Durban - Aiming to “push the boundaries of knowledge”, Chatsworth student Kumeren Nadaraj Govender will soon be packing his bags for England where he will attend the prestigious Oxford University.
Govender, 24, was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship for 2018, which he will use to pursue his PhD in artificial intelligence.
The final-year University of KwaZulu-Natal medical student is the only KZN recipient of the scholarship, considered to be one of the world’s most prestigious as it identifies and develops future leaders to achieve public good.
Past recipients have gone on to achieve remarkable things and eight former Rhodes scholars became heads of government or heads of state, including Wasim Sajjad (Pakistan), Bill Clinton (US), John Turner (Canada) and three Australian prime ministers: Bob Hawke, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull.
Said an excited Govender: “I am currently in the medicine field and going to join the computer science field. I want to use these two to push the boundaries of knowledge. I want to combine the fields, use big data from health care systems or genomic data to solve complex health care threats including patterns of diseases such as the emergency of drug-resistant TB or antibiotic resistance.”
Govender said he had applied for the scholarship earlier in the year, and to his surprise was shortlisted and then interviewed last month.
“When I got the call last week, I was overwhelmed, I never thought out of all the applicants, I would be the only one chosen from the province. It just reminds me that everyone had a responsibility and mine is to go out, learn new skills and introduce them in South Africa, once my three years are complete, and give back to my country,” he said.
Govender has recently been placed in the top five of the International Science Competition in Abuja, Nigeria, as well as named this year as among the top 200 young South Africans by the Mail & Guardian.
He is a member of the South African Medical Students' Association and president of the Golden Key International Society, where he is an academic mentor.
He is currently working on an internal medicine guide for medical students.
His father Nadaraj, a senior lecturer at UKZN, and mother Sarojini, a teacher at a semi-rural school, told POST their son had never stopped pushing himself to learn more.
“Kumeren was always inquisitive and asked questions while young,” said Nadaraj while Sarojini added, “He has always been persistent, independent, hard-working and eager to try out new ventures.”
The scholarship, which runs over three years, will see Govender depart from South Africa in October next year. But before that, he wants to go to India, he said.
“I am looking at spending a few months studying classical music in India before heading off to Oxford, but it’s not set in stone just yet.”