, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, has been ranked second in the University of Pennsylvania's 2009 'Global Go-To Think Tank Rankings' for the sub-Saharan Africa region behind the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). The ranking was undertaken by a panel of 300 experts from around the world, across the political spectrum and from every discipline and sector to help nominate and select public policy research centres of excellence. The members of the expert panel were asked to nominate regional or global centres of excellence that they felt should be recognised for producing rigorous and relevant research, publications and programmes in one or more substantive areas of research. The index is available from www.sas.upenn.edu.