Dr Adriana Marais went to school in Pietermaritzburg, and studied theoretical physics and philosophy at the University of Cape Town. She completed her MSc summa cum laude in quantum cryptography at the University of KwaZulu–‐Natal (UKZN), and was awarded her PhD in quantum biology at the same institute in 2015. She is a member of the Quantum Research Group established by Prof. Francesco Petruccione at UKZN, and plans to continue doing research in quantum biology, specifically studying quantum effects in photosynthesis as well as the origins of prebiotic molecules and life itself.

Adriana has been recognised by the Mail and Guardian as one of 200 Young South African achievers (2014), she was one of 15 recipients worldwide of a L’Oreal–‐UNESCO International Rising Talent Grant for Women in Science (2015) and she is the 2016 Royal Society of South Africa Meiring Naude Medal awardee for a young researcher. This year she attended the prestigious 66th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting as one of 400 most qualified young physicists selected worldwide, and will attend the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico this month, to present her research on quantum astrobiology, and hear Elon Musk’s keynote entitled “Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species”.

Adriana believes that education comes with the responsibility to share knowledge, and while still on Earth, is actively involved in the promotion of science and space exploration as Special Project Coordinator for the Foundation for Space Development South Africa, an exciting initiative of which is the Africa2Moon project. She has given numerous talks since 2014, inspiring school children, teenagers and adults around South Africa and abroad to get excited about science, believe in their dreams and remember Nelson Mandela’s words “It always seems impossible until it’s done”.

For some a ‘Moonshot’ is an impossible dream… In 2015, Dr Adriana Marais was selected along with 99 other astronaut candidates around the world for a one-way trip to Mars. When that didn’t pan out, she turned her sights closer. She’s now Head of Science for the first all-African space exploration mission, Africa2Moon, a first-of-its-kind telescope to be launched to the lunar south pole in 2029. This is also the location where the first permanent off-world research bases will be established in the coming years. Watch this space!

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 Project, selected for launch to the lunar south pole with China’s upcoming Chang’e-8 mission.

Africa2Moon is the first all-African space exploration mission, a novel radio telescope designed to perform 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, as well also a member of the committee on Space Resources of the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator.

In 2025, her book ‘Out of this world and into the next‘ was published by Profile Books, and she received Forbes Africa’s Award for Academic Excellence at the Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit in Johannesburg , as well as the Most Disruptive Award at the Women in Tech Global Awards Ceremony in Paris.