Verified
The Council for Geoscience (CGS) is South Africa’s national geological survey. Based in Pretoria, the Council for Geoscience maps the country’s rocks, minerals and groundwater, keeps the national geological database, and provides scientific advice to government and industry on mining, water and infrastructure.
- Registered name
- Council for Geoscience (CGS)
- Type
- National geological survey (science council)
- Fields funded
- Geology, geophysics, hydrogeology and related earth sciences, from first year to postgraduate
- Website
- geoscience.org.za
- Phone
- +27 12 841 1911
How this page was researched
The Council for Geoscience’s website returned a server error when BursariesAfrica tried to research this profile on 15 September 2026. This page therefore relies on a provider record checked in August 2026 and on BursariesAfrica’s research into the council’s 2026 bursary call. Confirm current details directly with the CGS.
A full bursary for earth science students
The CGS full-time bursary funds geology, geophysics, hydrogeology and related students from first year right through to postgraduate level. BursariesAfrica’s research found a full package that includes a laptop and field work, together with a work-back obligation at the council.
Field work matters in geoscience. Mapping rocks, sampling groundwater and surveying mineral deposits take place outdoors, often in remote areas, and a bursary that includes field experience helps students learn skills that classroom study cannot teach.
Changing call dates
The Council for Geoscience’s call dates have moved. The 2026 round closed on 23 January 2026, while the 2025 round closed on 21 March 2025. The 2027 call had not been published when BursariesAfrica checked, and BursariesAfrica expects it between November 2026 and January 2027.
Researching the CGS yourself
Email the Council for Geoscience from October to ask when the 2027 call will open, which qualifications it will fund and how long the work-back period lasts. Ask as well whether postgraduate bursars work on specific CGS research projects, because matching your research interests to a CGS programme can strengthen a postgraduate application.
Learn about the CGS’s work before applying, such as geological mapping, groundwater studies and assessing geological hazards like sinkholes. Geology departments at universities often know which CGS scientists supervise students.
Geoscience graduates work in mining exploration, groundwater management, engineering geology and environmental consulting, as well as at the CGS, so the skills a CGS bursary builds are useful across several industries.
Earth science students can compare the CGS with other funders on our Science Bursaries page.
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