2027 Reserve Bank Data Science & Machine Learning Scholarship

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) offers a full scholarship for prospective Master’s degree students specialising in Data Science, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence — with specific reference to financial analytics — for the 2027 academic year.

The scholarship is administered in collaboration with the Data Science Academic Committee of the National Graduate Academy for Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (NGA(MaSS)), and targets students from disadvantaged backgrounds to address the critical shortage of advanced data science skills in the financial sector.

Successful applicants must be enrolled in one of the approved Master’s programmes at a participating institution. Accepted programmes include offerings at the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, University of the Witwatersrand, University of Pretoria, University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of the Western Cape, North-West University, and several others.

Scholarship recipients may be required to attend workshops as directed by the SARB and NGA(MaSS), and will be required to sign a formal agreement with the SARB upon award. Applicants should also note that examination results must be submitted to the SARB by 31 December 2026, regardless of renewal status.