EP 63: Sinenhlanhla Sikhosana- PhD Candidate in Astrophyics

Hello everyone, welcome to episode 63!
My guest today is Sinenhlanhla Sikhosana, aka Sne, born and bred in South Africa. She's a PhD candidate in astrophysics. Yes, we have another astrophysist this week, how exciting!
 In this episode, we learn that she grew up in a village on the South Coast in South Africa.  Maths and physics were her favorite subjects growing up. In her matric year (12 grade) she went to a Career Fair hosted by the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN), where she learned that a career in astrophysics was possible. Sne went on to attend UKZN however when she first enrolled there was no direct major in astrophysics (it's since changed). Instead, she did a double major in Applied Mathematics and Physics. At the time of recording, Sne had submitted her thesis 2weeks prior and after getting some well-deserved sleep she was anxiously waiting for her results to officially be Dr. Sikhosana. We learn about her exciting research which was to understand physical processes that occur in large structures in the universe (groups of galaxies bound together by gravity). She tells me more about this work and its importance as well as the practical aspects of being an astrophysicist. We then talk about the opportunities that being in this field of STEM has afforded her so far. One highlight for her was the first time being on a plane, from that she has had the priveledges of traveling to many parts of the world. It's important to mention that Sne finished her PhD during the worldwide pandemic and she tells us about how that was possible for her to get done.

Tune in to hear about all this and more!

Twitter: @sne_sikhosana
Facebook:  Sinenhlanhla Precious Sikhosana 
LinkedIn: Sinenhlanhla Sikhosana (LinkedIn)