Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
17 September 2018 Photo Charl Devenish
Science Its a girl thing
Innocensia Mangoato’s research on using cannabis to reverse anticancer drug resistance has been awarded in the prestigious Women in Science Awards.


“There’s this misconception among young people that science is difficult and that it’s somehow a man’s domain,” says Innocensia Mangoato, Masters student in Pharmacology, who has just been awarded in the prestigious Women in Science Awards by the Department of Science and Technology.

Cannabis research

Innocensia won in the Master’s Degree category for her research on the use of cannabis in reversing anticancer drug resistance. Her department had to apply for a special permit to grow cannabis for research and medicinal purposes.

“Her findings have already indicated a promising reversal of resistance to drugs in a variety of cancers. We plan to explore these results further in a possible PhD,” says her study leader, Prof Motlalepula Matsabisa.

Innocensia says she’s always had an interest in science, and initially wanted to study medicine. She ended up doing a BSc in Physiology and Genetics.

She hopes that her research will help government to develop a policy around the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes which could ultimately lead to developing cancer treatment with fewer side-effects.

Female mentors

“My mentor during my Honours studies was Dr Makhotso Lekhoa. Her passion for her field and her patience in conveying it to others really inspired me. We have some very powerful women in our Pharmacology Department,” says Innocensia.

Passion for science 

“You know you’re passionate about your work when you find yourself going to the lab on Sunday afternoons!” she says. “I’m happy that I can be contributing to the knowledge production on this campus. And maybe one day I can be a mentor to other girls with that same passion for science.”

News Archive

Literacy Month fosters the love of reading
2017-09-19

Description: Literacy Month fosters the love of reading Tags: Literacy Month fosters the love of reading 

Vutivi Baloyi author of Keep Hoping with Neo Kgoroba
one of the co-authors of In Our Own Words.


Literacy Month is celebrated in September each year at the University of the Free State (UFS) with various activities that are academic and community related and aim to join different departments in collaborative efforts to carry forward an awareness of literacy and the joy of reading among learners. The UFS Sasol Library lined up a series of events to celebrate the month, one of them being the launch of two books on 14 September 2017.

Vutivi Baloyi is a UFS student who wrote a collection of poems at the age of 17 which were recently published in a book called Keep Hoping. The book was launched alongside In Our Own Words, a collection of narratives written by UFS students about university life and transitioning from township high schools to a different culture, society and community, and the challenges with which they are faced.

In their own words, they share incredible experiences
The launch was attended by learners from Christian Liphoko High School in Thaba Nchu as well as Moroka High School and others. The compilation of narratives by UFS students was done under the auspices of Prof Merridy Wilson-Strydom through the Enabling Success project in the Centre for Research in Higher Education. Prof Wilson-Strydom said the project, supported by the National Research Foundation, was a profound way of empowering students by bringing out the value of the stories of their life on campus as they saw them, with each student writing a chapter on a specific theme.

Students as change agents and community builders
The student authors spoke to their audience from the heart, sharing words of advice, especially to younger learners who are still in high school. This has sparked a desire for the beginning of collaborative programmes between the individual university students and high school learners who hail from Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu, highlighting the need for mentorship, life skills, academic improvement and an opportunity to give back. 

The event is also part of the ongoing Launch Your Own Book project that has grown in 2017 at the UFS Library under the leadership of Mr Marcus Maphile, Assistant Director: Library Marketing and Community Engagement. Literacy Month will be celebrated with more events in September such as a round-table discussion in collaboration with the Academic and Non-Fiction Authors Association of South Africa (ANSAFA) on 20 September 2017 at the library, to discuss developing authors and the role of ANSAFA. More activities will include outreach and community engagement, with a visit to Christian Liphoko High School in Thaba Nchu on 21 September 2017.

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