July 27, 2026

Programmes

SAYAS South African Young Academy of Science
Programmes & working groups – 2026

Programmes that move young science into public life.

SAYAS in 2026 is organised around three programme commitments: building excellent young scientists, shaping policy and partnerships, and translating science for society.

Programme architecture

Three working groups. One public programme.

The live site still carries older project buckets. The 2026 programme should instead be organised around the working groups from the current planning material, with public dates and evidence layered into each pillar.

01

Capacity building for scientific excellence

Training, mentoring, conferences, commercialisation and career development for early-career researchers.

  • AYSC 2026
  • Research & Commercialisation Series
  • AI and personal development workshops
  • Mentor the Young Mentors Initiative
Active in 2026 Research leadership
02

Strategic partnerships and policy influence

Policy skills, science diplomacy, science forums, global networks and partnerships that connect young scientists to decision-making.

  • Science diplomacy and regional academy work
  • Evidence-based policy inputs
  • AMASA and science forum themes
  • Global young scientist networks
Some items confirmed Policy voice
03

Science communication and public engagement

Workshops, blogging, podcast pathways, outreach, National Science Month and science communication for public life.

  • Science Communication Workshop
  • National Science Month
  • Blogging, podcast and media pathways
  • Mental health and AI writing streams
Current month Science in society

Right now

The programme is active, but not every date is public.

As of 7 July 2026, the Programmes page should show July’s live context, archive completed May-June activities, and avoid pretending that unverified workshop dates are confirmed.

Current

National Science Month is the live public-engagement context.

National Science Month runs from 1-31 July 2026. The SAYAS slide plan also points to an August Women in Science activity stream, which should be treated as pending final SAYAS confirmation.

  • Completed and usable as recaps Africa Day water-energy webinar, Science Communication Workshop, and the young scientists opportunities webinar.
  • Upcoming and date-confirmed AYSC proposal announcement on 31 July, final changes on 31 August, and AYSC 2026 from 13-15 September.
  • Keep as planned until confirmed Youth Indaba final date/title, AI Workshop Series dates, AI in Scientific Writing dates, and personal development workshops.

Programme streams

Each pillar gets dated work, not generic promises.

Cards below separate confirmed public activities from planned working-group streams. This keeps the page current without turning provisional internal planning into public facts.

01

Capacity building for scientific excellence

The strongest 2026 programme evidence sits here: AYSC, commercialisation, mentoring, and research-career development.

13-15 Sep 2026Confirmed

Annual Young Scientists’ Conference 2026

At Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha Campus, focused on sustainable water availability and safe sanitation systems for Agenda 2063.

Applications closed 21 June; proposals announced 31 July.
Apr-Aug 2026Planned stream

Research & Commercialisation Series

A capacity-building stream that helps young researchers move from research insight to value creation and enterprise pathways.

Use as programme stream; confirm individual sessions before listing as events.
June/Q3 2026Confirm

Youth Indaba

Commercialisation, entrepreneurship, and youth economic participation are the consistent themes across planning and partner posts.

Needs final official title and date before publishing as a dated event.
Q2-Q3 2026Planned

AI Workshop Series

Ethics, African context, internationalisation, and AI entrepreneurship are listed in the 2026 working-group plan.

Speaker availability dependent; keep date fields provisional.
5 Jun 2026Completed

Exploring Opportunities for Young Scientists in Africa

Funding, scholarships, postdoctoral opportunities, grant writing, and collaboration pathways for early-career researchers.

Useful as a 2026 recap and capacity-building proof point.
All yearOngoing

Mentor the Young Mentors Initiative

A continuous mentorship stream that fits the membership and leadership-development logic of the academy.

List as ongoing unless SAYAS provides session dates.
02

Strategic partnerships and policy influence

This pillar should be explicit about policy, science diplomacy and partnerships, but only dated where evidence exists.

25 May 2026Completed

Africa Day water-energy nexus webinar

A regional young-academy collaboration with ASSAf, LAST, LesYAS, SAYAS and DSTI on sustainable development in Southern Africa.

Good public example of science diplomacy and regional partnership.
2026Working-group theme

Evidence-based policy inputs

The plan names timely evidence inputs and policy skills for young scientists as a core action area.

Needs dated outputs before becoming news items.
2026Working-group theme

Science forums

AMASA, innovation for future industries, and science communication with journalism appear as forum directions.

Use as programme category; confirm events before publishing dates.
To confirmHold

SELDI, Gender Summit and Postgraduate Summit

These appear in the ASSAf 2026/27 plan, but should only appear as SAYAS-facing public activities after SAYAS confirms ownership.

Do not overclaim on the live page.
03

Science communication and public engagement

The public-facing stream should connect workshops, National Science Month, blogging, podcasting, outreach and researcher wellbeing.

2 Jun 2026Completed

SAYAS Science Communication Workshop

A practical workshop for postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, early-career researchers and SAYAS members.

Strong 2026 recap for science communication.
1-31 Jul 2026Current

National Science Month

South Africa’s July 2026 public science month gives this page its current public-engagement context.

SAYAS-specific August Women in Science activity still needs confirmation.
Throughout 2026Ongoing

Science blogging and communication

The plan keeps blogging, science communication and public-facing digital channels as continuous streams.

Can link to blog and podcast once media content is audited.
QuarterlyPlanned

AI in scientific writing

A quarterly stream focused on responsible scientific writing in an AI-shaped research environment.

Needs session schedule before appearing in opportunities.
October 2026Planned

Mental health workshop

A wellbeing-focused activity for early-career researchers, listed in the science communication working-group plan.

Month is known; exact date still needed.
18 May postConfirm

School outreach and STEM career guidance

The Dr Moreosele High School activity is a useful outreach example, but the exact event date should be confirmed before publication.

Use as news recap once date is confirmed.

The 2026 programme rail

A dated year plan, with uncertainty made visible.

Gold marks the live moment, green marks completed items, and neutral cards mark planned or upcoming work. The point is not to make everything look open; it is to make the programme trustworthy.

  1. 25 May
    Africa Day webinarWater-energy nexus with regional young academy partners.Completed
  2. 2 Jun
    Science Communication WorkshopPractical public-engagement training.Completed
  3. 5 Jun
    Young Scientists in AfricaFunding, grants and collaboration pathways.Completed
  4. July
    National Science MonthPublic science context for 1-31 July.Current
  5. 31 Jul
    AYSC proposal resultsSuccessful proposals expected to be announced.Upcoming
  6. Aug
    Women in Science streamSAYAS-specific activity needs final date/title.Confirm
  7. Aug-Sep
    Personal developmentLeadership and marketing yourself workshops.Planned
  8. 13-15 Sep
    AYSC 2026Water and sanitation theme at WSU, Mthatha.Upcoming
  9. Oct
    Mental health workshopWellbeing support for early-career researchers.Planned

Scroll the rail to move through the programme year ->

Evidence status

What we can publish now, and what must wait.

This is the part that keeps the page up-to-date. Confirmed public sources go live; working-group plans become programme streams; unresolved items stay visibly marked for confirmation.

Confirmed public

Use on the live page now.

AYSC 2026, membership nomination archive, National Science Month, the May/June webinars, and the Science Communication Workshop are supported by public sources.

Programme streams

Use as 2026 programme structure.

Research commercialisation, mentoring, blogging, AI in writing, and personal development streams can appear as programmes without fake session dates.

Needs confirmation

Do not publish as dated events yet.

Youth Indaba final details, AI Workshop Series dates, Women in Science activation, and some ASSAf APP items need SAYAS confirmation first.

Next page decision

The Programmes page should be the source of truth for what SAYAS is doing in 2026.

Once this structure is approved, the Opportunities page can pull from it without duplicating old calls or inventing open deadlines.

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