Prestigious Scholarship Fuels Quantum Research

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Ms Saarisha Govender has been awarded the Vincent Maphai Scholarship for being the top-ranked master’s student at UKZN.

Govender says the rewards from the scholarship will support her research in Quantum Machine Learning (QML) and her path to her PhD.

Named after Dr Vincent Maphai, UKZN’s first Chair of Council and former Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP) Billiton Chairman, the scholarship is a major recognition of Govender and her academic efforts.

Govender called it humbling and motivating, saying it would enable her to focus fully on her studies without added financial pressure. It has also given her the space to prioritise a healthy lifestyle and support and care for her family.

She said enrolling at UKZN during the COVID-19 pandemic was a unique experience balanced by the University’s academic excellence, outreach events, renowned Disciplines of Physics and Astronomy, and proximity to home. Almost five years later, Govender is confident her choice of institution was correct.

“I have truly enjoyed being surrounded by intellectually curious, welcoming and collaborative people - from attending talks to participating in class discussions, it was hard not to feel inspired at UKZN,” said Govender. “If I had to do it again, I would still choose UKZN.”

Her undergraduate studies focused on Astrophysics and in her honours’ year Govender was introduced to QML and Quantum Computing. Quantum mechanics had always fascinated her - and she enjoyed learning how it related to computer sciences - her lecturers’ passion for these topics becoming infectious. Modules on Quantum Computing and Machine Learning expanded her exposure to foundational aspects of the field.

Govender’s honours project involved using an astrophysical dataset to implement the binary classification of pulsars, rapidly rotating neutron stars, on an imbalanced dataset, to which she applied QML techniques to improve pulsar classification performance.

Her master’s research investigates generalisation in QML, focusing on Quantum Kernel-Assisted Support Vector Machines (QSVMs) used for classification. She examines how noise from real quantum devices in the current Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) era impact model performance, using both analytical and computational methods to derive and test bounds on generalisation measures across multiple datasets. This work aims to improve the reliability and trustworthiness of results obtained from QML models by understanding and mitigating noise effects.

Spending time with family and friends outside of her long work hours helps Govender maintain balance, and she cares for her mental and physical health by spending time in the gym, practising strength training and Pilates, meditating, and preparing nutritious meals. She also volunteers at the KwaZulu-Natal Doghouse, a no-kill shelter in Queensburgh that rescues and rehomes abused and neglected dogs.

Govender has found her work as a demonstrator and tutor profoundly rewarding as she enjoyed the interactions with students and the opportunity to share knowledge about physics and maths and provide guidance.

From the age of 13, Govender’s dream has been to attain her PhD. She plans to pursue a career in academia and make meaningful contributions in her chosen field while mentoring the next generation of scientists.

Govender thanked her family for their continual love and unwavering support, saying their emphasis on the importance of education formed her work ethic and perseverance. She also thanked her supervisor, Professor Ilya Sinayskiy for his patience and guidance that have shaped her research abilities, her lecturers for their passion, dedication, and constant support, and the sponsors of the scholarship.

“Their generosity has changed my life, and I am determined not to take it for granted,” said Govender.

Words: Christine Cuénod

Photograph: Andile Ndlovu