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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

SRC elections: A first for UFS main campus
2005-08-14

Students on the main campus of the of the University of the Free State (UFS) will this week for the first time vote for the Student Representative Council (SRC) using two voting systems: proportional representation (PR) and first-past-the-post. 

According to the Vice-Rector, Student Affairs, Dr Ezekiel Moraka, this year’s elections are a milestone for the UFS as it will be the first time that the main campus SRC will be elected according to the amended SRC constitution, which was approved by the UFS Council in June 2005.

“It is also a major breakthrough for student governance and transformation of the UFS main campus and constitutes a legitimate basis for the democratic participation of all students at the UFS main campus in the governance of the university,” said Dr Moraka.

The amended constitution of the main campus SRC determines that nine of the 18 SRC members must be elected by means of proportional representation and nine on the basis of an individual, first-past-the-post election.
 
According to Dr Moraka, the introduction of the proportional representation system follows earlier calls by some student formations, notably Sasco and the ANC Youth League, for such a system to be introduced at the UFS main campus in Bloemfontein.

The new main campus SRC constitution is the result of consensus reached during a lengthy negotiation process involving diverse student formations such as Sasco, the ANC Youth League, the Young Communist League, the ACDP, HEREXVII, KovsieAlliance, as well as the democratically elected SRC members of the main campus.

“Independent persons such as Mr Jack Klaas and Mr Kobus van Loggerenberg, a former SRC President, facilitated the negotiation process,” said Dr Moraka.

Students on the main campus in Bloemfontein will vote for a new SRC on Monday 15 August 2005.

SRC elections will also take place on the other two campuses of the UFS, which have their own SRC structures.

Students on the UFS-Vista campus in Bloemfontein will vote for a new SRC on Monday 15 August 2005 and Tuesday 16 August 2005.

At the Qwaqwa campus of the UFS, students will vote for a new SRC on Friday 26 August 2005.

The election processes on all three campuses will be closely monitored by independent electoral bodies. 

After the three campuses have elected their respective SRCs a central SRC will be constituted.  The central SRC will have 12 members made up of delegates of the three campus SRCs, including the presidents of these three SRCs. The main campus will have five representatives, the Qwaqwa campus will have four representatives and the Vista campus will have three representatives.

Main campus voting schedule:
Monday 15 August 2005 from 07:00-21:00.  Ten voting stations will be set up across the campus.  The results will be announced on Tuesday 16 August 2005.

Vista campus voting schedule:
Monday 15 August 2005 and Tuesday 16 August 2005 from 09:00-18:00 in the administration building.  The results will be announced on Wednesday 17 August 2005.
 
Qwaqwa campus voting schedule:
Friday 26 August 2005 from 09:00-18:00 in the Senate Hall.  If there is no objection to the final results, it will be announced on the same day.


Media release

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

14 August 2005
 

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