Student Opportunities

Opportunities

A list of training opportunities for early and mid-career professionals in fields relating to marine science. For internship and postdoctoral opportunities, please have a look at the Vacancies page.
Opportunity
  
  
The DSTI and NRF have announced a call for new Master's and Doctoral funding applications for the 2026 academic year, with continuing eligible students required to submit progress reports. Funding is available at Full Cost of Study (FCS) for eligible South African citizens and permanent residents (financially needy, disabled, or exceptional academic achievers) and Partial Cost of Study (PCS) for a limited number of international students and other qualifying South Africans. Applications across Science, Engineering, Technology, Social Sciences, and Humanities must be submitted online via the NRF Connect System, with specific opening and closing dates for students at different study levels. 
Closing dates:
Honours (General): 21 November 2025
NRF-SARAO Honours: 31 August 2025
First-time Master’s: 04 July 2025
First-time Doctoral: 04 July 2025
Master’s and Doctoral Extension Support: 15 August 2025
NRF11/21/2025
Sign up for the ECOP South Africa PechaKucha Evening on 25 November 2025, 4 - 6pm SAST. Join us online for an evening filled with inspiring presentations from various speakers. Get ready to be amazed by the creativity and innovation showcased in each PechaKucha talk. This event is a great opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and ​expand your ocean knowledge in a fun and engaging way.
ECOP SA11/25/2025
26 Jan - 6 Feb 2026
The 16th CHPC and 8th NITheCS Coding Summer School (CSS) on Data Science and Machine Learning will run from 26 January to 6 February 2026 as a required physical-attendance hybrid event at various university and research locations across South Africa. The free programme is designed to train researchers, professionals, and final-year postgraduate-bound students in Python-based topics including Workflow Management, Data Science (ETL/EDA), Computational Thinking, and Machine Learning fundamentals. Due to the advanced curriculum, applicants must have a background in Python and successfully complete a mandatory online entrance test after registering before the 15 December 2025 deadline to be considered.
CHPC and NITheCS12/15/2025
The Institute for Coastal and Marine Research (and collaborators) is offering a free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to share lessons learnt in developing the Algoa Bay Marine Spatial Plan (MSP). The MOOC will be available for free on the Nelson Mandela University's Engage platform and can be accessed at any time by anybody around the World! Click here for further details, if you are interested in doing this Course, kindly register here​. YouTube details: https://youtu.be/_g2PxfPKVOQ
NMU12/31/2025