The June 12th Faculty of Science Graduation, held in Jameson Hall, was a showcase for the exciting future of astronomy in South Africa. Not only was Dr Bernie Fanaroff, SKA SA Project Director, awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University, but the Astronomy Department had no less than three PhDs in Astronomy and seven MSc degrees in Astrophysics and Space Science conferred. Dr Fanaroff's inspiring address highlighted the exciting future of "big data" in the context of the SKA, and that Africa's unique standing to lead the global community would require the skills and energy of the current and future generations of graduands.

It is with great pleasure that the Astronomy Department extends its congratulations and best wishes to the following graduates:

* Dr Roger Ianjamasimanana for his thesis entitled "Interstellar medium properties and star formation in nearby galaxies".

* Dr Paul Kotze for his thesis on "Studing the environmental dependence of star formation properties of galaxies in the Abell 1437 galaxy cluster and its surrounding large scale structure.

* Dr Viral Parekh for his thesis entitled " Morphological classification and dynamics of X-ray galaxy clusters" (graduating in abstentia).

* Ms. Priscilla Chauke, Mr Zwido Khangale, Mr Rajeev Manick, Mr Itumeleng Monageng, Ms. Elizabeth Naluminsa, Ms. Riona Ramraj and Ms. Sulona Kandhai for obtaining MSc degrees (by coursework and dissertation) in Astrophysics and Space Science.

* And a special mention to ex-NASSP student, Dr Sean February, who obtained a PhD in Applied Mathematics for his thesis "On the evolution of large-scale structure in a cosmic void."

We look forward to hearing of your future successes.

Dr Roger Ianjamasimanan (centre) stands with his thesis supervisor, Prof. Tom Jarrett (left), and Astronomy Head of Department, Prof. Renée Kraan-Korteweg (right).

Dr Paul Kotze (right) with thesis supervisor, Prof. Renée Kraan-Korteweg (left).