Opportunities
Browse government tenders, quotations, vacancies and documents across South Africa.
Showing opportunities with a recorded closing date that has not passed. Choose another status to browse historical records.
This document is a SARAO vacancy notice for a permanent Junior Electrician position in Carnarvon, Northern Cape. It describes the role, requirements and responsibilities, and instructs applicants to apply online with a CV, motivation letter and referee details. Applications close on 07 October 2026.
- Who it is for:
- Applicants with Grade 12, an Electrical Trade Test Certificate and 0-1 years’ relevant work experience who meet the stated safety, physical and medical requirements.
- How to act on it:
- Apply online by logging to https://ess.nrf.ac.za/Account/Recruitment, submitting a comprehensive CV, including a letter of motivation, and providing the names and contact details of at least three referees.
This document provides the approved layout for fire and escape signage on the first floor of a building at Blackboard Park Ray T, including exit signs, room numbers, stairwell markers, and fire safety equipment symbols. It is intended to guide contractors during installation.
- Who it is for:
- contractors bidding for the refurbishment and repair project
- How to act on it:
- Review the drawing and submit a tender proposal based on the specifications provided.
A research opportunity for a postgraduate student to pursue a Master's degree in engineering at the University of Cape Town, focusing on implementing WOLA filterbanks in hardware (FPGA or GPU) to reduce spectral leakage in radio astronomy signal processing and improve efficiency in logic usage. The project may be upgradable to a PhD if interest in auto-tuning arises.
- Who it is for:
- postgraduate students in engineering with interest in radio astronomy signal processing and FPGA/GPU hardware development
- How to act on it:
- Apply to register for a Master's programme at the University of Cape Town under supervision by Dr Simon Winberg, with support from SARAO.
This opportunity is for a master's student to undertake a research project focused on designing a reduction pipeline for the TART radio telescope. The pipeline will serve as an educational tool to teach interferometry at the postgraduate level in South Africa. It will include creating a measurement set converter for TART data to work with CASA software and exploring the possibility of porting the pipeline to an FPGA.
- Who it is for:
- postgraduate students in engineering or astronomy at Stellenbosch University
- How to act on it:
- Apply through Stellenbosch University’s academic programme for master's research projects; collaborate with SARAO and the University of Otago research group.
This opportunity is for a doctoral candidate to pursue advanced research in physics focused on developing coherent optical techniques for transmitting frequency reference and data signals over long-distance optical fibre networks, specifically for use in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope. The project will be conducted at Nelson Mandela University with supervision from Professor Tim Gibbon.
- Who it is for:
- PhD students in Physics or related engineering fields
- How to act on it:
- Apply to register for a PhD programme at Nelson Mandela University under the supervision of Professor Tim Gibbon, with focus on optical fibre systems for radio astronomy.
This opportunity allows a postgraduate student to pursue a Master's research project focused on developing an optimized computational solver for complex antenna arrays used in radio astronomy, particularly those relevant to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The project involves advanced numerical methods and high-performance computing.
- Who it is for:
- postgraduate students at Stellenbosch University pursuing a Master's in Engineering
- How to act on it:
- Apply to register for the Master's programme at Stellenbosch University under the supervision of Matthys M. Botha, with focus on engineering and antenna technology research.
A PhD student can apply to conduct research on developing a broadband cooled radio astronomy receiver covering the X- and Ku-bands. The project aims to replace legacy receivers at HartRAO's 26m dish and involves designing and testing RF front-ends, monolithic integration, digital back-end design, and evaluation under real conditions.
- Who it is for:
- PhD students in engineering with a background in high frequency electronics or electromagnetics
- How to act on it:
- Apply through the University of Pretoria’s graduate admissions process for engineering programs, with preference for candidates having experience in microelectronic design.
This opportunity allows a master's student to conduct research under the supervision of Dr Spesihle Makhathini and Dr Sarah White at Rhodes University. The project involves using high-resolution MeerKAT radio images to identify the host galaxies of 140 bright extragalactic radio sources from the GLEAM 4-Jy Sample. The research will contribute to understanding how radio jets are launched and their impact on host galaxies, and will prepare data for future studies with the Square Kilometre Array.
- Who it is for:
- master's students in astronomy or astrophysics
- How to act on it:
- Apply to register as a student at Rhodes University with Dr Spesihle Makhathini and Dr Sarah White as supervisors
This opportunity allows a Master's student to propose and conduct research into giant pulses from millisecond pulsars in binary systems using the MeerKAT radio telescope. The project involves analyzing data from the MeerTIME MSP census to investigate emission amplification during eclipses and study the magnetospheres of these pulsars.
- Who it is for:
- Master's students in astrophysics
- How to act on it:
- Submit a research project proposal as a PDF document through the online application form, with details of the primary supervisor and, if applicable, the co-supervisor.
A postgraduate research opportunity for a Master's student in Astronomy or Astrophysics to conduct a study on the cold neutral atomic gas (HI) in the Norma cluster using the MeerKAT telescope. The project focuses on understanding how the cluster environment affects galaxy evolution, particularly through gas depletion and star formation suppression.
- Who it is for:
- Master's students in astronomy or astrophysics
- How to act on it:
- Apply through Rhodes University as part of the SARAO research proposal process
The National Research Foundation is exempted from certain sections of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, allowing it to remove minerals within its jurisdiction for the construction and maintenance of roads and infrastructure related to the Square Kilometer Array project.
- Who it is for:
- National Research Foundation and entities working on the Square Kilometer Array project
- How to act on it:
- No application or action required; the exemption is granted by the Minister of Mineral Resources and applies automatically to the specified activities.
This opportunity allows a postgraduate student to pursue a Master's-level research project focused on developing a drone-based system to measure and record signal strength from a central transmitter. The project aims to improve the accuracy of signal predictions for SKA operations and RFI mitigation by using real-time measurements.
- Who it is for:
- postgraduate students in engineering with strong analytical and RF hardware design skills
- How to act on it:
- Submit a research project proposal through SARAO's application process, including Section A and B, under the supervision of Dr Riaan Wolhuter at Stellenbosch University