Adriana Marais

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Adriana Marais
TEDxCapeTown 2015 - Behind The Scenes - Adriana Marais.png
Marais at TEDxCapeTown 2015
Born (1983-08-15) August 15, 1983 (age 42)
King Williams Town, South Africa
Alma mater University of Cape Town (BSc Hons) University of KwaZulu-Natal (MSc, PhD)
Known forProjects encouraging STEM and space exploration
Scientific career
Fields Quantum cryptography
Quantum biology
Institutions Centre for Quantum Technologies
SAP Africa
Thesis
Website Adriana Marais
Proudly Human
Foundation for Space Development Africa

Adriana Marais is a South African theoretical physicist, technologist and advocate for off-world exploration. [1] She is a director of the Foundation for Space Development Africa, [2] the organisation leading Africa's first mission to the Moon, the Africa2Moon Project. She is the founder of Proudly Human, [3] an initiative of which is the Off-World Project, a series of habitation experiments in Earth's most extreme environments. [4] [5]

Contents

For her research in quantum biology and the origins of life, she received awards including the 2015 L'Oreal-UNESCO International Rising Talent Award. [6] In 2025, she won the Forbes Woman Africa Academic Excellence Award [7] , as well as Women in Tech's Most Disruptive Woman in Tech Award [8] .

In 2025, her book 'Out of this World and into the Next' was published by Profile Books [9] [10] .

Education and career

Marais completed a BSc Hons 1st class (theoretical physics) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) [11] in 2004, followed by an MSc summa cum laude (quantum cryptography) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) [11] [4] in 2010. She was awarded a PhD (quantum biology) from UKZN in 2015 [11] for her research on quantum effects in photosynthesis and her postdoctoral research focused on the origins of prebiotic molecules and life itself. [4] [12] She enrolled at UCT in 2019 as a PhD candidate in economics with a focus on economic systems for resource constrained environments. [4] [13]

During her postgraduate studies, she lectured at UKZN from 2007 - 2013 and was a visiting researcher at the Centre for Quantum Technologies, Singapore, from 2011 - 2012. [14]

From 2017-2019, she was Head of Innovation at SAP Africa [4] and in 2018 she joined the faculty of Singularity University. [4] [13] In 2019, Marais founded Proudly Human, an organisation focusing on building infrastructure and teams in extreme environments in preparation for life on the Moon, Mars and beyond, as well as to provide solutions for those living in harsh conditions here on Earth. [3] [5]

Foundation for Space Development Africa

Marais was a special project coordinator of the Foundation for Space Development in 2016, [11] and in 2017, became co-director [4] with Khutšo Ngoasheng and founding director Carla Sharpe Mitchell. The organisation is developing Africa's first lunar mission and the world's first radio astronomy array, the Africa2Moon Project, as well as driving projects including asteroid mining; disaster management projects based on a geo-magnetic solar climate model; and other uses for big data in space. [15] . The Foundation aims to inspire children in developing nations via education and science, and encourages technological research in areas including space research, AI and robotics and open source communication technologies.

On 24 April 2025, the Africa2Moon payload was selected for launch to the lunar south pole with China's Chang'e-8 mission scheduled for 2029 [16] .

Proudly Human

Proudly Human’s Off-World Project will demonstrate human resilience, sustainability and community spirit in even the most extreme environments through grit, imagination, research and innovation. The project prepares for life on the Moon, Mars and beyond, as well as providing solutions for those living in harsh conditions here on Earth. Over the next few years, Proudly Human will run a series of habitation experiments, building communities and off-grid infrastructure in the most extreme environments on the planet, from the desert, to Antarctica, to under the ocean. Each experiment will last several months, generate exploration-driven innovation and research, and be filmed for a documentary series. [4] [5] [1]

In 2019, Marais completed location scouts to the Antarctic interior, deserts in Africa, America and the Middle East, as well as the Aquarius Reef Base undersea facility in Florida. On 1 February 2021, a global call for applications for crew for the Off-World Project opened. [5]

Mars One

In 2013, Marais volunteered for the Mars One Project, a private organisation, planning one-way trips to establish the first human settlement on Mars in 2026. Marais was shortlisted as one of 100 astronaut candidates with the project. [11] [17] [12] [18] In February 2019, however, Mars One declared bankruptcy. [3] [19] [20]

Membership and recognition

Marais has received several awards, including:

Personal life

In 2016, Marais completed the Two Oceans 56km Ultramarathon. [28] In 2017, she summited Uhuru Peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. [29]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Off-World Antarctica: Preparing for Mars. Dr. Adriana Marais. TEDxLuxembourgCityWomen". TEDx Talks YouTube. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "Foundation for Space Development | About us". Foundation for Space Development. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Duncan, Elly (16 August 2019). "Q+A with an expert: when are we really moving to Mars?". SBS The Feed. Australia. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Frost, Sally (8 August 2019). "Data@breakfast Ventures Off-World". Ndaba Online. No. 41. South Africa: University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Research and technology for a sustainable and #ProudlyHuman future on Earth, above and beyond". Proudly Human. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  6. 1 2 "2015 International Rising Talents". United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Forbes Africa Academic Excellence Award". Forbes Africa YouTube. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Most Disruptive Women in Tech Award". LinkedIn Post Women in Tech. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  9. ↑ "Out of this World and into the Next". Amazon UK website. 10 April 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  10. ↑ "Out of this World and into the Next". Audible. April 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Abarder, Gasant (19 August 2016). "Adriana is on a mission to Mars". Cape Argus, Independent Online. Cape Town, South Africa. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  12. 1 2 Hartleb, Thomas (3 February 2016). "SA's Mars One hopeful preparing for final test". News24. Cape Town, South Africa. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 "Dr Adriana Marais". Faculty. Singularity University. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  14. ↑ "Adriana Marais | PhD Physics PhD Candidate Economics | University of Cape Town, Cape Town ..." ResearchGate. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  15. ↑ "Programs". Foundation for Space Development. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  16. ↑ "Africa2Moon Project Selected for Moon Mission". SpaceinAfrica website. 24 April 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  17. ↑ Whitfield, Bruce (21 December 2016). "Adriana Marais may soon leave for Mars (never to return)". Cape Talk 567AM. Cape Town, South Africa. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  18. ↑ "Adriana". Mars One Community Platform. Archived from the original on 19 September 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  19. ↑ Moseman, Andrew (11 February 2019). "Mars One Mission Is Dead". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  20. ↑ Whitfield, Bruce (15 February 2019). "Dr Adriana Marais was on her way to the Red Planet. Then Mars One collapsed". Radio 702. Johannesburg, South Africa. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  21. ↑ "Meiring Naude Medal Citation" (PDF). Royal Society of South Africa. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  22. ↑ Ndlovu, Sphumelele C.; Marais, Adriana; Shabangu, Promise T.; Noto, Luyanda L.; Greiner, Johannes N.; Engelbrecht, Nicholas E.; Dhunny, Asma Z. (27 March 2018). "Diversity of participant representation within the 66th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting". South African Journal of Science. 114 (3/4): 4. doi: 10.17159/sajs.2018/a0263 . ISSN   1996-7489 . Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  23. ↑ "Next generation of scientists: Pride of South Africa". Department: Science and Technology. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  24. ↑ "Search - Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings". lindau-nobel.org. Retrieved 9 August 2019.[ permanent dead link ]
  25. ↑ "UKZN NdabaOnline". ndabaonline.ukzn.ac.za. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  26. ↑ "THE 2016 GLOBAL MEETING RISING TALENTS" (PDF). Women's Forum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  27. ↑ "The South African Women in Science Awards". The M&G Online. 23 August 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  28. ↑ "Search - 2016 Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon (2016)". SportSplits. 26 March 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  29. ↑ "Curriculum Vitae - Adriana Marais" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2021.
  30. "Let us not forget the rights of poor and rural women with little access to justice". TimesLIVE. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.(subscription required)
  31. "Fourth Industrial Revolution – Keeping people at the core". University World News. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
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