Advancing our fundamental understanding of the universe and laying foundations for the technologies of tomorrow.

WELCOME TO NITheCS

The National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences (NITheCS) is a platform that allows a diversity of knowledge fields to meet in a stimulating environment. NITheCS provides South Africa with the opportunity to become an international player in fields of science. It builds on the progress achieved by the National Institute for Theoretical Physics (NITheP), an NRF Centre of Excellence (CoE) that has led research programmes and educational opportunities in theoretical physics in South Africa and Africa.

NITheCS’ fields of science

NITheCS encompasses the theoretical and computational fields of science, as well as their interdisciplinary fields.

Key fields:

  1. Astronomy & Astrophysics
  2. Bioinformatics & Quantitative Biology
  3. Data Science
  4. Earth Systems Modelling & Climate Change Modelling
  5. Mathematics
  6. Quantitative Finance
  7. Statistics
  8. Theoretical Physics
Fields of science that NITheCS represents

ATTEND OUR UPCOMING EVENTS

Prof Bruno Chiarellotto

NITheCS Colloquium
‘The life of Alexander Grothendieck and modern algebraic arithmetic geometry’
Prof Bruno Chiarellotto (University of Padua, Italy)
Monday, 20 January 2025  |  16h00-17h00 SAST
Venues: Online and Neelsie Cinema, Stellenbosch University

MORE INFO  |  REGISTER

QWorld Annual Meeting 2025

QWorld Annual Meeting
Saturday, 25 January 2025  |  17h00-22h00 SAST
Venue: Online

MORE INFO  |  REGISTER

Prof Stéphane Vinatier

NITheCS Colloquium
‘An Arts and Mathematics interaction based on paintings involving Ulam’s spiral’
Prof Stéphane Vinatier (University of Limoges, France)
Monday, 27 January 2025  |  16h00-17h00 SAST
Venues: Online and Neelsie Cinema, Stellenbosch University

MORE INFO  |  REGISTER

MUST Deep Learning Bootcamp

MUST Deep Learning Bootcamp 2025
27-31 January 2025
Venues: NWU-Potchefstroom Engineering Campus and online

MORE INFO  |  REGISTER

CHPC/NITheCS Coding Summer School 2025

CHPC/NITheCS Coding Summer School 2025
‘The fundamentals of data science & scientific computing for research’
27 January – 7 February 2025
Venue: Designated universities / research locations in southern Africa

PDF  |  MORE INFO  |  REGISTER (by 13 Dec 2024)

READ OUR LATEST BLOGS

Internships impact SA science

Internships impact SA science

South Africa has a huge shortage of postgraduate statisticians, mathematicians and physicists. But initiatives such as the national expansion of the annual internship led by NITheCS are addressing this.

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A tribute to PhD supervisors

A tribute to PhD supervisors

The academic genealogy that traces its roots from Walter Fletcher to Sim Dlamini as an academic supervisor is a remarkable lineage of intellectual giants who have significantly shaped modern scientific thought.

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Our node meetings kick off

Our node meetings kick off

The NITheCS node meetings have kicked off, with two held in July 2024. Read our newsletter to find out more, or view our calendar of events to see the dates of upcoming node meetings.

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VIEW OUR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

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Science-related news snippet: The BepiColombo spacecraft has beamed back some of the best close-up photos yet of Mercury's north pole. It swooped as close as 295 kilometers above Mercury's night side before passing directly over the pole. The European Space Agency ESA released images showing among others the permanently shadowed craters at the top of Mercury and the largest impact crater, spanning more than 1500 kilometers.
This was the sixth and final flyby of Mercury since mission launch in 2018. The spacecraft will start orbiting the planet late next year (it holds two orbiters, one for Europe and the other for Japan, that will circle the planet's poles).
phys.org/news/2025-01-spacecraft-mercury-north-pole-stunning.html
... See MoreSee Less

Science-related news snippet: The BepiColombo spacecraft has beamed back some of the best close-up photos yet of Mercurys north pole. It swooped as close as 295 kilometers above Mercurys night side before passing directly over the pole. The European Space Agency ESA released images showing among others the permanently shadowed craters at the top of Mercury and the largest impact crater, spanning more than 1500 kilometers.
This was the sixth and final flyby of Mercury since mission launch in 2018. The spacecraft will start orbiting the planet late next year (it holds two orbiters, one for Europe and the other for Japan, that will circle the planets poles).
https://phys.org/news/2025-01-spacecraft-mercury-north-pole-stunning.html

Science-related anniversary: German biologist August Weismann (born 17 January 1834) was one of the founders of the science of genetics. ‘He is best known for his opposition to the doctrine of the inheritance of acquired traits and for his “germ plasm” theory, the forerunner of DNA theory.’ See www.britannica.com/biography/August-Weismann ... See MoreSee Less

Science-related anniversary:  German biologist August Weismann (born 17 January 1834) was one of the founders of the science of genetics. ‘He is best known for his opposition to the doctrine of the inheritance of acquired traits and for his “germ plasm” theory, the forerunner of DNA theory.’  See https://www.britannica.com/biography/August-WeismannImage attachment

... See MoreSee Less

Register nominees who have made an outstanding contribution to science, engineering and technology (SET) and innovation in South Africa for the 2024/2025 NSTF-South32 Awards. Nominations close on Friday, 17 Jan 2025. mailchi.mp/nithecs/nstf-20242025 #scienceoscars #scienceaward #TechnologyAward #InnovationAward #nstfaward #nstfsouth32 ... See MoreSee Less

Register nominees who have made an outstanding contribution to science, engineering and technology (SET) and innovation in South Africa for the 2024/2025 NSTF-South32 Awards. Nominations close on Friday, 17 Jan 2025. https://mailchi.mp/nithecs/nstf-20242025   #scienceoscars #scienceaward #technologyaward #innovationaward #NSTFaward #nstfsouth32
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