Study in Cape Town, South Africa
Being a student at AIMS
The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (South Africa) is located in the vibrant suburb of Muizenberg in Cape Town. Our institute is close to the beach and close to mountains, and here you are likely to encounter surfers, artists and mathematicians!
Some alumni refer to our institute as “the monastery of mathematics”, and you can easily see why. Our students come from across Africa. They live in the top floors of our main building, and are taught in lecture halls in the same building. Visiting lecturers often stay in the same building, creating an immersive environment where we live together, eat together, socialise together and study together.
“AI for Science builds on the energy and enthusiasm of the AI community across Africa.”
Ulrich Paquet, Director, AIMS SA
The degree structure
AIMS South Africa's Master’s degree in Mathematical Science, in which the AI for Science program is a stream, is a one-year residential program. The first academic year of this exciting new program runs from September 2023 until July 2024; the next academic year will be from September 2024 until July 2025!
The curriculum will look at how we can use AI to better understand the world around us and accelerate progress on some of today’s most fundamental and fascinating scientific challenges.
The Master’s degree is structured into three parts:
Advanced topics: foundational courses
10 weeks, 7 foundational skills courses
Advanced topics: review courses
6 three-week blocks, with 3 courses per block. A student elects 11 of these 18 courses
Research project
A research dissertation, lasting around 12 weeks, which is started at the end of review courses
A joint institute
AIMS South Africa was founded as a partnership project between the following local and international universities: University of Cambridge, University of Cape Town, University of Oxford, Université de Paris Sud XI, Stellenbosch University and the University of the Western Cape.
Because the institute was founded as a joint venture between the three universities in the Cape Town area, the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University and the University of the Western Cape, your degree certificate will be a Master’s degree in Mathematical Sciences from these founding universities.