| | AIMS South Africa Celebrates the Class of 2024/25
at Recognition Ceremony |
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| | | | AIMS South Africa proudly hosted its Recognition of Achievement Ceremony
on 17 July 2025, celebrating the accomplishments of the 2024–2025 Master of Science in Mathematical Sciences cohort. The event brought together faculty, families, partners, and honoured guests to recognise a year of academic excellence, scientific exploration, and deep community engagement. |
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| | The ceremony opened with a warm welcome from Prof. Ulrich Paquet, Director of AIMS South Africa, who
paid tribute to the collective ethos of the Institute. “Education is a powerful weapon, one that AIMS believes can be used to change the world. That is the bedrock of AIMS,” he said. Reflecting on the spirit of the year, he added, “This year, I learned something profound from all of you. We are an institute that operates as one team.” |
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| He thanked students and staff for their commitment and unity, from classrooms to community projects, and extended sincere appreciation to AIMS South Africa’s long-standing academic partners, the universities of Cape Town, the Western Cape, and Stellenbosch, as well as Google DeepMind, whose continued support of the AI for Science programme has helped expand AIMS’ academic vision. |
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| | At the ceremony, 62 students were awarded certificates of recognition, including 18 women, representing 15 different African countries. With this milestone, AIMS South Africa has now graduated 1,151 students from 42 countries across the continent, a growing network of young scientists united by a shared commitment to mathematical excellence and Africa’s transformation. |
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| | | | | | | The Mega Maths Festival a first-of-its-kind International Mathematics in Education Conference, took place from 7 to 11 July 2025 at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). |
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| | The Mega Maths Festival is a multi-stakeholder platform strategically led by the South African Government Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), in collaboration with AIMS South Africa and UWC. Themed “Mathematics: Our 13th National Language”, the festival aimed to strengthen mathematics education and research across the South African ecosystem, encompassing schools, higher education and industry, all of which are vital parts of the National Systems of Innovation (NSI). |
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| | This historic event was directly inspired by and strategically leveraged the successes and high-level engagements of the Siyakhula Festival, held in March 2024 at AIMS South Africa. |
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| | The Mega Maths Festival brought together over 500 delegates, including policymakers from various government departments such as DHET, DBE, DSTI and NRF, academics, researchers from various universities and TVET colleges, science and education councils, NGOs involved in mathematics education, corporate representatives, rural school mathematics teachers, high school pupils, university students, and international participants. The Mega Maths Festival was co-funded by the European Union (EU). |
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| Celebrating Our Teaching Assistants:
Thank You for an Exceptional Year |
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| | | | With the 2024–2025 academic year now concluded, we take this moment to express our deepest appreciation to the outstanding team of Teaching Assistants (TAs) who played a vital role in the success of AIMS South Africa’s students. |
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| | From supporting lecturers and marking assignments to mentoring and guiding students, our TAs showed up day after day with dedication, patience, and professionalism. Their behind-the-scenes work is an essential part of our academic offering, and we are truly grateful for their contributions. |
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| | We bid a fond farewell to Dr Mina Monadjem and Valérà Razafindravola, who are moving on to exciting new opportunities. Thank you both for your commitment and impact — we wish you all the best in the next chapter of your journey. |
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| | To all our TA’s, thank you for your energy, mentorship, and passion. You have made an indelible mark on the AIMS community. |
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| | | | 2024–2025 Teaching Assistant Team (from left to right in the photo): Dr Opeyemi Oyewumi, Abdallah Ahmed, Milanto Rasolofohery, Anicet Hounkanrin, Dr Yannick Awountsa, Joshua Passmore, Valérà Razafindravola, Dr Brice Razakarinoro, Dr Mina Monadjem, Meva Rakotondratoetra, Siya Mthimkulu, Marry Thekwe, and Michael Alummoottil Absent from photo: Jaron Cohen |
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| | | | | | | As part of the HeiAIMS exchange programme, Dr Jacques Rabie, Mathematics Innovation Manager at AIMS South Africa, recently spent time
at Heidelberg University from 28 June
to 12 July 2025. |
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| | While there he participated in the 2025 Integrative Think Tank (ITT), which took place from 30 June to 4 July. The ITT was a 5-day challenge workshop that brought together researchers and industry experts to explore real-world R&D challenges. |
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| The ITT is designed to formulate potential Master's or PhD thesis topics in partnership with industrial collaborators. |
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| | The ITT is organised under the Marie Curie doctoral network AIPHY and Flagship 3 of the 4EU+ European University Alliance, and was led by Prof. Jürgen Hesser, Dr Michael J. Winckler, and Prof. Robert Scheichl. |
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| | | | | | | From 9 to 13 June our AIMS MS January intake, as well as the Bio Maths Honours students participated in a Modelling in Medicine and Public Health course, with a focus on applied problems in mathematical modelling, particularly where models are closely linked to relevant data. |
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| | This was the precursor to our students joining the 14th Clinic on the Meaningful Modelling of Epidemiological Data (MMED), an interactive workshop convening an international cohort to explore data-driven modelling in public health. The clinic provides a valuable platform to explore the intersection of mathematics, epidemiology and public health. |
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| It concluded with a project phase, where students worked in groups, guided by a mentor. The projects were supported by additional lectures, live coding sessions, and a GitHub introduction. |
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| | To highlight the policy relevance of epidemiological modelling, a special “Modelling for Policy” session was held, featuring Prof. Juliet Pulliam (CDC-US), Prof. Thumbi Mwangi (CEMA), and Prof. Jeff Imai-Eaton (Harvard). The panel discussion explored how data-driven models can inform public health strategies, guide resource allocation, and mitigate the impact of infectious diseases. We are grateful to SACEMA (South Africa Centre for Epidemioological Modelling and Analysis for a wonderful, enriching experience. |
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| | | | | AIMS South Africa said farewell to Dr Emmanuel Dufourq who has taken up a position as Assistant Professor of Data Science at the University of Nothern Iowa |
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| We also bid farewell to Ms Noluthando Sithole’s, who’s internship at AIMS South Africa ended on 31 July 2025. She joined the AIMS family as part of the 2023/25 DSI-HSRC Internship Programme. During her time with us, she worked closely within the AIMS House of Science, assisting with science communication, public engagement and Women in STEM programmatic activities. She also provided valuable support to the AIMS communications team. |
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| | | Teaching tip for lecturers! |
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| | | | | If every task has a solution, students may form the impression that any question can be answered. It is useful, therefore, to intersperse tasks with ones that truly are impossible, not just sound impossible as in the previous section. The pedagogical purpose is not only to remind students that they need to be alert and questioning, but also to stimulate them to explain why it is impossible. In each case, students can be asked to make up more impossible tasks like it, as a step toward justifying why it is impossible, and even characterizing the conditions under which it is either possible or impossible. |
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| | | | | | | | | | From the 27 to 30 October 2025, AIMS South Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, will host the 1st AIMS Workshop and School on The Theory of Quantum Learning Algorithms. |
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| | The event will consist of both a workshop and school, with the workshop taking place in the mornings, and the school in the afternoons. In particular, each morning will consist of three one-hour talks from invited workshop speakers, aimed both at disseminating recent progress on the theory of quantum learning algorithms, as well as formulating important questions and topics for future research. Each afternoon will then consist of tutorials on advanced topics relevant to the subject of the workshop. These afternoon tutorials will be aimed at graduate students in the mathematical sciences with an existing introductory background in quantum computing, and a special interest in research on the mathematical foundations of quantum learning algorithms. |
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| | | | Calling all women in the mathematical sciences! |
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| | | | | This National Women’s Month, we honour the remarkable South African women who have paved the way for our generation and reaffirm our commitment to addressing profound gender inequalities in South Africa’s science, technology, and innovation (STI) sectors. Bridging this gap is crucial not only for transformation and equity but also for the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals across the African continent. |
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| | AIMS South Africa, in partnership with @African Gong, proudly presents the WAFIRA Capacity-Building Programme (Women’s Advancement Forum: International Exchanges, Research & Academia), empowering women in mathematical sciences through leadership training, skills development, and strategic support for successful academic, research, and industry career progression pathways. |
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| | | | | | | Imperial College London and AIMS South Africa invite applications for an Artificial Intelligence in Science postdoctoral fellowship.
A one-year appointment at AIMS South Africa is linked to a one year Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Fellowship at Imperial College, London, which commences on 1 September 2026. The AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship at AIMS follows immediately after the Fellowship at Imperial College. |
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| | | | | | | | | | The Quantum@AIMS research group, led by Dr Ryan Sweke, is inviting applications for a two year postdoctoral fellowship (start date 1 January 2026). Research in this group is focused on foundational mathematical questions at the intersection of quantum computing, theory of machine learning and cryptography, and applicants should ideally have both a background in related topics and strong motivation to perform research in these directions. |
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| | | | | | | | The Quantum@AIMS research group, led by Dr Ryan Sweke, is offering two three-year PhD positions in quantum computing and quantum information, with the possibility of an additional one year extension (start date 1 January 2026). The scope for both positions is broad, but it is envisaged that successful applicants will work on foundational mathematical questions at the intersection of quantum computing, theory of machine learning and cryptography. |
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