South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)

The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) is a facility of South Africa's National Research Foundation (NRF), responsible for managing all radio astronomy initiatives and facilities in the country, including the MeerKAT radio telescope in the Karoo and the geodesy and VLBI work carried out at the HartRAO facility near Krugersdorp.

SARAO is also South Africa's implementing agency for its share of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the multi-national mega-telescope project being built across South Africa and Australia, and plays a central role in developing the country's radio astronomy skills base.

To build a pipeline of scientists and engineers for MeerKAT, SKA, and related work, SARAO funds a structured set of scholarships spanning Honours, Master's, and Doctoral study, each awarded against SARAO-approved research projects and supervisors in Science and Engineering fields.