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24 August 2018 Photo Igno van Niekerk
Chemistry changing the world to create a better future
These practical applications of Chemistry are part of the relevant and practically applicable research Prof André Roodt (far left) and his research group are involved in. With him are Dr Ebrahiem Botha, Post-doctoral fellow; Pheelo Nkoe, PhD student; Shaun Redgard, MSc student; and Dr Orbett Alexander, Post-doctoral fellow
Some people have a gift for explaining the most complex concepts in a way anyone could understand. Combine this gift with passion, energy, and enthusiasm, and you are close to describing a meeting with Prof André Roodt. 

Prof Roodt not only teaches Chemistry, he lives it. He has published more than 320 papers, lectured internationally more than 100 times, and has guided 35 PhD and 48 MSc students to complete their degrees. These figures are likely to conjure up visions of a dusty academic working on pie-in-the-sky theories. 

Adding value

Within minutes you are made aware of the fact that Chemistry is not only a subject confined to classrooms and labs. It is a means of changing the world through research to create a better future. In academic terms, Prof Roodt and his team are involved in ‘Homegeneous Catalysis’, ‘Radiopharmacy: Theranostics’, ‘Metal Benefication’, and ‘Conversion of carbon dioxide and water’. And just when you start to remember how terrifying high-school Chemistry was, Prof Roodt explains the practical nature of what they are doing.

Few of us are aware of the exact processes that produce fuel for our cars, although we probably know that these processes have side effects which are usually detrimental to the environment; but what if the by-products of these processes can be turned into speciality chemicals which could add value in different ways?

Ever wondered how medication know where to go in your body? Well – just imagine highly specialised (clever) pharmaceutical agents giving off their own ‘light’, knowing exactly where to go, showing you where they are going, and knowing what to do in order to provide information and interact with specific cells in your body to assist in healing cells and fighting disease. Exciting.

Passionate people

But, as they say in the ads, that is not all; imagine better ways to generate power, using the natural processes in plants to increase natural oxygen where needed, and to be able to change oxygen levels in the environment.

These practical applications of Chemistry are part of the relevant and practically applicable research Prof Roodt and his research group are involved in.

When you leave Prof Roodt’s office, you realise that this is what the UFS is all about: Global impact. World-class research. Passionate people. And seizing the opportunity to create the future.

News Archive

Harvard couple to present lectures on Biostatistics and Mathematics at the UFS
2015-12-07


Professor Donald Rubin

Prof Donald Rubin (John L. Loeb Professor of Statistics at Harvard University) and Elizabeth Zell (MStat - mathematical statistician in the Division of Bacterial Diseases) will visit the University of the Free State (UFS) where they will present lectures on their respective work.

Over his prestigious academic career, Prof Don Rubin’s 400 publications and 13 books have earned him around 180 000 citations at an h-index of 113. He is one of the most cited statisticians/mathematicians/economists/psychologists in the world over the last 10 -15 years. He has supervised 35 PhD candidates as sole-supervisor, 17 more as co-supervisor, with a further eight in the pipeline.

Prof Rubin who will meet with UFS academics in the Department of Mathematics and Actuarial Sciences will also deliver a lecture: Rerandomisation to improve covariate balance in experiments.

Randomised experiments are the “gold standard” for estimating causal effects, yet in practice, chance imbalances often exist in covariate distributions between treatment groups. If covariate data are available before units are exposed to treatments, these chance imbalances can be mitigated by first checking covariate balance before the physical experiment takes place. Provided a precise definition of imbalance has been specified in advance, unbalanced randomisations can be discarded, followed by a rerandomisation. This process can continue until a randomisation yielding balance according to the definition is achieved. By improving covariate balance, rerandomisation provides more precise and trustworthy estimates of treatment effects.

Prof Rubin received an honorary professorship from the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS.


Elizabeth Zell

The lecture will take place on:
Date: Tuesday 8 December 2015
Time: 16:00
Venue: Albert Wessels Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus

Zell earned her Master’s degree in Statistics at North Carolina State University, and for more than two decades, was an active bio-statistical researcher in various offices of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Since 2013, she has been the Principal Statistician and President of Stat-Epi Associates, Inc. Her 150+ publications have earned her 14 500 citations at an h-index of over 50. She is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, and, in 2010, she received the Statistics Section Government Award for outstanding contributions to statistics and public health by the American Public Health Association. During her career at the CDC, she earned more than 20 CDC research awards and honours.

She will deliver two lectures at the UFS. The first is entitled A Potential Outcomes Approach to Documenting the Public Health Impact of the Introduction of PCV13 for the Prevention of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease. The topic of her second lecture is: Assessing the Effectiveness of Intrapartum Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Prevention of Early-Onset Group B Streptococcus Disease through Propensity Score Design

Elizabeth’s lectures will take place on:
Date: Wednesday 9 December 2015
Time: 10:45 and 13:00
Venue: West Block 111, Bloemfontein Campus

For more information, please contact Dr Michael von Maltitz at VMaltitzMJ@ufs.ac.za.

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