AIMS South Africa Newsletter November 2025

[African Institute for Mathematical Sciences]

AIMS South Africa celebrates the Class of 2025 at a Recognition of Achievement Ceremony    AIMS South Africa hosted its Recognition of Achievement Ceremony on 27 November at its Muizenberg centre, honouring students in the Master of Science in Mathematical Sciences programme. The ceremony marked the completion of an intense and transformative academic journey for the January 2025 cohort.       Welcoming guests and students, Director Prof Ulrich Paquet reflected on the achievements of the class and the spirit of the Institute, saying: “Today we celebrate the remarkable achievements of our students. AIMS thrives because of our exceptional lecturers, visiting academics and partners, and we are grateful for their continued support. Thank you to everyone who makes AIMS a vibrant, full-capacity centre of excellence.”      Academic Director Prof Karin-Therese Howell then delivered a message that captured the heart of the ceremony. She said: “Today we gather to celebrate something greater than the completion of a programme. We celebrate bravery, the quiet kind that looks like taking a chance on something uncertain, saying yes to an opportunity that felt almost too good to be true, and persevering through challenges that pushed you beyond your comfort zone. Bravery was learning new skills, tackling unfamiliar topics, and learning to live in community with people from across Africa. Opportunity rarely arrives wrapped in certainty; it often looks like risk or discomfort. Yet you embraced it. You are braver than you think and capable of more than you know.”       Read more    Appointment of Prof. Karin-Therese Howell as Director          AIMS South Africa is pleased to announce the appointment of Prof Karin-Therese Howell as its new Director, effective 1 December 2025. Prof Howell previously served as the Institute’s Academic Director and has played a central role in shaping AIMS South Africa’s academic programmes and postgraduate training.      “AIMS South Africa is a place where potential and opportunity meet. It has been a privilege to be part of the Institute’s academic leadership, and I am honoured to step into this new role. I look forward to continuing the work of nurturing Africa’s next generation of scientific leaders, deepening our partnerships, and expanding AIMS’s impact across the continent,” noted Prof  Howell about her appointment.    Prof. Howell has been part of AIMS South Africa for many years and is widely respected for her commitment to strengthening mathematical sciences education on the continent. She has contributed significantly to academic quality, student support, and the promotion of women in mathematics through her national leadership roles.      Read more       CNRS Delegation Explores New Opportunities for Collaboration with AIMS       AIMS South Africa was pleased to welcome a delegation from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) for discussions on strengthening collaboration and expanding shared scientific initiatives.     The visit created a valuable platform for exchanging ideas on research, training, and innovation across the mathematical sciences, and highlighted several promising avenues for future partnership.    The delegation included:  Christophe Besse, Director of International Affairs at CNRS Mathematics; Frédéric Hérau, Scientific Head of International Affairs at CNRS Mathematics; Laurent Vidal, Director of the CNRS Office in Southern Africa, based in Pretoria; Céline Montibeller, Administrative Officer for European and International Partnerships and  Alain Marmet, Director of the Europe and International Division (DEI) at CNRS   AIMS Quantum Research Featured    AIMS South Africa is pleased to note recent international features highlighting work linked to the institute. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation published an article on the Quantum Computing Workshop held in Cape Town, organised by Dr Ryan Sweke: https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/explore/newsroom/news/superposition-cape-town    Freie Universität Berlin also profiled Dr Sweke in its newsletter, reflecting on his research in quantum computing and his collaborations in South Africa: https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/featured-stories/research/2025/quantum-computers/index.html Students updates Students on the Mathematical Sciences and AI for Science streams completed several courses during the November teaching block.     On the Mathematical Sciences stream, students completed Ordinary Differential Equations (Fernando Pestana da Costa, Universidade Aberta) and Problem-Solving in Physics (Tevian Dray, Oregon State University). On the AI for Science stream, students completed Monte Carlo Methods for Machine Learning (Hugo Touchette, Stellenbosch University) and Applied Machine Learning at Scale (Ulrich Paquet, AIMS South Africa).      At the end of November, students also began the first courses of the next teaching block.  Fernando Pestana da Costa    Tevian Dray These included Statistical Inference (Julia Mortera, University Roma Tre), Verified Computation (Hidetoshi Masai, Musashino Art University), and SAGE (Eric Andriantiana, Rhodes University, who lectured online). Students on the AI for Science stream started Bioacoustics Foundations (Tom Denton, Google DeepMind and Eunice Manyasi, Strathmore University), as well as Natural Language Processing and Large Language Models (Shamsudeen Muhammad, Imperial College London and Idris Abdulmumin, University of Pretoria, who joined remotely).     AIMS South Africa thanks all lecturers for their valuable contributions.       Hugo Touchette       Ulrich Paquet    Sewing the Seeds of Computational Thinking: A Story of Passion, Perseverance, and Possibility       For the first time, one of our TurtleStitch workshop participants has taken her learning beyond the walls of AIMSSEC and into her school community — and the results are truly inspiring.      Meet Althea Bartman, a proud AIMSSEC alumna and dedicated teacher who saw the potential of computational thinking to spark creativity and critical problem-solving in her learners. Motivated by her own experience, Althea started a Computational Thinking Club at her school, introducing learners to the exciting world of digital design through TurtleStitch — a platform that blends coding, mathematics, and art through embroidery.      When her learners’ enthusiasm outgrew the school’s limited resources — they didn’t have access to sewing machines — Althea reached out.     In the true spirit of AIMSSEC collaboration and community, we invited her and her learners to spend the day with us at AIMS on Saturday 18 October 2025.    Read more       Holding Space for Women in Research: Reflections on Connection, Purpose, and Practice       A gathering on 27 November 2025 of women in research became a quietly powerful space of connection. Guided by Prof. Marrielle Myers, we shared work shaped by our personal and professional journeys, and quickly realised how much we hold in common despite working in different contexts.      A key message from CPUT colleagues was the importance of community. Many of us work in isolation because our systems are not designed to hold us together. Yesterday reminded us that connection and mentorship at all levels help us stay grounded, supported, and reflective. Sometimes we simply need someone to listen so we can see our work differently.    Read more    Strengthening Community Through Mathematics: Our Growing Partnership with Crestway High School    Our work with Crestway High School in Steenberg-Retreat has been built steadily and intentionally over several years. What began as a series of small engagements has evolved into a meaningful partnership grounded in trust, shared purpose, and a commitment to expanding opportunities for young people.     On 22 October 2025, this partnership reached a significant milestone. We hosted a focused workshop, seeded by Prof. Jonathan Jansen and delivered by Dr Corvell Cranfield, who has consistently delivered training to the primary schools that form Crestway’s feeder system.     Their combined leadership reflects a model we deeply value: bringing together professionals and academics who are embedded in the same school communities where we work, ensuring that expertise is both grounded and relevant. Read more    Building Community in Education: Moments from Our Pop-Up Lounge    On 28 November, we had the privilege of welcoming four of the primary school principals we have been working with over the past year. This was our second pop-up lounge, a space for principals to share their reflections and appreciation for the work happening at AIMS with their learners and teachers, and, more importantly, for us to thank the schools for trusting us with their young people.     Each of us had the chance to speak about our lived experiences and express our gratitude for one another. We also shared the resources made possible by the Windfall Foundation to support the creation of maths hubs in each school. A central message of the afternoon was the value of continued collaboration, not only with AIMS, but across schools, to strengthen one another rather than compete.     We were honoured to have Prof. Marrielle Myers from Kennesaw State University and Dr Samantha Kriger from CPUT join us, witnessing both the learners’ achievements and the principals’ pride in them. We look forward to growing this partnership in 2026, and we look forward to our partnership with Professor Myers and her pre-service teachers.    Swimming Club Sessions    On 21 and 25 November 2025, students from the January 2025 intake participated in swimming lessons with Swimmatix. The sessions were organised by Prof Claire David, with the costs covered by a lecturer. The lessons helped students build essential water-safety skills and confidence in the pool.    Students shared brief reflections on the experience:  •       “My swimming lessons showed me how strong I am and how small, consistent steps can lead to one big achievement.” — Sophy Kgoahla  •       “My first swim taught me not to assume anything is easy until you try it. Every new challenge is a chance to grow.” — Astride Melvin  •       “Swimming class was a total highlight! The encouragement and fun made every moment unforgettable.” — Marry Thekhwe     •       “It was challenging yet fun. The fish make swimming look too easy!” — Similoluwa     The sponsor is eager to support more students in learning this important skill in 2026.    Teaching tip for lecturers!       Odd-One-Out    Here the ‘fly in the ointment’ can point to the generality of the others. One counterexample might be the ‘grain of sand’ that produces the ‘pearl’ of generalization. Students decide which is an odd-one-out and then generate more examples that are like the other two, and more that are like the odd one. They could also find reasons for different ones to be the odd one out. Once the seed is sown, there is further scope to extend this activity by inviting students to generate their own rules.