2027 MSc and PhD Scholarship Opportunities
The Wits Centre for Astrophysics invites students interested in applying for MSc and PhD scholarships starting in 2027 to contact us.
Our members carry out research across the electromagnetic spectrum, as well as multi-messenger astronomy, gravitational wave and neutrino astrophysics, and dark matter detection. The Centre is an active user of several Southern African facilities, including MeerKAT, SALT, H.E.S.S., and the nearby HartRAO radio observatory, as part of the European and Australian VLBI networks. Our members contribute to both local and international collaborations, including various MeerKAT survey projects, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), Simons Observatory, HIRAX, H.E.S.S., CTAO, KM3NeT, Fermi, amongst others.The Centre has a wide range of observational, theoretical, and instrumental experience, with an active emphasis on the interconnect between.
Wits hosts an on-campus planetarium, the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, which following a R100+ million upgrade has been converted into a cutting-edge Digital Dome that enables data visualisation capability, postgraduate training and public outreach opportunities on a grand scale. More broadly, Gauteng and the northern cluster of universities are experiencing significant growth, expanding both the breadth and depth of the astronomical community in the region.
Prospective applicants should read the NRF guidelines carefully and check their eligibility. Note that we offer both SARAO free-standing projects and project areas broadly described in this document, which you should discuss with a prospective supervisor. Some of these may be supported by NITheCS.
Applicants should submit the following documents (as a single PDF) via email (use subject 'Wits MSc/PhD 2027') to their prospective supervisor by 22 June 2026, ahead of the Wits internal deadline of 3 July 2026:
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CV and all academic transcripts.
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A (maximum) two-page summary of previous research, if relevant.
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Names of two potential referees, including contact details.
Projects starting in 2027 are available from the following supervisors
Dr Moumita Aich (moumita.aich@wits.ac.za)
MSc and/or PhD projects related to cosmological constraints forecasting and/or data analysis for the HIRAX project. This falls within the Computational and Theoretical, Gravity, Astrophysics, and Cosmology NITheCS focus area.
Dr Geoff Beck (geoffrey.beck@wits.ac.za)
MSc and/or PhD projects in the field of astrophysical dark matter searches. Particularly using MeerKAT data. This falls within the Computational and Theoretical, Gravity, Astrophysics, and Cosmology NITheCS focus area.
Prof. Andrew Chen (andrew.chen@wits.ac.za)
MSc and/or PhD projects related to multi-messenger extragalactic astrophysics, using data from KM3NeT, CTAO, H.E.S.S., and Fermi, falling within the Computational and Theoretical, Gravity, Astrophysics, and Cosmology NITheCS focus area.
Prof. Matt Hilton (matt.hilton@wits.ac.za)
MSc and/or PhD projects related to cosmology from galaxy cluster counts, using mm-wave data from the Simons Observatory and optical/IR data from the Rubin Observatory. This falls within the Computational and Theoretical, Gravity, Astrophysics, and Cosmology NITheCS focus area.
Dr Nceba Mhlahlo (nceba.mhlahlo@wits.ac.za)
MSc and/or PhD projects on extragalactic astronomy/astrophysics (Radio galaxies, giant radio galaxies) using data from MeerKAT, uGMRT supplemented by data from the Galactic and Extra-Galactic All-Sky MWA Survey (GLEAM), TIFR GMRT Sky Survey (TGSS), Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey (SUMSS), NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) and the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS).