SARAO Scholarships to Study at Sol Plaatje University 2027

Key facts

Status: Applications open Closes 30 September 2026
Provider: SARAO
Study level: University
Academic year: 2027
Last checked: September 2026

SARAO's call for scholarships to study at Sol Plaatje University in 2027 opened on 22 June 2026 and closes on 30 September 2026; value and eligibility are not published.

Written by Keagan HendricksStaff Writer (Unisa Alumnus)

Reviewed & verified by Naledi KhumaloSenior Admissions and Bursaries EditorVerified

Open · closes 30 September 2026 · 2 days left Latest update ↓

The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRF-SARAO) runs a scholarship stream reserved for students at Sol Plaatje University (SPU) in Kimberley. SARAO posted the call for the 2027 academic year on 22 June 2026, and applications close on Wednesday, 30 September 2026. Applications are made through an online form linked from SARAO’s Sol Plaatje scholarship page.

This page sets out what SARAO has actually published and, just as importantly, what it has not, because the official call is very brief.

What the 2027 call says

The call is for SARAO Scholarships to study at Sol Plaatje University in 2027, and SARAO describes it as open.
The closing date is Wednesday, 30 September 2026.
Applicants submit online through a Google Form. When we opened the form it asked for a Google account sign-in before showing any questions.
SARAO lists the stream separately from its freestanding undergraduate, honours, master’s and doctoral scholarships, its undergraduate block grants and its engineering technology scholarships.

Gaps in the published information

SARAO’s call page and its 22 June news item do not state the value of the scholarship, the costs it covers, the qualifications or faculties it funds, whether it is for first-years, current SPU students or both, any academic or income requirements, or the documents to prepare. We have not guessed at any of these. SARAO gives study.research@sarao.ac.za as the address for questions about its scholarship calls, and enquiries@sarao.ac.za as its general contact. With so little time left before 30 September, anyone unsure whether they qualify is better off submitting the form and asking at the same time.

SPU’s own application closes a month later

The scholarship pays for study at SPU, so a place at the university matters too. SPU’s how to apply page states that undergraduate and postgraduate applications for 2027 are open until 31 October 2026. The university has four faculties: Economic and Management Sciences, Education, Humanities, and Natural and Applied Sciences. Each has an application contact, for example NAS_Applications@spu.ac.za for Natural and Applied Sciences, and general admissions queries go to applications@spu.ac.za or 053 491 0116. More about the university is on our Sol Plaatje University profile.

SARAO’s earlier funding of students at SPU

SARAO, known earlier as SKA South Africa, has paid for Northern Cape school leavers to study at SPU before. A March 2017 SARAO release describes a Carnarvon High School matriculant from Loxton who registered at SPU for a BSc in Data Science on a SARAO bursary, as part of the observatory’s Human Capital Development Programme, which began in 2005 and had supported more than 815 students by then. That history shows the link between the two institutions; the 2027 call itself does not say that it is limited to any town or district.

Other SARAO calls for 2027

SARAO’s funding page shows its master’s, honours and doctoral scholarship calls for 2027 as open. The Freestanding Undergraduate Scholarships for 2027 ran from 1 June to 14 August 2026 and have closed; that stream is covered on our SARAO undergraduate scholarship page. For the Undergraduate Block Grant Scholarships, SARAO asks students to email study.research@sarao.ac.za to find out when the call opens. The observatory’s other programmes are listed on the NRF-SARAO provider profile.

FAQs

1. When does the SARAO Sol Plaatje scholarship close? +

Wednesday, 30 September 2026. SARAO opened the call for 2027 study on 22 June 2026.

2. How much does the scholarship pay? +

SARAO has not published an amount or a list of covered costs for this stream. Ask study.research@sarao.ac.za if you need the value before deciding.

3. Do I need to be accepted at Sol Plaatje University first? +

SARAO does not say. The scholarship is for study at SPU, and SPU’s own applications for 2027 stay open until 31 October 2026, so applying to the university as well is sensible.

4. Can I apply if I study at another university? +

Not for this stream, which is tied to SPU. SARAO runs separate master’s, honours and doctoral calls for 2027, listed on its funding page.

5. Why does the application form ask me to sign in? +

The form runs on Google Forms and, when we checked, required a Google account sign-in before it showed the questions. Have a Google account ready before you start.

Update note (checked September 2026): On 27 September 2026 SARAO’s page showed the call for SARAO Scholarships to study at Sol Plaatje University in 2027 as open, closing on Wednesday, 30 September 2026. SARAO has not published the value or eligibility rules.

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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…

Read the full SARAO profile →

Website: sarao.ac.za