Overview of the Project
South African Master in Ocean Sciences
In the context of a rapidly increasing Blue Economy, and to address crucial societal & environmental challenges ranging from global warming to over-fishing, South Africa (SA) needs to increase its pool of highly skilled students in Ocean Sciences.
Currently, only one South African university offers a comprehensive coursework Master programme in Ocean Sciences, achieving limited transformation in the students cohort. The present CBHE project aims to launch a new collaborative, high-quality, interdisciplinary, inclusive and internationally-recognized South African Master in Ocean Sciences (SAMOS). This programme will bridge the still-existing gaps between Historically Advantaged (HAUs) and Historically Disadvantaged Universities (HDUs), by integrating the knowledge, teaching capacities and student bodies of 9 South African Universities, reflecting the full breadth of expertise in Ocean Sciences found in SA.
The contributions of 5 European partners will strengthen the teaching and supervising capacities of South African partners, introduce the benefits of innovative teaching approaches, and foster their capacity to collaborate internationally as well as with socioeconomic stakeholders active in the field of the Blue Economy.
The SAMOS master programme will welcome its first cohort in February 2026 after a preparatory phase (2024-25) that will provide the relevant governance, accreditation, quality assurance and sustainability frameworks for this new curriculum. Tailor-made capacity building workshops, including a twinning programme between EU and HDU academics, will aim at strengthening the capacities of HDUs. Through its comprehensive set of set of tasks designed within the frameworks of SDGs 4 [inclusive education], 5 [gender equality], 13 [climate action], 14 [life below water], 10 [equality] and 17 [global partnership], SAMOS will be highly transformative for South Africa and beyond, paving the way for new collaborative degrees and reinforcing employability.
