FABI Celebrates Ten Years of Excellence

 

Early in 1997, FABI was merely an idea in the minds of a group of people with a vision. This idea was to establish a new research institute on the campus of the University of Pretoria, focussed in the broad plant science domain. Although details had yet to be worked out, there was a clear aim to expand research opportunities and education in the rapidly growing area of molecular biology, particularly nucleic acids research and recombinant DNA technology. Furthermore, to establish a dynamic, post-graduate research environment, including a strong focus on building collaborative research across disciplines.

 While the ideas for the new institute were many and varied, the details were far from clear. By April of 1997, the decision to build a completely new research facility has been made and the funding was in place to commence with the project. Architects and project managers were appointed and plans to move the team of the already well-known Tree Pathology Co-operative Programme at the University of the Free State, to Pretoria were initiated. By June of that same year, ground had been broken on the parking lot across from the Agiculture Building in Lunnon Road - at that time still a public road. The sixth floor of the Agriculture building was cleared and renovations as well as new labs were equipped. There was much excitement and tensions abounded. Not least of which were the concern regarding the loss of parking space on Campus.

What's in a name? While the building of the new institute facilities was progressing apace, there were many other issues that needed to be considered. Of substantial importance was to establish a name for the new institute. The name FABI arose from a walk on the beach on the east coast of South Africa where Brenda Wingfield had one of those Eureka moments. FABI – the name captured all the main elements of the planned activities of the institute. And it had a very pleasant, memorable ring to it. Rhyming with important words such as FABULOUS, FUNGI, FIBRE and FOOD, it was just perfect. And it was a name that would form the catalyst for so much growth in the future.

The first pioneers from Bloemfontein arrived on the Campus of the University of Pretoria in December of 1997. These "trailblazing researchers" occupied the new sixth floor FABI laboratories and they helped to pave the way for the 50. That paving was an important part of what must have been one of the largest relocations of any research group in the history of South Africa. The relocation of equipment needed to be negotiated, new salary packages and appointments resolved and many of those making the move had very special needs. Not least of these was one of the team that needed to relocate not only her family but a herd of breeding cattle!

The second "wave" of new FABIANs were largely those with children and they arrived in Pretoria in January of 1998, and in time for the start of the South African school year. By this time the new FABI building was up to roof height but there were many issues that needed to be resolved. A new home for the seven gold fish that had been a key feature of the Sappi building in Bloemfontein was just one of these items. We learned rapidly that building a fish pond on the campus of the University of Pretoria was no mean undertaking. This was because there were regulations in place prohibiting the building of fishponds. Over the years, and having to maintain the FABI fishpond, many of the group have come to recognise that the regulation was made by a group of people with great wisdom.

By April of 1998, the new FABI main building had more or less been completed. It was time for the third wave of pioneers to move to Pretoria. The fact that the pipes still needed to be connected to give us running water and that the telephones were non-functional in the first few weeks, were only a few of the dozens of issues that needed to be resolved. What we learned is that occupying a new building is an important step towards getting the machine functional.

A decision was made in 1998 that we would wait a year, until 1999 to hold the formal opening of FABI. This was to enable the last members of the team to join us and also to settle in to our new facilities, FABI on the farm, FABI on the sixth floor and FABI in the main building. And settling was a complex process. One that involved integrating new members of the Institute with those that had come from Bloemfontein and importantly, it was necessary to establish the foundation of a culture for the Institute. One so often hears the remark “a church is not the building but the people who worship in it”. This was so very true for FABI in the early days. We had the buildings and wonderful people were committed to building the institute. But we needed to decide how we would function. Would there be formal meetings? Would we have tea gatherings and how often would they be held? What about seminars - how many and how often? The list of possibilities was long and much planning and discussion was needed to resolve these questions and to develop the foundation of a culture for a special new institute.

Thus FABI was born in 1998. From a small beginning; a group of core academics, technical staff and post graduate students numbering about 50, the group has grown over a ten year period to about 180. A remarkable group of people that is hugely diverse in composition and with some 30 different languages spoken at any one time. The unexpected growth in numbers of students meant that there was a need for substantially expanded physical facilities. Thus the FABI Square/Bioinformatics was conceived and completed in 2003 and the institute is rapidly moving towards a point where additional facilities are required to allow for further expansion.

The establishment of FABI can only be described as a resounding success. The institute has matured and developed a nature of its own with special traditions and a unique structure. It has grown and excelled far beyond the expectations of its stakeholders, the University of Pretoria and the many funding agencies, government, state and private companies that support its research. Individual FABIANS have won countless awards for research excellence and the institute as a whole has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades. And all of these accomplishments have come to us in only ten years. One can only wonder what the next ten years will bring. In a year where we not only celebrate the tenth anniversary of FABI but the 100th Anniversary of the University of Pretoria, we need also to think far ahead. What will FABI be like when it celebrates its centenary? What will the science and education environment be like in 2090? Certainly very different from today! But we must hope that the special culture and the passion that has driven the development and growth of FABI will still be deeply embedded in the hearts of those that will be doing what FABIANS do today.