The IEEE South Africa Section, South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE), the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF), and University of Pretoria (UP) invite undergraduate and graduate students to submit essays on the topic "5G and Beyond for South Africa and Africa". The submission must show how 5G is relevant to, and can be used in South Africa, our continent, as well as serving its peoples’ needs. The availability of skills and other relevant factors must also be considered.

NB 5G is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as being expected to offer much faster connectivity and be an enabler and accelerator for industry and Internet of Things applications.

There will be four categories of winners, i.e. for male/female graduate students and male/female undergraduate students. Based on the current sponsorship commitments pool, we plan to award the winners and runners up with prizes of R2 000 and R1 000, respectively.

To be eligible, each applicant must:

• be an undergraduate (3-5 years program), Master's, or PhD student at an accredited institution of higher learning; and
• ­have the endorsement of a university/college faculty member at the student's institution. ­

Selection criteria: ­

• creativity, quality and feasibility/practicality of the proposed ideas for the technology and application(s), discussions as well as the thoroughness with which these are described.
• ­feasibility of the discussed concepts and their relevance specifically to African communities and markets.
• quality of writing in the proposal, including spelling, grammar, word choice, organisation, style, clarity of ­figures, etc. ­

Applications must be submitted by the deadline listed at the bottom of this page and must include: ­

• a cover sheet with the complete contact information for the student and the faculty (staff) advisor. The cover sheet must include a paragraph that describes the technical interests and skills of the student and how they relate to the subject of the competition.
• a complete curriculum vitae or resume that includes periods of attendance at all schools, expected and completed graduation dates, all completed degrees (if any), a list of published and submitted journal and conference papers and popular science and news articles. ­
• an essay of no more than three (3) pages long (including ­figures) with a font size of at least 11 points. The list of references may extend to a fourth page. ­
• an endorsement letter from the faculty member.

Submissions must include all four items listed above to be considered for review. All submission materials must be written in English and be integrated into a single PDF document. All submissions are assumed as open. The submissions must not plagiarise any publications or internet articles. An advisor who does not wish to have the student view the recommendation letter should submit the application for the student. We reserve the right not to award a category, if quality of submissions is deemed insufficient.

Submit applications to the following two emails: alysko@csir.co.za and geyerg@saiee.org.za within the deadline (extended to 25 Jul 2021). The winners will be announced within three months from the deadline.

For winners only: each winner will be required to submit a photo to be used in announcements and publications. Disbursement of award funds will be contingent upon receipt of the photo and all the forms.

Download more details and the application template here.  Questions should be directed to Prof. Albert Lysko (alysko@csir.co.za).