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09 March 2018 Photo Varsity Sports
Athletes show huge promise at Varsity Athletics meeting
Hendrik Martens of the Kovsies earned a silver medal in the 200m at theVarsity Athletics meeting in Pretoria.

The University of the Free State (UFS) dominated affairs in the middle distance at the first Varsity Athletics meeting of the year where they bagged no less than three gold and two silver medals.
The meeting took place on Friday 2 March at the Tuks Athletics Stadium in Pretoria. 

Middle distances have produced Olympic athletes for Kovsies such as Johan Cronjé and Rynardt van Rensburg in the recent past. 

Kovsies produced winners
The Kovsies produced both the men’s and women’s winners in the 800m. They were Ruan Jonck (1:50.06) and Ts’epang Sello (2:07.15) respectively.

Bennie Prinsloo finished in second spot.

In the 1500m for women, two Free State students also took the first two spots. Tyler Beling, who is just18 years old, dominated and finished six seconds (04:39.47) before Lara Orrock (04:45.2) in second place.
Orrock is also a first-year. Beling and Orrock were two of eight first-year students in the team of 25 athletes.
Apart from a first place in the men’s varsity mixed medley relay that was unfortunately the only gold medals the Kovsies managed on the night. 
They ended in fourth position behind Tuks (first), NWU (second) and UJ (third).

Gold, silver and bronze medals
There were, however, several silver and bronze medals.

Hendrik Maartens (second) and Oratile Sethlabi (third) gave good performances in the 200m. 

In the long jump for women, Maryke Brits grabbed second place and Norbert Ponisammy did the same for men. Interestingly, both also compete as sprinters.
Sefako Mokhosoa was the second best triple jumper and Nadia Meiring and Juan Muller both earned third spots in the hammer throw.

The second Varsity Athletics meeting is scheduled for 23 March 2018 in Pretoria.

News Archive

UFS hosts the first Southern African Young Scientists Summer Programme
2012-11-26

The University of the Free State is to host the first Southern African Young Scientists Summer Programme (SA-YSSP) from 1 December 2012 to 28 February 2013. 

This will form part of an annual three-month education, academic training and research capacity-building programme jointly organised by the National Research Foundation (NRF), the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), based in Austria.
 
The NRF, as the National Member Organisation (NMO), in collaboration with DST, has developed a novel and innovative initiative with IIASA to establish the SA-YSSP. This programme was officially launched by the Minister of Science and Technology during November 2011.
 
IIASA is an international research organisation that conducts policy-oriented scientific research in the three global problem areas of energy and climate change, food and water and poverty and equity (www.iiasa.ac.at). South Africa’s engagements with IIASA, and specifically with regard to the SA-YSSP, relate primarily to the DST’s Ten-Year Innovation Plan.
 
Aligned with the YSSP model that is presented by IIASA in Austria annually, the SA-YSSP offers scientific seminars covering themes in both the social and natural sciences. These seminars often have policy dimensions and aim to broaden the participants’ perspectives and strengthen their analytical and modelling skills, further enriching a demanding academic and research programme (www.ufs.ac.za/sa-yssp).
 
Keynote lectures are to be delivered by national and international leaders in their respective research fields, partly drawn from IIASA’s widespread network of alumni and collaborators, as well as from the NRF’s extensive international networks of excellence.
 
The programme is to be enhanced with specific field trips and cultural and heritage excursions that will involve networking with locally based research programmes. Supervisory teams of both IIASA and South African experts will guide a cohort of competitively selected South African and international advanced Ph.D candidates.
 
The programme will be opened on 2 December 2012 at the Centenary Complex by the Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Derek Hanekom, the Director/CEO of IIASA, Prof Pavel Kabat and the Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, Prof Jonathan Jansen. They will be joined by a number of Nobel Prize Laureates and luminaries representing the government, the diplomatic sector and Higher Education.
 
The programme is directed by a multidisciplinary team at the UFS that includes:
Prof Aldo Stroebel and Prof Neil Roos (Co-Directors)
Prof André Roodt (Dean of SA-YSSP)
Prof Martin Ntwaeaborwa and Dr Henriëtte van den Berg (Deputy-Deans of SA-YSSP)
Dr Priscilla Mensah and Dr Sonja Loots (Strategic Managers)

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