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20 March 2018 Photo Johan Roux
Soon-to-be graduates warm up for Autumn graduations
Graduation is the beginning of a new journey

As the weather starts to cool and the trees begin to lose their leaves, the University of the Free State (UFS) commences with the Autumn graduation preparations, which will take place in the Callie Human Centre on the Bloemfontein Campus from 9-13 April 2018.
 
Students and their families can look forward to a fulfilling graduation ceremony that is bound to live up to the soon-to-be graduates’ dreams.

For information regarding the 2018 April graduations, please visit the UFS graduation ceremonies page, where students can also find the Graduation Guide Booklet. For enquiries please email graduations@ufs.ac.za

The graduation ceremonies for the different faculties will be taking place on the following dates:

 

Monday 9 April 2018

09:00: Faculties of Health Sciences and Theology and Religion

14:30: South Campus: University Access Programme

Tuesday 10 April 2018

09:00: Faculty of Law

14:30: Faculty of Education

Wednesday 11 April 2018

09:00: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

14:30: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Thursday 12 April 2018

09:00: Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (including Business School)

14:30: Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences

Friday 13 April 2018

09:00: Faculty of the Humanities

14:30: Faculty of the Humanities

The Graduation Ceremonies will be available on livestream: http://livestream.ufs.ac.za/

News Archive

Plant researcher receives prestigious Grain SA award
2016-10-21

Description: Plant researcher receives prestigious Grain SA award Tags: Plant researcher receives prestigious Grain SA award

Prof Zakkie Pretorius from the UFS Department
of Plant Sciences with Andries Theron,
vice-chairman of Grain SA. Theron presented
the award to Prof Pretorius at Grain SA’s a
nnual gala event, which was held in Midrand
this year.
Photo (read more): Supplied
Photo (spotlight): Charl Devenish

A researcher in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof Zakkie Pretorius, received the prestigious Grain Producer of the Year Inspiration Award during the annual gala event of Grain SA. Grain SA provides strategic commodity support and services to South African grain producers to assist in the sustainability of the sector.

This award is presented to individuals or organisations in appreciation of excellent contributions to the grain industry. These individuals have also achieved extraordinary results in their respective fields.

Research in the interest of food security
Prof Pretorius has been involved in research on plant diseases and food crops for the past 38 years. His research focus, rust diseases in crops, is especially important for food security.  

According to Prof Pretorius, who collaborates with an extensive network of specialist colleagues, his research covers a variety of topics including rust race identification, the discovery of new resistance genes, characterisation of resistance expression in plants, and the mapping of genes. His focus is not only on wheat, but he also researches rust diseases in oats, barley, maize, dry beans, lentils, sunflowers, and soybeans.

Breeding of rust-resistant varieties gains scientific basis
Locally, he has been contracted for several years by the Winter Grain Trust to annually evaluate commercial wheat cultivars and elite germplasm. This information is regularly passed on to the relevant seed companies and breeders, and is also included in the production guidelines of the Agricultural Research Council for disease risk assessment. His research places the breeding and selection of rust-resistant varieties on a solid scientific foundation. A living collection of rust fungus cultures and a large germplasm collection are maintained at the UFS under his supervision.

 

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