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05 April 2018 Photo Xolisa Mnukwa
Global genealogy explored at UFS guest lecture
Karen Ehlers, lecturer in Department of Genetics; Prof Eugenia D’Amato, guest lecturer and Associate Professor: Department of Biotechnology at the UWC, and Prof Paul Grobler Head of Department: Genetics at the UFS.

Prof Eugenia D’Amato held a lecture at the University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Genetics about the research activities she has conducted in her unit at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), in the Forensic DNA lab of the Faculty of Natural Sciences.
 
The lecture focused on research topics she has piloted, including the use of forensic markers in South Africa. Prof D’Amato also spoke on food forensics, the identification of anti-apartheid activists, understanding human genetic variation, and the implementation of novel/refined methods, with a strong emphasis on the forensic use of Y chromosome-based information.

She concluded her PhD studies at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, at the forensic lab. Currently, Prof D’Amato participates in numerous genotyping international forensic collaborations.

 “A survey of existing genetic diversity,
the distribution of diversity, the forensic
parameters and applications are a few of
the subject matters which are important
components of the GlobalFiler project.”
Prof Eugenia D’Amato

She also belongs to the working committee of the “Innocence Project South Africa”.

Her training and subsequent experience in population genetics facilitated the design of a Y chromosome “kit”, as well as the analysis and successful identification of various individuals from highly degraded DNA. Her lecture revealed interesting statistics about how poorly represented African diversity is in the existing world population databases. She explained that mechanisms that drive differentiation include random “genetic drift” and historic demographic processes.
 
Prof D’Amato indicated that her “Database Projection” project for 2018/2019 aims at profiling the population groups of South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. She further explained that a powerful tool for forensic application has been developed, and that there is potential for other applications including haplogroup prediction and the study of demographic history, that will aid her projects in the future.

News Archive

UFS appoints Prof Francis Petersen as Vice-Chancellor and Rector
2016-12-02

Description: Prof Francis Petersen Tags: Prof Francis Petersen  

Prof Francis Petersen

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) is pleased to announce that it has decided to appoint Prof Francis Petersen as Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS.

Announcing the decision to appoint Prof Petersen today (Friday 2 December 2016) during the quarterly Council meeting on the Bloemfontein Campus, the Chairperson of the UFS Council, Judge Ian van der Merwe, said the university was fortunate to be able to appoint a candidate of such good quality to the position.

Prof Petersen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Institutional Innovation at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and Prof Lis Lange, Vice-Rector: Academic at the UFS, were in line for the position. The university’s Selection Committee expressed equal preference for both and the two candidates were therefore recommended to Council for the position.  
 
“It has been a truly participatory and transparent selection process, which has assisted in the Council being able to make this decision. The higher-education sector has been through a difficult and challenging time during the past few months and the Council is thankful that a leader like Prof Petersen can head the university in 2017 and beyond,” said Judge Van der Merwe.

In his statement of intent, which was submitted earlier as part of the application for the post, Prof Petersen indicated that it is important to imagine the UFS’s location in South Africa and Africa, to realise the challenges within this context, now and in the future, so as to sharpen the university’s focus to become a more inclusive, academic excellent institution, embedded in a culture of innovation. “Therefore, the ideal of academic excellence must be supported by an institutional framework of diversity and inclusivity. The Academic Project should focus on a unique educational experience for every UFS student, the enhancement of student throughput-rate in academic programmes through dedicated academic support, graduate attributes, and curriculum change and renewal,” he said. He furthermore stated that research and innovation must focus on impact and international visibility. “It is thus not only the increase in research and innovation output, but the quality and impact thereof.” 

Prof Petersen was previously the Dean of Engineering and the Built Environment at UCT. He brings to the position of Vice-Chancellor and Rector his extensive experience of management in both the industry and academic sectors. He has been the executive head of strategy at Anglo American Platinum and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Cape Technikon (now Cape Peninsula University of Technology). He is a member of the UCT Council, non-executive director on the Board of Pragma Holdings, non-executive director on the Board of the Unlimited Group, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Seedcap (Venture Capital) Trust. Among others, he previously served as member on the Board of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the National Advisory Council on Innovation, and the Council of the Academy of Science of South Africa.

He graduated from Stellenbosch University with a BEng (Chem Eng), MEng (Metal Eng), and PhD (Eng) degrees and completed a short course on Financial Skills for Executive Management. He is a recipient of the Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Award for research excellence, and was visiting professor at the Cape Technikon and extraordinary professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stellenbosch University. He is a regular reviewer of journals, and member of a range of editorial boards for international journals.

Prof Petersen is also a registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa and a Fellow of both the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and the South African Academy of Engineers. 

Prof Petersen succeeds Prof Jonathan Jansen, who stepped down as Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS on 31 August 2016. An international executive search agency specialising in academic appointments has assisted the UFS Council in its search for top-quality candidates.

 

Released by:

Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

 


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