The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) introduced the Policy on the Evaluation of Creative Outputs and Innovations produced by South African Public Higher Education Institutions (2017) in 2018.
The purpose of this policy is to recognise and reward quality creative outputs and performing arts produced by public higher education institutions.
This policy acknowledges that there are legitimate and worthwhile research practices which may not be covered by the below list, or fall neatly within the parameters of “creative research”. These often include practices falling within the realms of research undertaken by those in Journalism, for example, as well as activities such as translation and scholarly editing.
This policy allows for a three year submission process, which means a researcher has up to three years from the time the work first appeared in the public domain to submit it for accreditation.
The creative outputs and performing arts recognised in terms of this policy are divided into the subfields listed below.
Creative research outputs
This category refers to the production of artwork featuring in a one -person exhibition or an installation; work exhibited in a two- or three- person show; a substantive single work/series included in a group exhibition.
Animation , Artists books, Collage, Drawing, Installation, Mixed media, Multimedia, Online art, Painting, Performance, Robotic, Sculpture, Software art, Video art and Other.
Design is understood as the realisation of a concept or idea into a configuration, drawing, model mould, pattern plan or any specification (on which the actual or commercial production of an item is based) and which helps achieve the item's designated objectives.
| Architectural Design: is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings and other physical structures. | Graphic Design: is the methodology of visual communication, and problem-solving through the use of type, space and image. | Jewellery Design: is the art or profession of planning, rendering, and/or fabricating, one of a kind, studio multiples, or production jewellery. | Fashion Design: Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. |
| Built Environment: encompasses the human-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from buildings and parks or green space to neighbourhoods and cities that can often include their supporting infrastructure, such as water supply or energy networks. | Industrial Design: is a process of design applied to products that are to be manufactured through techniques of mass production. It includes the designing of anything and everything that is mass-produced, from once-off furniture items to mass-produced goods such as gaming consoles, kitchen appliances and mobile phones. | Landscape Design: is the art of designing outdoor spaces, such as parks, playgrounds, college campuses, and lawns and gardens for private residences, as well as planning the restoration and conservation of natural areas like forests and wetlands. | Interior Design: is the art or process of designing the interior decoration of a room or building. |
| Communication Design: is a mixed discipline between design and information-development which is concerned with how media intermission such as printed, crafted, electronic media or presentations communicate with people. | Information Design: Information design is the practice of presenting information in a way that fosters efficient and effective understanding of it. The output of an information design is sometimes expressed in written instructions, plans, sketches, drawings, or formal specifications. | Multimedia Design: is the art of integrating multiple forms of media. Designers in the field of multimedia use imagery, typography, video, sound and computer-based interactivity to communicate. The field includes basic digital animation, computer graphics, storyboarding and digital interfaces for web design and design for interactivity. | Textile Design: is the art of creating designs for woven, knitted or printed fabrics. Textile designers are involved with the production of these designs, which are used, sometimes repetitively, in clothing and interior decor items. |
The work should have been screened publicly, either through theatrical release in commercial cinemas, at festivals or on broadcast television, in order to gauge critical and audience response. It should also be available for rescreening on DVD. Works in any of the following genres may be submitted:
- Fiction: full-length feature films, made for television feature films, episodes in series, situation comedy series (episodes or series); animated short or full-length features.
Documentary: full-length documentary, series or genre episodes, investigative journalis.
Each film or television output should be at least 30 min in duration.
| Acting: lead and supporting actors as designated by writer, director and producer. | Directing: only the main director will be assessed. | Script writing: the complete text in acceptable format must be presented. |
| Cinematography: Only the first camera will be considered. It is also generally accepted that cinematographers regularly do their own lighting design. In this case the cinematographer may not also apply for the lighting design category, but must indicate his or her involvement in the lighting aspect, so as to assist the assessors in their task. | Editing: Editing will consider both the visual and the sound editing as one package. | Set design: In this case relevant drawings, perspectives and the like need to be included. It is acknowledged that designing all the sets is a very large task, and so only one set piece needs to be presented in documentation form, with the relevant film or television product. |
| Costume design: For costume design, relevant drawings and renderings and the like need to be included in the assessment portfolio. It is acknowledged that designing all the costumes is a very large task, and so only four set pieces need to be presented in documentation form, with the relevant film or television product to indicate the rest of the work. In the case of specialised makeup, additions such as wigs, and animated characters developed through motion - capture or animatronics, the application will fall under the rubric of costume design. | Producing: in this case the producer will have to present the final film or television product, but will also have to present written evidence, which will include information on budgets, schedules, distribution, locations, contracts, and any other documentation that will contribute to the assessment process. |
The work should have been screened publicly, either through theatrical release in commercial cinemas, at festivals or on broadcast television, in order to gauge critical and audience response. It should also be available for rescreening on DVD. Works in any of the following genres may be submitted:
- Fiction: full-length feature films, made for television feature films, episodes in series, situation comedy series (episodes or series); animated short or full-length features.
Documentary: full-length documentary, series or genre episodes, investigative journalism.
Each film or television output should be at least 30 min in duration.
| Acting: lead and supporting actors as designated by writer, director and producer. | Directing: only the main director will be assessed. | Script Writing: the complete text in acceptable format must be presented. |
| Cinematography: Only the first camera will be considered. It is also generally accepted that cinematographers regularly do their own lighting design. In this case the cinematographer may not also apply for the lighting design category, but must indicate his or her involvement in the lighting aspect, so as to assist the assessors in their task. | Editing: Editing will consider both the visual and the sound editing as one package. | Set Design: In this case relevant drawings, perspectives and the like need to be included. It is acknowledged that designing all the sets is a very large task, and so only one set piece needs to be presented in documentation form, with the relevant film or television product. |
| Costume design: For costume design, relevant drawings and renderings and the like need to be included in the assessment portfolio. It is acknowledged that designing all the costumes is a very large task, and so only four set pieces need to be presented in documentation form, with the relevant film or television product to indicate the rest of the work. In the case of specialised makeup, additions such as wigs, and animated characters developed through motion - capture or animatronics, the application will fall under the rubric of costume design. | Producing: in this case the producer will have to present the final film or television product, but will also have to present written evidence, which will include information on budgets, schedules, distribution, locations, contracts, and any other documentation that will contribute to the assessment process. | Investigative Journalism |
Literary arts refers to any piece of writing that possesses literary merit, and language that foregrounds literariness, as opposed to ordinary language. Literature can be classified according to whether it is fiction or non-fiction and whether it is poetry or prose. It can further be distinguished according to major forms such as the novel, short-story or drama. The work is often categorised according to historical periods or adherence to certain aesthetic features or expectations (genre).
It excludes biographies, histories, critical works or any writings which would generally fall under the rubric of “conventional” research and which would thus not require special consideration. It also excludes theatre or drama scripts (which fall within the ambit of the Theatre, Performance and Dance category) as well as film scripts (which fall within the ambit of the Film and Television category).
| Creative Non-Fiction: The output, whether a non-fiction novel, memoir or collection of essays, for example, would normally be a book. A stand-alone component of a book (such as an individual essay or a short story with non-fiction elements) must be substantive or complex in terms of its form and content to qualify for accreditation. | Oral Performance and/or Literature: It is normally only the collection by a single author rather than the single output that is eligible. An exception is made, however, for a single output that is demonstrated to be substantive and/or complex in terms of its form and content. A single output that is not published must have been performed on a particular occasion and evidence of its performance provided. |
| Novels, Novellas and Short Stories: Only novels, short story collections, plays and volumes of poetry will be recognised, not individual short stories or poems. | Poetry: Only collections of poetry will be recognised, not individual poems. |
Creative outputs in the case of music may be divided into four basic types, which for the purposes of this policy may broadly be defined as set out below. This categorisation is made with due cognisance that:
- they encompass outputs in all musical languages, including traditional and indigenous music, Western classical music, popular music and jazz.
- submissions may include cross-category outputs, in which case applications for accreditation should be motivated accordingly.
- submissions may include cross-disciplinary outputs, such as music for theatre, dance or film, in which case applications for accreditation should be made in any one relevant disciplinary category.
Conducting / Directing: As in the case of solo performance, because the composer's musical score is but an incomplete guide to the musical work, for the truly outstanding conductor /director this is also the domain of recomposition, originality of thought, exceptional creative insights, and research - informed performance practice. Although it may be less demanding than solo performsnce in some respects, it requires the additional ability to co- ordinate and combine the technical and musical mastery of individual performing musicians towards a single musical interpretation. For the purposes of accreditation, the proposed quantitative rating distinguishes two categories of conducting/directing on the following basis:
| Group Performance: As in the case of solo performance, because the composer's musical score is but an incomplete guide to the musical work, for the truly outstanding individual musician within a group context, this is also the domain of recomposition, originality of thought, exceptional creative insights, and research -informed performance practice, although the degree of recomposition or improvisation exhibited should be aligned with accepted performance practice in the genre performed. Although it may be less demanding than solo performance in some respects, group performances require the additional ability to collaborate with coperformers towards a single interpretation of the musical work. This category includes a number of musical genres: chamber music, ensembles, bands, and orchestral music. However, because smaller groups usually place greater technical and musical demands on individual performers than do larger ones, the proposed quantitative rating distinguishes two categories of group performance on the following basis:
|
| Music Composition: The act of conceiving an original musical work, the primary musical domain for originality of thought and exceptional creative insights. It's research -informed or scholarly, discursive intent is predominantly evident in the extent to which it exhibits the sustained development of musical ideas and in its sensitivity to the intertextuality of its stylistic conventions. | Solo Music Performance: This is the domain of the virtuoso who exhibits prodigious technical mastery, invention, and charisma. Because the composer's musical score is but an incomplete guide to the musical work, for the truly outstanding performer this is also the domain of re- composition, originality of thought, exceptional creative insights, and research -informed performance practice, although the degree of recomposition or improvisation exhibited should be aligned with accepted performance practice in the genre performed. Solo performance may be unaccompanied or accompanied (as would be the case in concertos, lead roles in an opera, non -keyboard sonatas, etc.). |
The performance entails live, intimate connection with the audience. It is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience art of movement of the body, usually rhythmically and to the music, using prescribed or improvised steps and gestures. As an art-form it can be analysed purely by its choreography, its repertoire of movements, or it may be classified according to its time or place of origin.
| Directing: Direction of an extant text/script resulting in a demonstrably original interpretation or staging of that text/script. | Scenography/ design/ performance Technology: Original scenography/design for production whether of lighting, sound, costume, set, make-up, puppets or any other aspect OR a particular technological/material innovation for use in a production. |
| Oral Performance | Theatre- Making/ Dramaturgy/ Choreography: Direction of a creative process resulting in the staging of an original performance work. |
| Performance: Performance of a role in a production that is deemed original either by virtue of having never been performed before. | Writing: Literary production of an original written text/script intended for performance. |
Innovations
A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention. An invention is a solution to a specific technological problem and is a product or a process.
A Plant Breeders' Right (PBR), also known as a Plant Variety Right (PVR) are a form of intellectual property rights designed specifically to protect new varieties of plants. These rights are granted to the breeder of a new variety of plants, which will give the breeder exclusive control over the propagating material (including seed, cuttings, divisions, tissue culture) and harvested material (including cut flowers, fruit, foliage) for a number of years.
Submission guidance
How to submit your output
Researchers now have the opportunity to submit their creative research outputs produced during the period 2024, 2025 and 2026 (n-3) to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) for subsidy purposes.
Please consult the FAQ document before preparing your submission to ensure that you have all the necessary information and guidance.
Internal deadline: 18 January 2027. Please note that no extensions will be granted beyond this date.
All outputs must be created and nominated on Symplectic Elements (SE) to be considered for submission.
Watch the video on how to submit your output or view the manual under guidance documents.
Important documents
Discovery
Is your profile updated?
We would hereby like to invite Stellenbosch University researchers and academics to update their profiles on the university's researcher profile portal, Discovery.
The aim of the portal is to showcase SU's researchers and their publications, and to boost their overall academic profile. Update your profile here.
Symplectic Elements Discovery Module - FAQs
Frequently asked questions for Stellenbosch University users of Symplectic Elements
Creative research outputs queries
Technical enquiries on SE and Discovery
Innovations submission queries
