AIMS South Africa Newsletter February 2026

[Linda Camara]

Building Capacity for Mastercard Foundation Scholars in Leadership, Knowledge, and Skills for Public Science Engagement    Following the successful kick-off of the 2026 Africa Scientifique: Leadership, Knowledge, and Skills for Science Communication annual three-phase programme’s Introductory Workshop (Phase 1) in January, AIMS South Africa, in partnership with African Gong, continued its journey with Phase 2 of this transformative Afrocentric capacity-building initiative.      This year, the Africa Scientifique (AS) programme at AIMS South Africa is mainstreaming the programmatic framework for delivering to two streams of beneficiaries: AIMS Mastercard Foundation Scholars and Scholars from external partner universities in South Africa.    Phase 1 for Mastercard Foundation Scholars took place on January 31, 2026 and laid a strong foundation in which      participants explored the strategic, global, historical, and contemporary dimensions of science communication and the envisioned outcomes for participants.      Building on this, Phase 2, an intensive and interactive three-day workshop dedicated to capacity building for Mastercard Foundation Scholars, took place from February 25 to 27, 2026 at AIMS South Africa. It provided scholars with deeper hands-on and minds-on engagement in science communication and public engagement practices. It aimed to empower them to leverage these skills for leadership, career growth, and impact across academia, industry, and beyond, thereby enhancing employability.    Read more       AIMS Public Lecture Series: Exploring the Mathematics of Patterns and Tessellations       On 19 February 2026, AIMS South Africa, in collaboration with the National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences (NITheCS), hosted a public lecture titled “Patterns and Tessellations: Models for Regular Structures.”     The lecture was presented by Dr Michael Winckler, Administrative Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) at Heidelberg University and coordinator of the Africa Research Hub, a newly founded initiative of Heidelberg University’s Excellence Strategy that strengthens research collaborations and institutional partnerships across Africa.     The event attracted over 100 attendees, including artists, AIMS students, staff, members of the scientific community, and lifelong learners from Stellenbosch and surrounding communities.    Read more       Workshop on Random Discrete Structures       From 16 to 18 February 2026, AIMS South Africa hosted the LMU–SU Workshop on Random Discrete Structures, organised in collaboration with Stellenbosch University and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU).     The workshop explored recent developments in random discrete structures, a field that grew from the pioneering work of Erdős and Rényi on random graphs and now plays an important role in areas such as network science, computer science, and statistical physics.    Read more       AT AIMS–T4T Joint Workshop       On 21 February, AT AIMS (the Algebra|Topology research group at AIMS South Africa) and T4T (Topology for Tomorrow) at the University of the Western Cape held a joint one-day workshop with the September intake students who attended the Topology course at AIMS earlier this year.     The workshop aimed to foster collaboration between the two research groups—whose memberships partly overlap—and to provide AIMS postgraduate students with insight into active research programmes at the intersection of modern algebra and topology.    Read more       Seminars          On 6 February, AIMS South Africa hosted a seminar on Selected Topics in Graph Theory, featuring Tomas Vetrik (University of the Free State), Jelena Sedlar (University of Split, Croatia), and Riste Škrekovski (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia). The speakers presented three active areas of research in graph theory—the degree–diameter problem, metric dimension, and graph colourings—offering students and researchers a broad view of ongoing developments in the field.       On 11 February, AIMS South Africa welcomed Stephan Wagner (TU Graz) for a seminar titled Mean Subtree Order and Related Invariants. His talk focused on the notion of mean subtree order in trees, a graph invariant studied since the 1980s, and highlighted recent advances alongside open questions concerning its extremal properties.       New PhD Students Join the Cosmology & Astrophysics Group       The Astrophysics & Cosmology group in the Research Centre continues to grow, welcoming two new PhD students in January: Thato Thapo and Onintsoa Anjara Rakotondranisa, a former AIMS student.     Thato is interested in cosmology and general relativity, with current research focusing on plasma lensing, fast radio bursts, and cosmography.     Onintsoa is exploring the use of machine learning for cosmological parameter estimation, as well as applying deep learning methods to improve search pipelines for transient astrophysical events. We warmly welcome both students to the community and look forward to the exciting research they will contribute to the field of cosmology. Students updates AIMS students continue to benefit from courses delivered by an international group of lecturers from leading academic institutions. In the Mathematical Sciences stream, Dr Martin Bucher (French National Centre for Scientific Research) taught Problem-solving in Physics, and Prof Jane Hutton (University of Warwick) delivered Statistics Skills. Review courses included Topology by Dr Simo Mthethwa (UKZN), with Dr Cerene Rathilal (UKZN) teaching in Week 2 and Prof David Holgate (UWC) in Week 3, as well as Introduction to Modeling, Numerics and Optimization for Differential Equations by Leonard Storcks (Heidelberg University), with Dr Michael Winckler and Selina Winckler joining in Weeks 2 and 3. Martin Bucher    Jane Hutton    Simo Mthethwa    David Holgate    Michael and Selina Winckler    The AI for Science stream featured AI for Climate Change by Prof. Neil Hart (University of Oxford), with Dr Shruti Nath (University of Oxford) joining in Week 2. A/Prof. Guillaume Rabusseau (Mila) delivered Matrix and Tensor Factorization Techniques for Machine Learning, while Selected Topics in AI for Science was taught by Dr Sam Hillman, Dr Aidan Crilly, and Dr Kristofer Linton-Reid (Imperial College London), with visiting fellows from the I-X Centre contributing additional lectures throughout the course.    AIMS extends its sincere thanks to all the lecturers for their time, expertise, and commitment to delivering a rich and rigorous learning experience for our students.       Neil Hart & Shruti Nath       Guillaume Rabusseau       Imperial College London        Imperial College London    MSc Student Gains Advanced Radiobiology Training at JINR in Russia    Dr Igor Koshlan, Dr Daphney Bucher, Ms Marry Thekhwe, and Dr Batmunkh Munkhbaatar at the Radiation Biology Department at JINR.    International research exchanges play an important role in developing the next generation of African scientists by exposing them to global expertise, advanced research environments, and diverse scientific cultures.     Building on the intensive Introduction to Radiobiology course held at NRF-iThemba LABS in August 2025, AIMS South Africa MSc research student Marry Thekhwe continued her training through a research visit to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia, from January 19 to February 7, 2026.     The visit strengthened both the computational and radiobiological aspects of her research. Accompanied by her main supervisor, Dr Thifhelimbilu Daphney Bucher (University of Cape Town), an AIMS South Africa 2006 alumnus, Marry undertook specialised training in computational modelling and radiobiology with Dr Batmunkh Munkhbaatar at the Laboratory of Radiation Biology.       Read more    A Celebration of Master’s Students Giving Back        February at AIMS South Africa was filled with a special kind of energy. Alongside their demanding studies in the Master’s in Mathematical Sciences programme, groups of students chose to spend their Saturdays volunteering to support learners from township communities.    They showed up with commitment, curiosity, and a willingness to contribute. Their dedication was evident—not only in the time they gave, but also in how     attentively they listened to what was expected of them as mentors and facilitators. It was a privilege to witness the thoughtfulness and care these young scientists brought into the learning spaces. Behind their strong academic abilities was something equally important: a genuine desire to give back.    Read more    Geometry Around Us: Workshop with Future Mathematics Teachers at UCT       On 20 February 2026, Dr Sinobia Kenny and Jadga Huege from SAP presented a workshop titled Geometry Around Us to Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students at the University of Cape Town. The group consisted of pre-service teachers specialising in Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy.    The workshop focused on mathematical and computational thinking and invited students to consider how geometry can be seen and explored in the world around us. It was also an opportunity to talk about the expectations and responsibilities that come with entering the teaching profession.    Read more    Our Responsibility to Learners: A Visit to Lavender Hill High       There is often much said about the poor quality of mathematics in schools. Too often, the conversation focuses on teachers or learners as the problem. But a bigger question remains: if we see the challenge, whose responsibility is it to strengthen the teaching and learning of mathematics?    On 11 February 2026, Prof Jonathan Jansen and Dr Sinobia Kenny visited Lavender Hill High School, led by its dedicated principal, Fuad Viljoen. Viljoen is deeply committed to improving mathematics education and creating real opportunities for learners.    Read more    Quiet yet powerful realisations          On 21 February 2026,  a Grade 10 Computational Thinking workshop took place at AIMS South Africa for Soneike High School and Masimbane Secondary School, facilitated by Dr Tejumade Ogundipe. The session brought together an all-boys group of learners.     For Ogundipe, it was a slightly different experience. As a mother raising two daughters, and someone who has taught mostly mixed-gender classes, this was her first time facilitating a workshop with only boys. The room felt quieter than she was used to.    Read more