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12 June 2018 Photo Thabo Kessah
Young researcher to jet out to UK
Mamosa Ngcala who leaving for the United Kingdom on 31 July 2018.
When Mamosa Ngcala jets out to the United Kingdom (UK) on 31 July 2018, she will not only be doing research and improving herself academically at the Durham University, but she will also put yet another feather in the growing research profile cap of the Qwaqwa Campus.

“I am looking forward to my study visit under the mentorship of Dr Steve Chivasa, my supervisor’s co-researcher in the Department of Biosciences at the renowned Durham University. This will enable me to grow academically as much as it will get me closer to concluding my research on climate change and food security,” said Mamosa, a master’s student in Science (Botany). Her supervisor is Dr Rudo Ngara.

“Going there will fast-track my research that looks at how food security can be enhanced in as far as growing sorghum is concerned. This study in Plant Biotechnology aims to identify heat responsive genes in sorghum, which is the fifth most important cereal crop in the world. The information obtained in this study will serve as fundamental knowledge regarding molecular responses of plants to heat stress and will be used in breeding programmes to develop crops that can tolerate high temperature stress conditions caused by climate change, thus resulting in high crop yield in agriculture as well as food security,” she said. She will be in the UK until 12 September 2018.

Mamosa has recently won the 3-Minute thesis competition for graduates that was part of the ‘Sorghum in the 21st Century’ international conference held in Cape Town.

Talking about this achievement, she said: “Going head-to-head with PhD students from all over the world gave me extra motivation and drive to do well, and I did. This goes to show that we can achieve whatever we put our minds to. Having to summarise my entire study in three minutes for a non-specialist audience, using one PowerPoint slide, was a challenge that had to be overcome,” said Mamosa. The conference was organised by the Collaborative Research on Sorghum and Millet and the University of Pretoria.

Mamosa graduated with distinction in Botany for her honours degree. She is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society and Chairperson of the Postgraduate Student Council and is looking forward to advancing her studies to PhD level.

News Archive

UFS becomes the first university in Africa to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations University
2009-12-01

 During the signing of the memorandum of agreement between DiMTEC and the United Nations University in Bonn, Germany were, from the left, seated: Prof. Konrad Osterwalder, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Rector of the United Nations University; and Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS; back: Prof. Dusan Sakulski, Academic Officer, UNU Cooperative Unit for South Africa; and Mr Andries Jordaan, Director of DiMTEC at the UFS.
Photo: Supplied
 
The University of the Free State (UFS) has become the first university in Africa to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations University. The memorandum of understanding was negotiated by Mr Andries Jordaan, Director of the UFS's Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC).

Mr Jordaan negotiated with the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) to foster a relationship and combine their pool of resources for training in different aspects of Disaster Management. A triangular agreement between DiMTEC, UNU-EHS and the University of Novi Sad in Serbia will be established in three phases. The first phase is the signing of a memorandum of understanding between DiMTEC and UNU-EHS. This phase was completed in September 2009, when Prof. Konrad Osterwalder, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Rector of the United Nations University, and Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS signed the memorandum in Bonn, Germany. The second phase is a memorandum of understanding between UNU-EHS and the University of Novi Sad.

The memorandum of understanding entails among others joint projects between DiMTEC and the UNU-EHS, research for specific projects, exchange of lecturers and that the UNU will assist DiMTEC with external evaluation. As a result of this memorandum, the two universities have already combined their pool of resources by presenting a vulnerability short course and a visitation to the Republic of the Congo.

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