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29 August 2018 Photo Barend Nagel
Think three minutes is a long time
One slide and three minutes was all they had to present their research. Winners of the UFS Three-Minute Thesis competition in the Master’s category are from left: Nigel Masalla, Phuthi Samuel Masingi and Vuyisa Sigwela. Home page photo: Winners in the PhD Category were Trudie Strauss and Nokuthula Tlalajoe.
It may take three minutes to make noodles, but imagine presenting the 80 000-word research you spent months writing in just three minutes.

For master’s and PhD students participating in the annual institutional Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition at the University of the Free State (UFS), three minutes seem to go as fast as three seconds. Each participant is given three minutes to present the essence of their research, explaining the problem, methodology used, as well as the importance of their research using one slide.

A jubilant audience of staff members and students gathered at the Equitas Auditorium on the Bloemfontein Campus for the annual institutional 3MT competition. Interesting research topics across different fields of study, which the participants had spent months and even years researching, were presented in the master’s and PhD categories. After each presentation, a panel of judges and the audience had the chance to ask the participants questions on their research.

The competition is part of the initiative by the UFS Postgraduate School to showcase postgraduate research across disciplines, faculties, and universities. Participation in this competition helps to develop academic, presentation, and research communication skills to ensure that research students can effectively communicate their research in a language that even non-specialists can understand. 

It is the mandate of the school to “create an enabling environment for postgraduate students to excel in their pursuit of their academic quests”, according to Prof Witness Mudzi: Director of the UFS Postgraduate School. 

Winners at the event:

PhDs
• Third prize: Trudie Strauss - Babelish Confusion: Finding Statistical Structure in the Diversity of Languages (R3 000 cash prize)
• People’s choice: Nokuthula Tlalajoe - The transition of undergraduate first-year students into the MBChB programme: Social learning and integration

Master’s
• First prize: Phuthi Samuel Masingi   Physical demands of South African Football (R6 000 cash prize)
• Second prize and people’s choice: Nigel Masalla   “ Stealthing” – lifting the veil on non-consensual condom removal (R4 000 cash prize)
• Third prize: Vuyisa Sigwela - Extraction, characterisation and application of betalains from beetroot, cactus pear and amaranth (R2 000 cash prize)

The UFS will be represented by Trudie Strauss at the national 3MT competition on 26 October 2018. The national competition will take place on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus

News Archive

Moshoeshoe's legacy lives on in university's project: City Press - 2 May 2004
2004-10-14

 CITY PRESS                           2 MAY 2004   P8  

NEWS
JOHANNESBURG FINAL 

Moshoeshoe's legacy lives on in university's project

MATEFU MOKOENA


 

DRUMS were beaten and the sounds of traditional songs reverberated through corridors of the University of the Free State (UFS) as Basotho students gathered at the campus over the weekend to launch a project honouring their late great king, Moshoeshoe.

The launch was organised by the Lesotho Students Association and UFS management and was blessed by King Letsie III of Lesotho.

According to UFS rector and vicechancellor, Professor Frederick Fourie, the aim of the project is to make the legacy of Moshoeshoe a living part of the university.

He said the Moshoeshoe project will include a television documentary on his life as well as an anthology of creative writings, including prose and poetry, about him.

A television documentary is already being filmed and will be screened during an international conference at UFS in October.

Fourie said the university, as part of the project, is looking at the possibility of starting an annual Moshoeshoe memorial lecture that will focus on African leadership, nationbuilding and reconciliation.

He said the university would introduce a PhD-level research course into the life and legacy of Moshoeshoe.

The university management has also taken a decision to erect a statue of Moshoeshoe on the campus.

Fourie said the project was launched after the UFS delegation, led by him, met Letsie III.

"He wanted us to ensure the legacy of Moshoeshoe is honoured and treated with the respect he deserves."

His legacy "must live on -- not only for the Basotho, but for all South Africans, black and white, and for the entire African continent", he said.

"Living out such a legacy is indeed a fitting contribution to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) and to the maturing democracy that is being built here in South Africa," said Fourie.

He emphasised Moshoeshoe was and remains a model of African leadership.

Fourie said Moshoeshoe's diplomacy and commitment to peace put him on a par with former president Nelson Mandela as a statesman.

It is Fourie's dream that, through this project, the UFS will be able to give real meaning to words such as reconciliation, respect for the diversity of languages and cultures and the unity that is needed to build a democratic nation.

The Lesotho Students Association secretary, Sofonea Shale, said for an institution like the UFS to honour Moshoeshoe demonstrates that he was a great leader. "For Basotho students, the project is very significant as it clearly defines who we are and what we stand for.

"We believe the research into the legacy of our great king Moshoeshoe will open doors for more research into the life of Basotho in general.

"Africa as a whole can learn from his leadership style," he said.


 

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