Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
04 October 2018 | Story UFS | Photo UFS
Prof Ashok Chapagain, recently appointed as Senior
Prof Ashok Chapagain, recently appointed as Senior Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of the Free State, is looking forward to working with key water-related sectors.
Prof Ashok Chapagain has recently been appointed as Senior Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS). 

Water hub key in collaborations with research institutes

According to Prof Chapagain, the position provides a unique opportunity to help establish the university at the forefront of water research in South Africa. He is looking forward to cross-departmental collaborations on innovative research projects working with key water-related sectors, such as agriculture, business, mining etc., and establishing a water hub that would be key in external collaborations with other research institutes in South Africa and beyond.

Prior to his formal appointment at the UFS, Prof Chapagain has been remotely involved with the Department of Agricultural Economics since 2017 through his support to a number of research projects funded by the Water Research Commission (WRC). 

He is experienced in managing and coordinating international and interdisciplinary projects, ensuring technical quality and project delivery. He has vast cultural and geographical work experience, and specific water-related experience in the fields of integrated water resource management, water footprint assessment, industrial and agricultural efficiency and sustainability, irrigation, hydrology and watershed modelling, flood-risk management, river-basin planning and management, and environmental impact assessment. He has recently left the Water Footprint Network (The Netherlands), where he worked in the capacity of Science Director. Prior to joining the WFN, Prof Chapagain worked as Senior Water Adviser at WWF-UK for about six years.

Systems approach to address water issues

Prof Chapagain holds a PhD in the field of Water Resources Management and Policy Analysis from Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands), an MSc degree in Water and Environmental Resources Management from UNESCO- IHE Institute for Water Education (The Netherlands), and a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from IIT Roorkee (India). His professional career of 28 years can be broadly grouped under two inter-related blocks: development projects for 10 years (as an irrigation engineer in Nepal); research and application for 18 years (academia for eight years and applied work for 10 years in the Netherlands and UK). During his MSc and PhD research, he specialised in water resources and environmental management, integrated river-basin management, policy analysis, and systems analysis.

He regularly reviews articles for several scientific journals. Currently he serves as the Editor-in-Chief for the recently launched open access scientific journal H2Open, published by IWA Publishing. In addition, he serves as editor for five scientific journals, and frequently guest edits specific issues for peer-reviewed scientific journals. He has published four books, and 64 other articles and reports (25 scientific journal articles, 40 papers in conference proceedings, book chapters, and technical reports). His publications are widely cited, with 10 436 citations, and has an h-index of 34 and i10-index of 44. He applies a system approach in addressing issues on water, energy, and food securities, where managing local resources also includes global dimensions where key stakeholders are often cross-sectoral and situated outside the boxes. He has been involved in many national and international projects as a team leader, project leader, and international expert in several Asian, European, and South American countries.

For more information about Prof Chapagain and his role in the Department of Agricultural Economics, please contact Prof Chapagain at ChapagainAK@ufs.ac.za, or Dr Frikkie Maré at MareFA@ufs.ac.za or +27 51 401 2824 

News Archive

Projects of the South Campus inspire excellence
2014-12-18

The University of the Free State’s (UFS’s) South Campus in Bloemfontein runs several projects to make a difference in the lives of learners and educators in the central region. These projects are based on the very essence of the UFS – to ‘inspire excellence, change lives’.

Three projects which have been very successful since the outset are the UFS Schools Partnership Project, the Family Math and Family Science Project and the Internet Broadcast Project.

The Schools Partnership Project attempts to empower teachers by improving their teaching skills in critical Gr 10 – Gr 12 subjects (Physical Science, Mathematics and Accounting).

Poorly performing schools are invited to join in the programme. A mentor, providing guidance to teachers in the planning of lessons, transferring knowledge and creating a healthy learning environment in the classroom, is assigned to each subject teacher. Management and leadership skills are also improved.

Hercules Dreyer, Programme Manager, says the success of the programme can be seen in the lessons, the results and the progress which have been made.

“In 2013, the pass rate of participating schools has grown from 71.5% to 85%. We had an increase in donors and the project went from 22 schools with 12 mentors in 2013 to 72 schools and 34 mentors in 2015.”

The UFS Family Math and Family Science Project, which is already in its sixth year of existence, are extremely popular. This intervention programme focus on bringing about a better understanding of Mathematics and Science in learners, teachers and parents.

Dr Cobus van Breda, Programme Director of the Family Math and Family Science Project, says that judging by the feedback from teachers, it is evident that the programme is growing from strength to strength and that it is making a real difference in Mathematics and Science education in the early school years.

The UFS’s Internet Broadcast Project (IBP) has thus far received four awards for their successes. In this project, lessons in Mathematics, Accounting and Physical Science are broadcasted from the UFS’s South Campus through internet presentations to schools in rural areas.

“To date, the IBP catalogue contains over 2 000 video lessons and in 2013 alone, the 68 schools accessed and used these videos 69 305 times. The project has the potential to reach more than 40 000 learners and 1 765 teachers every week,” says Sarietjie Musgrave, Project Manager.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept