output. The task team had two recommendations. Firstly that each academic staff member should have at the minimum 6 postgraduate students under their supervision if at senior lecturer level and above. Secondly, that a PhD should be the minimum requirement for senior lecturer appointment.

The DRILL programme is centered around developing excellence in research leadership.