Top students rewarded with astronomy tour
SOUTH Africa’s top physical science and mathematics matriculants for 2018 received awards at the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) South32 Awards in Gauteng last night following a collaboration with the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) and South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (Sarao).
The NSTF-South32 Awards, dubbed the “Science Oscars of South Africa”, showcase the research and development capacity of the country.
The NSTF Brilliants Programme saw the SAAO and Sarao support a national astronomy tour for 19 selected participants, which included one male and one female from each of the nine provinces.
The Western Cape winners were Justine Lara Crook-Mansour from Rustenburg Girls’ High School and Jean Durand and Jean van der Walt, both from Paul Roos Gimnasium.
For their reward the pupils were this week taken on an astronomy tour, exposing them to new fields of study and careers, bursaries, inspirational role models and scientific innovation in South Africa.
The awardees visited four provinces including the Boyden Observatory and Naval Hill Planetarium outside Bloemfontein; the Iziko Planetarium in Cape Town; the South African Large Telescope (Salt) outside Sutherland; and, the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) outside Joburg.
NSTF executive director Jansie Niehaus said: “We feel immensely proud to be able to do this for the students. These students have 90% or more for science and mathematics and are all registered at South African universities for science-related courses.
“We do this every year and we are amazed that there are these students, and while we only select about 20, there are normally more than 60 applicants.
“Some students are not celebrated because they do not necessarily receive distinctions in every subject, but they are excellent in two. We want to show them all the amazing careers out there.
“When people talk about future careers they say they don’t yet exist, this makes it exciting for the Brilliants students because they are exposed to a variety that will help them find their niche to innovate and make a difference in the world.”
Meanwhile, awardee Hamman Prinsloo, 19, from Rustenburg in North West, said that as a student in medicine, the tour had opened his mind to new possibilities.
“Being a medical student, what this tour really showed me is that South Africa is really rich in innovation and technological and scientific development.
‘‘This is not only applicable to astronomy, but to every scientific study field. I am motivated by the idea that innovation is possible and can be developed from South Africa; it is not only possible from overseas,” he said.
Niehaus said they were looking to grow the NSTF Brilliants programme, but needed funding.