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22 February 2018 Photo Johan Roux
UFS professor recognised as one of Africa exceptional young scientists Prof Abdon Atangana
Prof Abdon Atangana is from the University of the Free State’s Institute for Groundwater Studies.
Prof Abdon Atangana from the University of the Free State’s Institute for Groundwater Studies was recently announced by the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) as one of 25 early career scientists who were elected to form part of the third cohort of the AAS Affiliates Programme, which recognises exceptional young African scientists.

The Affiliates will be part of the AAS membership pool from 2018 to 2022, during which time they will be supported to attend conferences, symposia and workshops and other activities that will improve their skills in proposal development, grant writing and pitching innovations to help them win more grants, improve their publication records and ensure that their research impacts their communities.

Brilliant minds
“We welcome the new cohort that represents some of the brilliant minds from the continent. The AAS is committed to ensuring that they are provided with the opportunities they need to develop their careers and contribute to the development of the continent,” said AAS Executive Director Prof Nelson Torto.

The third cohort saw the most competitive pool yet with an overwhelming number of nominations from across the five regions of the continent of PhD holders below the age of 40. This year’s Affiliates are also drawn from countries not covered in the previous two cohorts including, Ethiopia, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Other countries from which the 25 were selected are Benin, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Tunisia, South Africa and Uganda.

Besides mathematical sciences, Affiliates also represent disciplines that include cultural sciences, humanities and social sciences, medical and health sciences, agricultural sciences, biosciences and geological, environmental, Earth and space sciences.

World class research leaders
The AAS is a pan-African organisation headquartered in Kenya, that aims to drive sustainable development in Africa through science, technology and innovation. The AAS set up the Affiliates programme in 2015 to recognise, mentor and help early career professionals develop into world-class research leaders.

News Archive

Research conducted on economic impact of recent international soccer and rugby matches for Bloemfontein
2004-09-09

The Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently conducted a survey on the economic impact of the international soccer and rugby games that were played in Bloemfontein earlier this year.

The research focused on the soccer match between Bafana Bafana and the Cape Verdic Isle and the rugby match between the Springboks and Ireland .

“The survey was done as a result of a research agenda about local economic development in Bloemfontein ,” said Dr Lochner Marais, researcher at the centre.

“We conducted the research by doing 402 interviews with soccer supporters and 376 interviews with rugby supporters from outside Bloemfontein ,” said Dr Marais.

The centre distributed questionnaires, collecting the following information on the soccer and rugby supporters: their age, gender and origin, the number of nights spend in Bloemfontein , their household expenditure in Bloemfontein and their rating on the quality of service.

“It is estimated that 10 800 soccer supporters and 27 000 rugby supporters came from outside Bloemfontein . Of the rugby supporters 14,4% were female and 85,6% were men. For the soccer international the percentage was 33% females and 67% males,” said Dr Marais.

The highest number of people who came to watch the soccer game in Bloemfontein (35,8%) was from the Northern Free State . The rugby supporters mainly came from Gauteng (21,8%) and the Northern Free State (18%).

When visiting Bloemfontein soccer supporters spend R912 per household, whilst rugby supporters reached deeper in their pockets and spent R1 807 per household.

“The survey indicated that the two international matches resulted in approximately R58 million been spent in Bloemfontein . Rugby supporters were accountable for the largest part (R48 787 205) spent. The largest chunk of the money spent was on accommodation (R14 593 279). On average soccer and rugby supporters from outside Bloemfontein spent 1,4 and 1,9 nights in Bloemfontein ,” said Dr Marais.

Rugby and soccer supporters were also asked to rate the quality of service received from amongst others hotels, guest houses, restaurants, and transport and entertainment facilities. Soccer supporters rated their satisfaction with services higher as rugby supporters. The rugby supporters gave the services at hotels a 3,9 rating, whilst soccer supporters awarded 4,6 rating out of a possible five.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
9 September 2004
 

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