UKZN awards scholarships to outstanding students

The University of KwaZulu-Natal has honoured outstanding student achievers with prestigious scholarships.

Awards were given to students who excelled academically, demonstrated strong community engagement, and distinguished themselves as leaders, as well as excelled on the sporting field, earning provincial and national honours.

Among the recipients were Master of Science student, Saarisha Govender, Bachelor of Business Science in Investment Science student, Yadiel Chatterpersad, third-year Bachelor of Laws (LLB) student, Bianca Lee Govender and Mechanical Engineering student, Dhruv Heeralal.

Saarisha was awarded the Vincent Maphai Scholarship for being the top-ranked master’s student at UKZN.

Saarisha, 22, from Queensburgh, said the rewards from the scholarship will support her research in Quantum Machine Learning (QML) and her path to her PhD.  

She said it was humbling and motivating, adding that it would enable her to focus fully on her studies without added financial pressure.

"I was surprised to get this scholarship. The generosity of the sponsors has changed my life, and I am determined not to take it for granted.

"I have always been passionate about physics and astronomy. My love for mathematics has helped shape my academic journey," she said.

In 2023, Saarisha received the 100th anniversary scholarship for being the third-place undergraduate student in the entire university. Last year she was awarded the Zac Yacoob Scholarship for the best honours student.

Her undergraduate studies focused on Astrophysics and in her honours’ year Saarisha was introduced to Quantum Machine Learning (QML) and Quantum Computing.

Her master’s research investigates generalisation in QML, focusing on Quantum Kernel-Assisted Support Vector Machines (QSVMs) used for classification. Generalisation refers to the ability of a trained machine learning model to perform well on new, unseen data points after being trained on a limited dataset.

Saarisha examines how noise from real quantum devices in the current Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) era impacts model performance, using both analytical and computational methods to derive and test bounds on generalisation measures across multiple datasets.

She plans on pursuing her PhD and remaining in academia.

Chatterpersad, a Bachelor of Business Science student majoring in Investment Science, was awarded two of UKZN's undergraduate scholarships.

He was the recipient of the Lawrence and Constance Robinson Scholarship. This is awarded annually to the highest-performing undergraduate student.

He also earned the Dr Townley Williams Scholarship, which recognises the top-performing student entering the final year of their first undergraduate degree.

“These scholarships mean so much to me. They stand as a testament to the hard work and passion I have poured into my studies, and I am truly grateful to the University for recognising and affirming that effort,” he said.

His first year of university was held entirely online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The lack of a contact-learning environment made it more difficult to absorb complex concepts, especially in a field as analytical as mine. I had to work twice as hard to ensure that I was mastering the material, throughout that time. My family played a critical role in motivating and supporting me. Their encouragement was invaluable,” said Chatterpersad, a former learner of Arena Park Secondary School in Chatsworth.

Chatterpersad initially enrolled as a Finance and Economics major but changed to Statistics after excelling in his Mathematics modules.

“Switching to Statistics was one of the best academic decisions I’ve made, I even enrolled in an additional Mathematics module in my third year, and the insights I gained from it have been instrumental in sharpening my analytical thinking,” he said. 

Chatterpersad plans to enter the field of quantitative analysis, where he hopes to apply financial, mathematical, and statistical principles to solve complex data-driven problems.

Bianca Lee Govender, a third-year Bachelor of Laws (LLB) student, was awarded the UKZN College Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship, recognising her as one of the top three undergraduate achievers in the College of Law and Management Studies.

Govender said the loss of her mother, in February 2023, in the midst of everything was an incredibly tough and emotional journey.

"It has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through and there were moments I didn’t think I could continue. But I kept going because I knew she would’ve wanted me to,” she said.

Govender dedicates her success to her family who have played a major role in shaping her into the woman she is today.

“Receiving the DVC Scholarship means more than words can express. It is not just an academic achievement, but recognition of my hard work, dedication, and resilience. All the sleepless nights finally paid off,” she said.

Govender recently signed a contract to do her articles with a firm in Gauteng.

Dhruv Heeralal, a Mechanical Engineering student and Prestige Sports Scholarship’ recipient, has excelled in karate.

At the age of seven he was the youngest Protea champion.

Inspired by Bruce Lee movies and his older brother Hemal, Heeralal said he was grateful for the sport as it helped develop his character and encourage good choices.

He is currently graded second Dan black belt.

Heeralal has represented South Africa at karate championships in Poland, India, Croatia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and Morocco. He is a Karate Commonwealth Champion, and won double gold for both disciplines of Kata and Kumite when competing in the Region Five Championships. He is also the 2025 University Sports South Africa (USSA) champion, winning gold for individual Kumite, gold for Team Kata, and bronze for individual Kata.

“This scholarship means dedication, commitment, not giving up and believing in yourself,” said Heeralal.

Professor Thabo Msibi, deputy vice-chancellor: Teaching and Learning and chair of the scholarships committee, said the event was a celebration of excellence and the remarkable achievements of the students who are the institution’s pride and joy.

“This recognition is not the end, only the beginning, and the world awaits your brilliance,” said Msibi.

The ‘Prestige Undergraduate Scholarships’ were awarded to the three top-performing undergraduate students in the entire university; that is, the three top students.They were Chatterpersad, Bachelor of Science in Engineering student, Talha Dada, and Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Information Technology student, Mahomed Ally.

Other awards were the ‘Zac Yacoob Scholarship’ which was given to Bachelor of Science Honours student, Jaedon Naidu.

Recognising women scholars in particular – the ‘Maryam Babangida Scholarship’ is awarded to the best female student in the entire university, from undergraduate to honours study. This year's recipient was Bachelor of Science Honours student, Nokwanda Biyase.

Another scholarship awarded to women achievers is the ‘Emma Smith Overseas Scholarship’ which offers recipients the opportunity to study abroad. It is awarded to the top-performing female postgraduate students; Bachelor of Theology honours student, Abongile Mpu, Bachelor of Medical Sciences honours student, Karina Maharaj, and NDP Human Sciences student, Tatum Lee Thomas.

For sporting excellence eight students were awarded for outstanding achievement in sports at international, national and provincial levels. The recipients were Heeralal and Senamile Manqele (karate), Grace Daley and Amber Thomson (netball), Lwanele Gaba (rugby), Callista Ramowtar (badminton), Jean-Luc Maurel (bodybuilding), and Bontle Finger (volleyball).

SUNDAY TRIBUNE