AIMS South Africa Newsletter September 2025

[Linda Camara]

New Faces, New Energy: Welcoming the 2025 AIMS South Africa Cohort    On Monday, 8 September 2025, Prof. Neil Turok, founder of AIMS, opened the new academic year by sharing the inspiring story of how AIMS began and the global network that students are now part of. This year’s intake joins a vibrant community of thinkers and problem-solvers, connected across Africa and beyond, working together to shape the future of science, mathematics, and innovation.            This cohort includes 20 students (10 women) on the Mathematical Sciences stream and 39 students (8 women) on the AI for Science stream, representing 16 African countries.      Both streams began the academic year with a module on Bayesian Inference taught by Prof. Sanjoy Mahajan from Lund University. The Mathematical Sciences students also completed a Python course with Prof. Jaco Geldenhuys, while the AI for Science undertook an Introduction to    Machine Learning with Prof. Claire David (AIMS South Africa) and Prof. Harrison Prosper (Florida State University), (pictured below.       The week included several activities to help students settle in and connect with the AIMS community. Sessions included English classes, bootcamps corresponding to each stream, and briefings on administration, facilities, and finance.  Optional social activities brought the AIMS family together in the evenings, including a Riddle Hunt and Tag Game, African Stories, Chat with Alumni, and Movie Night. The week concluded with a Zandvlei ParkRun on Saturday morning and a Red Bus Tour of Cape Town in the afternoon, a wonderful way for new students to explore their new surroundings and begin their journey at AIMS South Africa.       AIMS Scholars Mentor at G20 AI Hackathon in Cape Town       A group of eleven Google DeepMind scholars from AIMS South Africa took part as mentors in the recent AI Hackathon held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from 24-25 September.      The hackathon formed part of the G20 series of events in South Africa and was organised by Google DeepMind in collaboration with the Google Developer Group Cape Town.     The event brought together innovators and developers to tackle real-world challenges through artificial intelligence, with a strong AIMS presence among the mentors guiding participating teams.       Read more    Deep Learning Indaba 2025       Thanks to generous support from Google DeepMind, 29 AIMS research students attended the Deep Learning Indaba in Kigali, Rwanda, Africa’s largest and most prestigious AI gathering.      Each student presented a research poster, showcasing some of the Institute’s most innovative work. Several received additional recognition, including AIMS alumnus Mahmoud Abelkader (pictured right), who was featured in a televised interview, and Koomi Amoussouvi, awarded for Outstanding Work in Climate-Resilient AI.      Prof. Ulrich Paquet, joined high-profile panels on startup investment and the future of education, and presented the Kambule Doctoral Award, honouring excellence in African research. Congratulations to Lexy Andati (Rhodes University & SARAO, picture bottom right), this year’s recipient.    Intsebenziswano Mathematics Indaba       AIMS participated in the Intsebenziswano Mathematics Indaba in September, the first-ever joint meeting of the London Mathematical Society (LMS), South African Mathematics Society (SAMS) and the Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association (SAMSA).     Over five days, leading mathematicians from across the globe shared their work, engaged in strategic discussions, and celebrated their shared passion for mathematics.      Topics discussed included shared supervision, research visits, and courses co-taught by visiting and local lecturers.     AIMS had a session to speak about its work and our Mathematics Innovation  Manager, Dr Jacques Rabie, was a panel member for a discussion about mathematics and industry.      The ripple effect of this meeting will be the many wonderful initiatives to grow and support mathematics across the globe.     Prof Neil Turok, AIMS’s founder and the inaugural Higgs. Chair of Theoretical Physics at the University of Edinburgh, gave a plenary talk,“From the Cape to the Cosmos: an Opportunity for Africa. Machine Learning for Ecology Group Updates    As part of the Machine Learning for Ecology research group, Dr Lorène Jeantet attended the 29th International Bioacoustics Congress in Denmark. She presented a poster on a project conducted in collaboration with Heidelberg University and Ufuk Çakir.     The work explores the use of evolutionary algorithms to optimize both the selection and size of frequency bands from spectrograms, aiming to maximize the classification accuracy of deep learning models for automatically detecting wildlife calls from passive acoustic monitoring. At the same time, the approach minimizes the number of model parameters, leading to smaller, more efficient models well suited for real-time monitoring. Renovations update    We are particularly proud of the renovations that were completed in our July break. Offices and residences were upgraded, windows serviced and our computer lab is a state of the art space for interactive learning, complete with a conference room.    Keep coding, keep laughing, and keep creating magic with technology!       On Saturday, 13 September 2025, the AIMSSEC team had the joy of welcoming learners from Intlanganiso Secondary School and Encotsheni Primary School for another exciting round of coding fun!  From the moment the session kicked off, the room was buzzing with energy. Learners explored how to modify scripts and add layers of complexity to their designs, stretching their creativity and problem-solving skills to new levels.  What stood out most, was the laughter that echoed through the room and during breaks. Every challenge, every “aha!” moment, and even the little coding hiccups were met with smiles and giggles. We loved seeing the enthusiasm and we can’t wait to welcome these young innovators back for the next session.    Celebrating Milestones: Molo Mhlaba School’s First Grade 7 Graduates       On 26 September 2025, AIMSEC proudly participated in the Molo Mhlaba School celebrations, marking a historic moment: for the first time, a cohort of Grade 7 learners graduated from primary school.     This milestone is particularly significant as Molo Mhlaba is the first private STEM-    focused school for girls in the Khayelitsha area, setting a benchmark for quality education in the community.       Read more    Growing to new heights       On Saturday, 27 September 2025, AIMS South Africa hosted a dynamic teacher workshop focused on Computational Thinking. The event brought together mathematics and science teachers from across the Cape to explore innovative ways of professional learning.      This marks another step in how we are growing as an AIMS community of teachers committed to transforming teaching and learning in township schools. Read more    Teaching tip for lecturers!       Open and Closed Questions/Exhaustive Lists    Open questions invite answers that have something in common, that is, that they answer the question. Sometimes there are an infinite number of answers, and sometimes we could create an exhaustive list. So, what is ‘general’ about all the alternatives? What else do they all have in common apart from answering the original question? In what ways can we express the generality?          ANNOUNCEMENTS    We are hiring!    Join AIMS South Africa as Executive Director    AIMS South Africa is seeking a visionary leader to serve as Executive Director. Over two decades, AIMS South Africa has built a reputation for excellence in postgraduate training, research, and public engagement in mathematical sciences. The Executive Director will provide strategic guidance, lead academic programmes, build partnerships, and drive the Institute’s growth, helping shape the next generation of African STEM leaders.        Applications close 10 October 2025.    Read more             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.       Candidates are required to apply for both appointments, and the application for the Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Fellowship can be found on Imperial College’s website at: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/ix-ai-in-science/apply/    Read more