South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Masters in Data Science & Machine Learning Scholarship 2026

Applications are open for the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Masters in Data Science & Machine Learning Scholarship 2026. The SARB, as part of addressing the severe shortage of skills in South Africa, provides scholarships and bursaries to students in relevant fields of study who are from disadvantaged backgrounds. In support of the corporate social initiatives of the SARB and its External Bursary Scheme, a number of external scholarships and bursaries are made available annually to qualifying prospective postgraduate students.

The SARB, in collaboration with the Data Science Academic Committee of the National Graduate Academy for Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (NGA(MaSS)), hereby invites prospective Master’s degree students to apply for competitive SARB bursaries in the fields of data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence, with specific reference to financial analytics.

About the South African Reserve Bank

The SARB serves the economic well-being of all South Africans through maintaining price stability and financial stability. It is responsible for regulating the South African financial sector, designing and distributing banknotes and coin, managing interest rates, setting the cash reserve requirement for banks, and ensuring the stability of both the banking sector and the wider financial system.

Eligibility for Machine Learning Scholarship

For students to be considered for the scholarship, they must meet the following requirements:

• Have provisional acceptance into one of the identified Master’s programmes;
• Have selected modules that should include financial analytics topics;
• Have a relevant Honours degree with an average of at least a 65% overall pass mark;
• Be a full-time student;
• Be a South African citizen; and
• Be younger than 35 years of age.

As part of the acceptance criteria of the scholarship, students might be expected to attend specific workshops, as required by the SARB and the NGA(MaSS).

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Application

The closing date for the submission of applications is Friday, 31 October 2025. Late applications will not be considered. Examination results, proof of acceptance at a recognised institution (a student number) and any other supporting documents must be submitted with the application.

Use PROMO CODE: SARBDSM26

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