The night of Thursday 11 September was a time for celebration when the National Research Foundation (NRF) held their annual awards ceremony at the Thaba Eco Hotel outside Johannesburg.  This event provided the stage to recognise top research accomplishment in South Africa through the presentation of awards to new recipients of NRF "P" and "A" ratings.  Two research leaders in FABI were among those honoured. Prof Brenda Wingfield received an "A" rating for the first time in 2014 and Prof Mike Wingfield received his fourth "A" rating in 2013 having now held this status for 18 years. Mike was not available to receive his award in 2013 and thus found himself sharing the stage with Brenda at this years event. They are in the most unusual position of being one of only two couples to share this highest status for scientists at South African research institutions.  The "A" rating is awarded to "Researchers who are unequivocally recognised by their peers as leading international scholars in their field for the high quality and impact of their recent research outputs." FABI also congratulates a colleague from the University of Pretoria, Prof Stella Nkomo from the Department of Human Resource Management, for being named the NRF Champion of Research Capacity Development.

In the photograph Mike and Brenda shares the stage at the awards ceremony. The attachment contains the newspaper clippings about their achievement published as a supplement to the Mail & Guardian.