A national platform for young scientists advancing research leadership in South Africa.
What SAYAS does
SAYAS brings the country’s leading young scientists together to grow research careers, shape policy, and take science to the public.
Growing the researchers South Africa needs, from first postdoc to first professorship.
Mentor the Young Mentors, the Annual Young Scientist Conference, researcher profiles, and training workshops for early-career scientists.
Explore the programmesPutting young scientists in the room where science decisions are made.
National science networks, young academy partnerships, science forums, and evidence-based inputs that give early-career voices real standing in policy.
Read our policy workTaking research out of the lab and into South African public life.
School outreach, National Science Month, the SAYAS blog and podcast, and feeding the pipeline. Science communication by the people doing the science.
See public scienceCalls and opportunities
Every call on this page carries its real status. No SAYAS calls are open in September 2026; the next date is a webinar on 30 September.
Leen Remmelzwaal (FirstStep.ai) on the engineering behind a trustworthy AI system, from a real quality-control project in the bottling industry. Online, on Microsoft Teams.
Held 13 to 15 September at Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, on sustainable water and safe sanitation for Agenda 2063. Read the updates from the three days.
Ran 1 to 31 July across South Africa, with the theme of igniting young minds through science.
The call closed on 30 June. Twenty new members join from 2026, each serving a five-year term.
The academy in motion
Follow the 2026 programme as it happens: what’s done, what’s on right now, and what’s still to come.
Scroll the rail to move through the year →
Latest from SAYAS
The academy posts first on LinkedIn. The newest posts are brought here, so the site always shows what SAYAS is doing right now.
The Executive Committee, Alumni and Secretariat are at Walter Sisulu University for AYSC 2026, on sustainable water and safe sanitation for Agenda 2063.
Prof Maurine Musie opened the conference at Walter Sisulu University on translating research into policy.
Prof Himla Soodyall and Ms Lusizo Mathibela addressed the opening day on research that informs policy.
Publications
Reports, statements, and resources documenting what SAYAS has done and where it stands.
Membership 2026
The 2026 nomination round closed on 30 June. Nominations reopen with the next annual call, announced here and on the academy’s channels. Members serve five years at the centre of South Africa’s young science community.
