SARAO Master’s, PhD and Postdoctoral Funding 2027

Written by Keagan HendricksStaff Writer (Unisa Alumnus)

Reviewed & verified by Naledi KhumaloSenior Admissions and Bursaries EditorVerified

MeerKAT’s operator, SARAO (the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, part of the NRF), pays postgraduate researchers at three levels through what it calls “freestanding” awards: Master’s scholarships, doctoral scholarships and postdoctoral fellowships. All three are applied for on the NRF Connect system, and all three tie the money to a research project or supervisor that SARAO has approved in advance. Students cannot bring an unrelated topic.

The calls for the 2027 academic year opened in April and June 2026 and have all closed. The sections below take each level in turn, with the values from SARAO’s 2027 application guides.

Master’s scholarships worth R200,000 a year

The Master’s call opened on 1 April 2026, re-opened on 8 July and closed on an extended date of 15 July 2026. Applicants had to hold, or be finishing, a BSc Honours in Physics and Astronomy or Astrophysics, or in Computer Science and Mathematics, or a four-year BEng in Electronic, Mechatronic or Computer Engineering, completed in 2025 or later. The minimum is a 65% average for the Honours year or the final BEng year. Students still busy with that degree were assessed on their latest results, and SARAO withdraws the offer if the final average falls below 65%.

For 2027 SARAO approved 35 Master’s projects: 23 engineering topics, such as cryogenic amplifier testing, water vapour radiometers and radio frequency interference (RFI) detection, and 12 science topics built on MeerKAT and HERA data. The applicant has to pick one, contact its supervisor and obtain a signed letter on university letterhead confirming supervision. The award is held at that supervisor’s university. A Master’s scholarship runs for a maximum of two years.

Doctoral scholarships worth R210,000 a year

The doctoral call also opened on 1 April 2026, re-opened on 16 July and closed on an extended date of 23 July 2026. Candidates needed a Master’s degree completed in 2025 or later, or to be in the final year of one, with research directly relevant to the doctoral project they chose. The bar is 65% for the Master’s degree. Students still finishing their Master’s were judged on their Honours or BEng results, and the scholarship falls away if they then miss 65% on the Master’s. SARAO listed 17 approved doctoral projects for 2027, six in engineering and eleven in science. The scholarship lasts up to three years.

Scholarship values side by side

Both scholarships are open to South African citizens and permanent residents and to citizens of Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia. For students from those eight countries SARAO also pays the international student fee in full, one return ticket home per year, emergency medical insurance and, if needed, the repatriation fee.

Five attachments and two referees

The Master’s and doctoral guides reject any application missing one of five uploads: an ID or passport, all university results from first year onwards as a single PDF, a current CV, the supervisor’s agreement letter, and a motivation letter of about 1,000 words. The motivation must cover the applicant’s academic progress, their understanding of MeerKAT and the SKA, and how the chosen project links to the telescopes’ science or engineering. SARAO warns that a letter generated by AI will be rejected. At least two academic referees had to email letters to study.research@sarao.ac.za by 15 July 2026, and the guides place the duty of chasing referees on the student. Each student may submit one application, and it is routed through the university’s research office, which may set an earlier internal cut-off.

Postdoctoral fellowships at R488,000

The postdoctoral call opened on 1 June 2026. Applicants had until 31 August 2026, and university designated authorities had until 14 September 2026 to endorse applications. The 2027 fellowship pays R488,000 a year for three years, with a R67,000 travel grant each year and a once-off R40,000 equipment grant. SARAO pays no relocation grant, and fellows must be able to start at a South African university by 1 October 2027.

Eligible applicants either had 65% for their Master’s and were in the final year of a relevant PhD, or already held a relevant doctorate with at least 65% and worked in a research post. Proposals have to use data from MeerKAT (the top priority), HERA or the HartRAO facilities, or address radio telescope engineering such as antennas, receivers, real-time signal processing and RFI monitoring. The guide lists about 40 possible hosts at UCT, Wits, Rhodes, Stellenbosch, UKZN, Pretoria, UWC, Unisa and the South African Astronomical Observatory. The postdoctoral application needs seven documents: the five above, plus a 500-word synopsis of the doctoral research and written confirmation that the data or equipment the project needs is available.

Other SARAO funding on this site

SARAO also funds undergraduate, Honours and engineering technology students; the SARAO undergraduate scholarship page covers the first-degree route, and the SARAO profile gathers the observatory’s programmes. Postgraduates in other sciences can compare the DSI-NRF postgraduate scholarship, which uses the same NRF Connect system.

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About SARAO

National research facility (National Research Foundation)

The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) is a national facility managed by the National Research Foundation. SARAO incorporates all of South Africa's national radio astronomy telescopes and programmes, including the MeerKAT radio telescope, the Hartebeesthoek site, and…

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