Xolisile Octavia Thusini
Xolisile Thusini was born and raised in a traditional household in Nqutu, KwaZulu-Natal. After high school she completed her first degree, a BSc, majoring in physics and electronics at the University of Zululand, Empangeni. Thereafter she obtained an honours degree from Rhodes University and a master’s in mathematical sciences from the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences at Stellenbosch University. She is currently doing a master’s in experimental high-energy physics at the University of Cape Town.
Her research project on the ATLAS experiment at the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) is helping to search for the extremely rare fundamental interaction, the same-sign W boson, which is scattered during proton-proton collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.
Thusini believes dreams do come true if you tirelessly pursue them. She hopes to register for her PhD in physics after her MSc research, and to subsequently work for a South African academic or research centre. She is passionate about empowering and encouraging young African women to participate in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.