EVENTS HOSTED IN 2023
Here are the events we hosted and/or sponsored in 2023. You can view the details of these events below.
Please click to view events hosted in other years, or our past schools / mini-schools.
NITheCS Mini-workshop
‘Exploring Theoretical Work at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR)’
Prof Nikolai Antonenko (BLTP, JINR, Russia), Dr Gurgen Adamian (BLTP, JINR, Russia) & Prof Sergei Rakitianski (University of Pretoria)
11 December 2023
Science Forum South Africa 2023
‘Igniting Conversations About Science – People, Partnerships, Priorities for the Decadal Plan’
6-8 December 2023
Venue: CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria
NITheCS Workshop at the Southern African Conference for Artificial Intelligence Research (SACAIR)
‘Machine Learning in Support of Computational and Theoretical Sciences Knowledge Discovery in Time Series Data’
5 December 2023
2023 CHPC National Conference
‘Machine Learning, Cloud and Quantum Computing: The Changing Landscape of HPC’
4-7 December 2023
NITheCS Bursary Holders’ Workshop
1 December 2023
Regional – Global Modelling Workshop
Jointly hosted by Stellenbosch University School for Climate Studies and NITheCS
29 November-1 December 2023
South African Statistical Association (SASA) conference
‘The 64th Annual Conference of the South African Statistical Association’
27 November – 1 December 2023
Table Mountain Delta 2023
’14th Southern Hemisphere Conference on the Teaching and Learning of Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics’
26 November-1 December 2023
Annual Principal Investigators’ Summit: Yearly Research Programme Review and Reflections
24 November 2023
NITheCS Mini-school
‘Energy Materials’
VIEW:
- Lecture 1 (8 Nov): ‘2D materials and their heterostructures for photocatalytic water splitting and Photovoltaics’ – Prof Georgies Alene (Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia)
- Lecture 2 (15 Nov): ‘Overcoming Conductivity and Overvoltage Challenges in Rechargeable Metal-Ion and Metal-Air Batteries: Insights from DFT+U Studies’ – Prof Yedilfana Setarge Mekonnen (Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia)
- Lecture 3 (22 Nov): ‘Computational Modelling using high performance computing for materials prediction and design’ – Dr Kingsley Obodo (North-West University)
- Lecture 4 (29 Nov): ‘Biological, biomimetic, and organic renewable solar energy materials’ – Prof Tjaart Krüger (University of Pretoria)
Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association Annual Conference
21-24 November 2023
A Century of Biophotons Workshop
‘Biophotonics and artificial intelligence for improved diagnostics’
Patience Mthunzi-Kufa
21 November 2023
Software Carpentries Workshop
‘Unix Shell, Python, Git and R’
20-24 November 2023
Africa-Europe CoRE-AI & NITheCS Masterclass – Day II
‘Responsible AI, bias and fairness’
Dr Joyce Nakatumba-Nabende (Makerere University) and Dr Andrew Katumba (Makerere University)
17 November 2023
Optics and Photonics Africa Congress (OPA2023)
6-11 November 2023
NITheCS Colloquium
‘What Makes Nanoporous Gold a Unique Catalyst? Insights from Modelling Studies of its Surface Chemistry’
Prof Lyudmila Moskaleva (University of the Free State)
6 November 2023
8th Annual Public Lecture, hosted by the Departments of Physics, Physiological Sciences, and Chemistry and Polymer Science
‘The Science behind the 2023 Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, and Medicine’
2 November 2023
Data Carpentry (Genomics) Workshop
30 October – 3 November 2023
NITheCS Mini-school
‘Research Software Engineering as an exciting career and a critical component of the research ecosystem’
VIEW:
- Lecture 1 (4 Oct): ‘Becoming a Research Software Engineer’ – Jeremy Cohen (Imperial College London)
- Lecture 2 (11 Oct): ‘Research Software Engineering groups as a way to provide RSE support to researchers’ – Dr Kim Martin (SU)
- Lecture 3 (18 Oct): ‘The value of Research Software Engineers for reproducible and applied research’ – Dr Martin O’Reilly (Alan Turing Institute)
- Lecture 4 (25 Oct): ‘How and why research institutes should support Research Software Engineers’ – Michelle Barker (Research Software Alliance)
Spring School
‘Theoretical and Computational Foundations of Quantum Technologies’
24-28 October 2023
UKZN Mathematics Club (for gr. 8 – 12 learners)
Sharpen your number-sense skills through an explorative mathematics and problem-solving session
Dr Cerene Rathilal (University of KwaZulu-Natal) for the Future Mathematicians Programme
VIEW:
14 Oct 2023: Seniors (gr. 10 – 12) | NOTES
21 Oct 2023: Juniors (gr. 8 & 9)
NITheCS Colloquium
‘The Financial Impact of Carbon Emissions on Power Utilities Under Climate Scenarios’
Prof Andrea Macrina (University College London & University of Cape Town)
20 October 2023
Software Carpentry Workshop
‘Shell, Git, Plotting and Programming in Python’
26-29 September 2023
The 3rd African Conference on Fundamental and Applied Physics
25-29 September 2023
6th ATMRESET Workshop
‘Numerical methods and machine learning on Atmospheric Science’
18 & 19 September 2023
NITheCS & STEM MentHER Colloquium
‘Winning Mentors: Tips on building a successful mentorship relationship’
Prof Refilwe Nancy Phaswana-Mafuya (University of Johannesburg)
18 September 2023
NITheCS Mini-school
‘Cerf theory and pseudo-isotopy’
Filippos Sytilidis (Oxford University, UK)
6, 13, 20 & 21 September and 4 & 5 October 2023
LECTURES
- 6 Sept, ‘Introduction pseudo-isotopy and Morse theory’: Watch | Notes
- 13 Sept, ‘Morse theory and Thom’s Jet Transversality Theorem’: Watch | Notes
- 20 Sept, ‘An Introduction to Cerf Paths’: Watch | Notes
- 21 Sept, ‘An Introduction to Cerf 2-Parameter Paths’: Watch | Notes
- 4 Oct, ‘Ordering of Critical Points’: Watch
- 5 Oct, ‘Overview of the Last Step in Cerf’s Proof’: Watch
Math School
‘Term 3 revision for grade 12 students’
Dr Cerene Rathilal (University of KwaZulu-Natal)
Carpentry Workshop
‘Shell, Git and programming with R’
Software Carpentry team
28 Aug – 1 Sept 2023
Colloquium, presented by NITheCS and the School of Data Science and Computational Thinking, Stellenbosch University
‘Cosmology and Computation: Challenges for Mapping the Early Universe’
Prof Martin Bucher (Laboratoire APC, Université Paris Cité/CNRS)
31 August 2023
NITheCS Colloquium
‘Big data: the South African strategy and implementation’
Dr Anwar Vahed (Data Intensive Research Initiative of South Africa)
21 August 2023
ABSTRACT | VIEW | SLIDES | NATIONAL STRATEGY
NITheCS Mini-school
‘Phase transitions and critical phenomena at surfaces and interfaces‘
Prof Joseph Indekeu (KU Leuven, Belgium)
VIEW:
NITheCS Colloquium
‘A New Horizon for Teaching and Learning of Mathematics’
Prof Zurab Janelidze (Stellenbosch University)
31 July 2023
ABSTRACT | VIEW | SLIDES: multi-media version / PDF
Seminar, hosted by Quantum@SUN and NITheCS
‘Transformers, graphs, and hypergraphs’
Taliesin Beynon
28 July 2023
Software Carpentry Workshop
Presented by The Carpentries
24-28 July 2023
Lunch hour presentation
‘Music Meets Abstract Mathematics’
27 July 2023
NITheCS Women’s Month Writing Retreat – for female NITheCS Associates
Apply for a grant to fund a self-run retreat, so you can focus on a piece of work without interruption
Apply by: Friday, 21 July 2023
NITheCS Mini-school
‘Introduction to Quantitative Finance’
Dr Mesias Alfeus (Stellenbosch University)
5, 12 & 19 July 2023
VIEW:
Lecture 1 (5 July)
Lecture 2 (12 July)
Lecture 3 & 4 (19 July)
Deep Learning IndabaX South Africa
Machine learning and artificial intelligence conference
12-14 July 2023
Abstract Algebra
Holiday programme for Future Mathematicians in grade 8-12
Dr Cerene Rathilal (University of KwaZulu-Natal)
10 & 11 July 2023
Teacher Training Session
‘Teaching strategies for inclusivity’
Dr Cerene Rathilal (University of KwaZulu-Natal)
5 July 2023
NITheCS Mini-school
‘A short introduction to path integral approach to quantum mechanics and quantum field theory’
Dr Sunandan Gangopadhyay (S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, India)
7, 14, 21 & 28 June 2023
VIEW
Lecture 1 (7 June) | Presentation notes
Lecture 2 (14 June)
Lecture 3 (21 June)
Lecture 4 (28 June)
NITheCS Colloquium
Panel discussion: ‘Building a Sustainable Future: The Power of Basic Sciences’
Panelists: Mesias Alpheus (SU), MJ (Thinus) Booysen (SU), David Holgate (UWC), Guy Midgley (SU), Hugh Patterton (SU) and Ethel Phiri (SU)
19 June 2023
MORE INFO | VIEW
NITheCS Colloquium
‘South African Mathematical Sciences Research Landscape in 2050’
Prof Loyiso Nongxa (University of the Witwatersrand)
12 June 2023
CERI Scientific Seminar Series
‘The rise (and fall?) of South Africa’s HIV epidemic: Population insights from rural KwaZulu-Natal’
Prof Frank Tanser (CERI, Stellenbosch University)
31 May 2023
NITheCS Mini-school
‘From Physics to Machine Learning and back again: Applications of Machine Learning to Theoretical Physics, and Physics inspired Machine Learning’
Presented by: Prof Jonathan Shock (UCT), Dr Pallab Basu (WITS), Prof Vishnu Jejjala (WITS) and Mr Cameron Beetar (UCT)
3, 10, 17, 24 May 2023
VIEW
Lecture 1 (3 May)
Lecture 2 (10 May)
Lecture 3 (17 May)
Lecture 4 (24 May)
NITheCS Mini-school
‘Mastering Pandas: An in-depth Guide in Data Science Techniques for Researchers’
Binjamin Barsch (Centre for High Performance Computing)
5, 12, 19 & 26 April 2023
VIEW
Lecture 1 (5 April)
Lecture 2 (12 April)
Lecture 3 (19 April)
Lecture 4 (26 April)
Synergy Summit: High Performance Computing for Sustainable Development in Government, Academia and Industry (ICTP, NITheCS and CHPC School)
Venue: Stellenbosch
17-21 April 2023
MORE INFO | SYNERGY SUMMIT WEBSITE
Advanced School for High Performance Computing for Sustainable Development:
FULL PROGRAMME (17-21 April)
VIEW TALKS FROM THE SYNERGY SUMMIT:
- Opening talks
- ‘How Data-intensive Science Can Drive Human Capital Development for the 4th Industrial Revolution’ – Anna Scaife
- ‘High-Performance Computing is Enabling a Modernised Approach to Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)’ – Mark Nasila
- ‘Progress in the Development of Environmental Observation Networks, and Numerical Weather and Climate Models in South Africa’ – Mary-Jane Bopape
- ‘High Performance Computing in an African Collaborative Research in Atomistic/Molecular Modelling (CRAMM)’ – Omololu Akin-Ojo
- ‘Brain-inspired and energy-efficient solutions to hard optimisation problems’ – Gabriel Fonseca Guerra
- ‘The Future of Computing – From Bits to Qubits’ – Dr Heike Riel
- ‘Making your software correct’ – Bruce Watson
- ‘Stellenbosch University’s clusters of excellence and the Research and Innovation Blueprint 2030’ – Prof Sibusiso Moyo
Abstract Algebra
‘Holiday programme for aspiring mathematicians: grade 8-12’
Presented by: Mathematical Structures Research Group at NITheCS
Venue: Online
5 & 6 April 2023
STEM MentHER
Western Cape ceremony
Venue: Stellenbosch University
4 April 2023
NITheCS Mini-school
‘An Introduction to Solitons and Solitary Waves in Physics and Mathematics’
Prof Boris Malomed (Tel Aviv University), Prof Sergey Dmitriev (Russian Academy of Sciences), Prof Herbert Weigel (Stellenbosch University) and Dr Danial Saadatmand (Stellenbosch University)
8, 15, 22 & 29 March 2023
VIEW
Lecture 1 (8 March)
Lecture 2 (15 March)
Lecture 3 (22 March)
Lecture 4 (29 March)
Science Café Stellenbosch talk
‘Demystifying the Science behind ChatGPT’
Prof Willie Brink (Stellenbosch University)
Thursday, 23 March 2023
Hybrid event:
‘XI Tastes of Nuclear Physics: A New Era of Medical Applications through Simulations, Big Data & Machine Learning’
22-24 March 2023
FameLab contest – NITheCS heat
Contest for science students, researchers and scientists aged 21 – 35 years
22 & 23 March 2023
NITheCS Colloquium
‘Tsetse, trypanosomiasis and climate change: Lessons from Field Data collected in the Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe’
Prof John Hargrove (South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis – SACEMA)
13 March 2023
MORE INFO | VIEW
Math School
‘Free online revision of Term 1 Math for Grade 12s’
Dr Cerene Rathilal (University of Johannesburg)
3 & 10 March 2023
Workshop organised by the Institute of Theoretical Physics, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń and NITheCS
‘Celebrating the Choi-Jamiołkowski Isomorphism’
Venue: Online
1 & 2 March 2023
Colloquium, co-hosted by NITheCS and Department of Physics, Stellenbosch University
‘Moving Towards Quantum Technologies: The Case of Quantum Batteries’
Prof Dario Rosa (Institute for Basic Science; University of Science & Technology, South Korea)
24 February
Venue: in person (Merensky 1011 (Physics Department), Stellenbosch University) and online
NITheCS Colloquium
What are the possible near field structures one can define over the multiplicative group of a near field?
Dr Leandro Boonzaaier (SU) and Dr Sophie Marques (SU)
13 February 2023
The 13th CHPC Coding Summer School
and
The 5th NITheCS Summer School on the Foundations of Theoretical and Computational Science
Venue: Various university locations
30 January – 10 February 2023
Scientific Seminar Series
Insect biodemography: A 21st century guided tour of concepts, empirical results and novel applications
Prof James R. Carey, University of California, Berkeley, USA
25 January 2023