NRF Youth Month 2026: Thapelo Gerry Leboho

The NRF is committed to growing South Africa’s next generation of researchers and science communicators. June is Youth Month, and this year the NRF celebrates the youth whose work contributes to meaningful change in South Africa and beyond. We thank all participants for sharing their stories with us.

Mr Thapelo Gerry Leboho is a Master’s student in Particle Physics at the University of the Witwatersrand. He received funding from the NRF for his Master’s studies through the NRF’s Thuthuka grantholder-linked programme.

Tell us about your academic journey

I completed my BSc in Physics and Applied Mathematics in 2024, followed by my BSc Honours in Physics at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2025. I am pursuing my MSc in Physics at the same university where I began specialising in high-energy particle physics. I am currently working within the high-energy physics group on ATLAS-related research at CERN.

During my undergrad, I made sure that I chose modules that would greatly impact me going forward. Applied Mathematics, Pure Physics and Pure Mathematics were the pillars, and these challenged but also encouraged me to further my studies within the Physics realm. I decided to do my Honours in Physics to give me more of an edge when it came to the broader side of Physics. But I was still not satisfied. Hence, for my Master’s, I decided to dive deep so I could “get” what research physics is about, and to ensure my love for physics continues.

Growing up, I was always fascinated by how the Universe works. I didn’t initially imagine myself as a physicist, but I became captivated by fundamental questions about matter and energy during my undergraduate years.

My journey into physics was something that unfolded as I discovered my passion for understanding Nature at its most fundamental level. The rumours that “physics is hard” are what made me pinpoint physics. I want to unravel its mysteries and become a Professor in the School of Physics at Wits one day.

How has your affiliation with the NRF impacted your studies/career?

The support from the National Research Foundation has been instrumental in my academic journey. It has eased the financial pressures that many postgraduate students face, and allows me to dedicate myself fully to my research rather than dividing my attention between studies and financial concerns.

I am currently funded for my Master’s in Physics through the NRF’s Thuthuka grantholder-linked programme.

This support has given me the freedom to engage deeply with complex problems in particle physics, attend conferences/schools/collaboration meetings, and access the computational and collaborative resources needed for frontier research. Through the NRF Thuthuka funding, it has connected me to an international scientific community, opening doors that would otherwise have been difficult to reach as a young researcher from South Africa.

What is your research focus or area of expertise? 

My research tries to answer one of the biggest questions in physics: Is the Higgs boson, the famous particle discovered in 2012, truly the last piece of the puzzle, or is there something more waiting to be found?

The Higgs boson explains why other particles have mass. But many physicists believe it may not be alone—there could be a whole family of related particles we haven’t yet discovered. Finding even one of them would be a landmark discovery, reshaping our understanding of how the Universe is built.

I work on this in two ways. Firstly, with the ATLAS experiment at CERN, the world’s largest particle collider, I search through enormous amounts of collision data for rare signatures that could reveal these new particles. Secondly, I study how a hypothetical new particle, a “charged Higgs,” might be produced and detected at future experiments, helping guide the design of the next generation of machines.

Why does this matter? Beyond satisfying our deepest curiosity about Nature, this kind of fundamental research has historically driven technologies we now take for granted. The World Wide Web itself was invented at CERN. By pushing the boundaries of what we know, we lay the groundwork for discoveries and innovations that future generations will build upon. And doing this work from South Africa shows that world-class science can and does come from our continent.

What purpose drives your research/work, and how do you hope it will contribute to meaningful change?

My research is ultimately driven by one of the deepest questions in physics—is the Higgs boson we discovered in 2012 truly the only scalar particle in Nature, or is it part of a richer structure?

Through my ATLAS di-Higgs analysis and my LHeC charged Higgs phenomenology project, I am probing this question from two complementary angles.

I hope this work contributes not only to the global search for physics beyond the Standard Model, but also to building a sustainable particle physics research culture in South Africa and Africa more broadly— showing that transformative science can emerge from our continent and inspire future generations to pursue fundamental research.

Being a young researcher can be demanding. What keeps you motivated and grounded throughout your journey?

The idea of being in physics and constantly having to do something to challenge my mind. For me, “the one who lacks the idea to construct ideas is the poorest among us scholars.” So, I have to think every time to make sure I better myself. And that is why it motivates me as I progress with it throughout my career.

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