The Cube Analysis and Rendering Tool for Astronomy (CARTA) team, based in the Inter-University Institute for Data-Intensive Astronomy (IDIA), received the inaugural Research Software Award. The prestigious National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)-South32 Awards, known locally as the ‘Science Oscars’, recognise excellence in science, technology and innovation. The awards honour outstanding contributions by researchers, innovators, science communicators, data specialists and research leaders whose work is shaping South Africa’s future and advancing global knowledge. “Research software of this scale requires long-term developer capacity and institutional commitment. “The nominations for this new category acknowledge diverse contributors to research software, from postgraduate students and researchers to research software engineers, computational scientists, data scientists and digital humanists.”