Adriana Marais

Foundation for Space Development Africa and Founder Proudly Human • Theoretical Physicist, Director

Dr Adriana Marais has a background in theoretical physics, her PhD and postdoctoral research focused on quantum effects in biology and the origins of the building blocks of life in space. Since 2017, Adriana is a Director at the Foundation for Space Development Africa, and also the Head of Science for the Foundation’s Africa2Moon mission, recently selected for launch to the lunar south pole with China's Chang'e-8 mission. Africa2Moon will be Africa’s first lunar mission and the first lunar radio telescope of its kind, performing new science not possible from Earth. In 2019, Adriana left her position as Head of Innovation at SAP Africa to found Proudly Human, and she is currently leading the organisation’s Off-World Project, in preparation for extreme conditions on Earth and beyond. Adriana is also a researcher at the University of Stellenbosch and the National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences, both in South Africa, an expert at the Singularity University in California, and a member of the committee on Space Resources of the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator. Her book ‘Out of this world and into the next’ is out this year, published by Profile Books.

Events

International Astronautical Congress 2025

29 September - 3 October 2025

Sydney, Australia

Participation: