Professor Sunil Maharaj has made the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the South African science community enormously proud after being awarded the prestigious Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award!
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (04 July, 2023) — Professor Sunil Maharaj is the 2023 recipient of the Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award—AKA the Oscar of Academics in South Africa. A dedicated professor who’s been with the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal for almost forty years, the professor of the stars has well proven his dedication to science and perhaps more importantly, South Africa’s stake in the field.<
The Award is held in high esteem in the world of academia—not least because it praises the kind of careers that often don’t step into the spotlight, but also because of the opportunities it presents for further research.
For Prof Sunil who is the Director of UKZN’s Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Unit, the award comes at a particularly exciting time in history with humankind being closer to the space frontier than ever before. For South Africa, the timing is also thrilling thanks to the development of SKA, the world’s largest radio telescope which is busy being constructed by South African and Australian teams.
Prof Sunil has already made South Africa proud with ground-breaking research unique to the questions most of us wouldn’t even know to ask; particularly in gravitational processes within stars.
For South Africa, Prof Sunil’s achievement marks a giant leap towards becoming a global leader in astronomy and astrophysics as UKZN highlights.
“Professor Maharaj’s achievement not only highlights the exceptional talent within South Africa but also underscores the nation’s commitment to fostering scientific excellence and becoming a leader in the field of astrophysics. The collaborative nature of this project serves as a testament to the power of international cooperation and knowledge sharing”, said Jonathan Oppenheimer, Chairman of the Trust.
“It has been a very humbling experience to be shortlisted for the award, and to actually receive it. It came as a surprise to me as I thought it would go to something more observational and practical like a product or a cure for COVID”, shared the professor of the stars of his milestone achievement.
by 