NITheCS INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME

This is a flagship NITheCS programme, which offers outstanding training to internship students.

NITheCS internships allow registered students at South African universities, mainly those at honours and early masters levels, to join NITheCS staff or Associates during their recess periods to complete a research project. Their projects are evaluated by the supervisor and an independent examiner – normally an academic at the student’s home academic institution – and can be used for credits if the home institution approves.

One of the aims of this programme is to alleviate the pressure of honours level project supervision experienced by university departments. In some cases, a supervisor utilises the services of a PhD student as a tutor. This eases the supervisor’s work burden, while the tutor gains valuable experience.

Research topics for 2023/2024 internships

Associates are called to submit internship topics across the eight NITheCS themes each year. Click to view the topics for the 2023/2024 internships.

To apply for an internship, submit your details here by 31 August 2023.

Click to view the topics for the 2022/2023 internships.

What does NITheCS offer participants in the programme?

NITheCS financially supports students who pass the screening process in terms of travel costs, accommodation costs and subsistence allowance.
Subsistence allowance / living expense support is currently capped at R150 per day.
Generally, the internship period for students without a need for transport and accommodation allowances is 28 days. When transport and accommodation costs are incurred for the duration of the internship, the period of the internship is 21 days.
NITheCS aims to use bus services for the transport of students wherever possible.

Projects that qualify and report-back responsibilities

Internship students need to establish in advance (from their home academic institute) if their projects would count as credits towards their degrees.
Student must submit a project report within two months of completing the internship.
If a project topic becomes the topic for a following degree, NITheCS should be notified, as this information is reported to stakeholders.
Any published papers based on work done during the internship should be reported to us, as it affects NITheCS publication statistics. Please remember to acknowledge NITheCS in any such papers. To do this, use this phrase as your reference: ‘National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences (NITheCS) South Africa‘.

Supervisor responsibilities

The supervisor should:

sign off the project and inform NITheCS of the score awarded for the project.
inform NITheCS if the student would be able to use the project to count towards a current degree, or if the topic could be used for a higher degree.

Benefits for supervisors whose PhD students participate in the programme

The bulk of the work shifts from the supervisors of the relevant projects to your PhD students, who will teach or manage the student interns.
This is an opportunity for the PhD students who act as tutors to gain experience.
Tutors receive monetary compensation. The general average time required is two to three hours per day for the total period of 28 days. The payment rate is R150 per hour and the total paid to tutors is currently capped at R6 000.

How do students apply to become part of the programme?

Prospective internship students need to apply when NITheCS issues a call for internship applications.
Students may be asked to provide information about their intended research project and undergo a screening process.
Students who pass the screening process should provide personal details (copy of ID / passport), as well as banking details to receive the relevant allowance.