The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), founded in 1945, holds a preeminent position as South Africa's central research and development organization. It operates under the Department of Science and Innovation, a governmental body dedicated to scientific research, including space programs.
As the continent's largest research and development entity, the CSIR accounts for around 10% of the entire African R&D budget.
The CSIR’s 7 main focus areas include: Industry, Energy, Natural Environment, Built Environment, Digital Environment, Health and Defence and Security. The company is based in the city of Pretoria, on its own campus and has a staff base of around 3000 scientific and technical researchers.
Fields Covered
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is inviting students to apply for their bursary programme, for the 2024 academic year.
The CSIR bursary is merit based and is aimed at full-time, unemployed students who are pursuing qualifications in areas that are deemed a priority by the CSIR (research, technology development and innovation as well as corporate/support areas). The bursary aims to attract suitably qualified applicants, and encourages female and black students to apply.
Bursaries will be awarded for Undergraduate and Postgraduate (Honours, MSc and PhD), in these fields:
Undergraduate studies:
- Data Science
- Mechanical Engineering
Honours studies:
- Industrial Engineering
- Mechatronic Engineering
- Occupational Hygiene
Masters studies:
- Agricultural Sciences – Crop Science
- Analytical Chemistry
- Biochemistry
- Bio-medical Biology
- Biotechnology
- Civil Engineering
- Computational Biology
- Computer Science
- Computational and Applied Mathematics
- Computer Engineering
- Data Science
- Economics and Social Science
- Economics and Public Policy
- Electronic Engineering
- Geoinformatics
- International Relations
- Laser Physics
- Mechatronic Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Robotics
- Science Communications
- Statistics
- Software Engineering
Doctoral studies:
- Applied Mathematics
- Agricultural Engineering
- Aquaculture
- Biochemistry
- Bioinformatics
- Biotechnology
- Cell Biology
- Cell and Molecular Biology
- Computer Engineering
- Computer Science
- Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
- Data Science
- Electronic Engineering
- Geo-Informatics
- Geo-Information Science – Remote Sensing/ Data Analytics/ Modelling
- Indigenous Knowledge Systems
- Laser Physics
- Medical Microbiology
- Medical Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Microbiology
- Pharmacology
- Physics
- Software Engineering
- Veterinary Science
- Virology
Expenses covered
The bursary will provide cover for the following expenses:
- Undergraduate to Honours level: registration fees, tuition fees, books, once-off laptop allowance, accommodation and a living allowance.
- Masters and Doctoral level: registration fees, tuition fees, once-off laptop allowance and a living allowance.
Bursary recipients will also receive full support and the opportunity to partake in vacation work.
Requirements
Applicants must satisfy the following minimum entry criteria before applying (please note that failure to satisfy all the requirements will lead to your application not being considered):
Undergraduate to Honours studies:
- You must be a South African citizen
- You must be currently in Matric or have completed Matric
- You must be studying or intend on studying full-time, towards a qualification in one of the fields listed above, in 2024
- You must be studying or intend on studying at a recognised public University in South Africa
- You must have achieve a minimum of Level 5 (60% – 69%) for English in Matric
- You must have achieve a minimum of Level 6 (70% – 79%) for Mathematics in Matric
- You must have achieve a minimum of Level 6 (70% – 79%) for Physical Science in Matric
- You must have passed all university courses you have registered for, for the study period completed (if currently studying)
- You must not be employed on a full-time basis
Masters and Doctoral applicants:
- You must be a South African citizen
- You must intend on studying full-time towards a qualification in one of the Masters or Doctoral fields listed above, in 2024
- You must intend on enrolling and studying at a recognised public University in South Africa
- You must have passed all university courses you have registered for, for the study period completed
- You must not be employed on a full-time basis
- You must be enthusiastic and self-motivated
- You must take ownership and initiative
- You must have good scientific writing skills
- You must have good organisational skills
- You must have good time management skills
- You must have good communication skills – verbal and writing
- You must have good report writing abilities
- You must have an excellent academic record
- You must have a drive to conduct research
- You must be self-motivated
- You must be able to work independently and within a team
- You must be able to formulate and carry out research
- You must have excellent technical abilities
- You must be able to work well under pressure
- You must be able to meet scheduled deliverables
How to apply
Applications must be submitted online at: CSIR Bursary Application 2024
Closing date
21 August 2023 (at 12:00).
(Applications submitted after this date will not be accepted – please apply before the closing date to ensure your application is considered.)