Dr. Adriana Marais

Director

Dr Adriana Marais has a background in theoretical physics, her research focusing 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 Head of Science for the Foundation’s Africa2Moon mission. In 2019, Adriana left her position as Head of Innovation at SAP Africa to found Proudly Human, and is currently leading the organisation’s Off-World Project, in preparation for extreme conditions on Earth and beyond. Adriana is 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 as 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’ was published globally in 2025 by Profile Books.