Posted by Prof Hein Venter on 23 Nov 2011, 14:07 (last modified on 9 Feb 2012, 13:29)

The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) hosts the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) Regional Office for sub-Saharan Africa (TWAS-ROSSA). This has enabled AAS to run all the TWAS activities in Africa. In collaboration with TWAS and other partners, AAS has annually identified and nominated scientists, especially young scientists, in the region for various awards and prizes. These include the TWAS Regional Prize, the TWAS-ROSSA Young Scientists' Prize and the TWAS-AAS-Microsoft Award.

TWAS, AAS and Microsoft Research have partnered to establish the TWAS-AAS-Microsift Award. The prize recognizes young scientists in Africa whose research in computer science promised to have a positive impact in the developing world. The winner receives 7000 Euros generously contributed by Microsoft Research, of which 2000 Euro may be spent at the recipient's discretion and 5000 Euro shall be earmarked for further research. The prize also carries a certificate bearing a citation highlighting the major contributions for which the prize is awarded.

Prof Hein Venter receives the TWAS-AAS-Microsoft Award for his contributions to the field of digital forensics, particularly in the design, harmonization and standardization of the digital forensic investigation process model. The award ceremony coincided with "The 25th Anniversary of AAS and 40th Anniversary of the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) Celebrations on Climate Change and Food Security: The Road for Africa".


Prof Hein S Venter obtained his PhD degree in computer science in 2003 at the University of Johannesburg (formerly the Rand Afrikaans University). He is currently working at the University of Pretoria and started his research career there in 2003. Prof Venter also holds a BSc degree, a BSc (Honours) degree, and an MSc degree in Computer Science.

Prof Venter is one of the founding members and current head of the Information and Computer Security Architectures (ICSA) Research Group at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Pretoria, where he provides postgraduate supervision to a number of Honours, M.IT, MSc and PhD students. He is the author and co-author of more than 80 publications at national and international conferences and subject journals. His current research interests include digital forensics, information privacy, wireless security systems and network security, however, his main focus is on digital forensics research. He is also member of several professional bodies, including the IFIP working group 11.9 on digital forensics (IFIP WG 11.9), the South African Institute for Computer Scientists and Information Technologists (SAICSIT), Information Security for South Africa (ISSA) and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). He also serves on the technical and program committees of the conferences organised by IFIP WG 11.9, SAICSIT and ISSA. Prof Venter was successful in a bid to host the Eighth Annual IFIP WG 11.9 International Conference on Digital Forensics for the first time in South Africa from 3-5 January 2011. Furthermore, Prof Venter is awarded several research grants that allows him and his research team to conduct the said research.

Prof Venter is teaching numerous undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the University of Pretoria in the areas of programming, information security and digital forensics. He is also involved in teaching of short courses in programming, information security and digital forensic investigations aimed at industry.

On the sideline, Prof Venter is also director and launched an annual community-based project in 2003, Project PumaScope, aimed at reaching out to rural communities in South Africa. The main goal of this project is to facilitate teachers and learners of rural secondary schools with basic knowledge in computer science and computer literacy as well as cyber security awareness. On an annual basis, hundreds of people of various age groups receive such training and are each awarded a certificate of attendance endorsed by the Department of Computer Science at the University of Pretoria.