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26 September 2018
Photo Varsity Sports
Vishuis will have the opportunity to contest a fourth successive national hostel rugby title next year after winning theKovsie internal hostel rugby league on Friday
House Abraham Fischer, more affectionately known as Vishuis, will have the opportunity to contest a fourth successive national hostel rugby title next year. Vishuis will once again represent the University of the Free State in the Varsity Cup hostel tournament after claiming the Kovsie internal hostel rugby league on Friday 14 September 2018 for a fifth consecutive time. Vishuis triumphed by 27-20 over Legatum in the final.
Vishuis left it till late and only sealed the match in the last couple of minutes thanks to a try by winger SJ Fourie, who followed up a nice box kick by his scrumhalf.
Vishuis and Legatum, formerly known as Heimat, both earned a victory over the other in the round-robin stage.
Legatum II won the K2 internal hostel league thanks to a 62-17 win in the final over Veritas I.
In the K3 final, Legatum II was too good for the Barbarians, who is a combined team made up of the smaller hostels. The score was 29-5.
In April this year, Vishuis won their third national title in a row with an emphatic victory of 55-29 in the final against Patria of the North-West University. The winning margin was the biggest ever in a final of the competition.
Vishuis is by far the most successful team in the history of the national competition, with an unparalleled six titles. Vishuis walked away with the crown in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
Apart from the six titles by Shimlas, Armentum (2009) and Heimat (2014) both earned the crown before, while Vishuis were also runners-up in 2015.
Expansion to Physics building officially opened on Bloemfontein Campus
2016-05-06
The newly-opened addition to the Physics Building on the Bloemfontein Campus.
Photo: Charl Devenish
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An extension to the Department of Physics at the University of the Free State (UFS) was officially opened on the Bloemfontein Campus on 20 April 2016.
“This started off about five years ago when we were talking about not having enough room for large classes. Prof Matie Hoffman suggested that we build a large lecture room on our parking space,” said Prof Hendrik Swart, Professor in the Department of Physics as he addressed guests at the official opening ceremony.
“A year later, we received a Sarchi Research Chair [South African Research Chairs Initiative] on Advanced and Luminescent Materials. We needed more office and laboratory space. The two ideas were combined and presented to the university’s senior management,” he added.
When the university was founded in 1904, Prof James Lyle was appointed to head up the Physics and Chemistry departments. Five years later, a single room was allocated for the Physics laboratory in the main building upon its completion. In 1947, the old Physics building was designed and constructed. Fast forward 69 years, the department has reached another milestone. Facilities accommodated by the expansion include a new telescope for astrophysics experiments, a basement for storing old equipment, as well as a sliding trap door which allows heavy goods to be elevated into the building from the ground floor. The telescope is one of the many unique features of the building given its capacity to expose graduate students to the basic techniques of radio astronomy, especially in light of the fact that the SKA (Square Kilometre Array) project which is in progress.
“Our department is extremely strong at this stage, and a bright future lies ahead,” said Prof Koos Terblans, the Head of Department. The opening also served to celebrate the 103 publications achieved by the department last year.
Dr Lis Lange, Vice-Rector: Academic is proud of the heights reached by the department to date. “The Department of Physics is undoubtedly one of the jewels in the crown of our university, and we are very proud of its developments. Universities are built on legacies, and they are also about change, which is what this department has been demonstrating.”
The expansions to the building with its top-class facilities, was constructed at a cost of R25 million – an infrastructure grant courtesy of the Department of Higher Education and Training.