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24 April 2019 | Story Moeketsi Mogotsi | Photo Barend Nagel
KovsieCyberSta
2018/2019 #KovsieCyberStas Georgina Mhlahlo and Karabo Lekomanyane are about to make way for two new cool kids on the block.

The search for the next #KovsieCyberSta is on. The UFS is looking for two cool new kids on the block to take over the reins from Georgina and Karabo as the official UFS Social Media ambassadors.
 
The two individuals will hold the title of #KovsieCyberSta for a period of 12 months. As #KovsieCyberStas, they will cover events on and around campus, while filming and presenting short video clips to give fellow Kovsies some insight into these events across the UFS’s digital platforms.

The #KovsieCyberSta search will follow the following simple steps: 

1. Upload a 45-60-second audition video on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook and tag the UFS while using #KovsieCyberSta. In your video, tell us why you should be the next #KovsieCyberSta.
2. You can also send your audition videos to socialmedia@ufs.ac.za
3. The 10 most impressive auditions will be shortlisted and posted on the UFS pages for public voting on 3 May 2019.
4. The Kovsie community will then decide who gets to win, and the winners will be announced on 8 May 2019.

The deadline for submitting video auditions is 1 May 2019 at midnight.

At the end of their term, #KovsieCyberStas will receive a letter of recommendation and a portfolio of their work to add to their showreel.

Please note that students must return to the UFS for the first semester in 2020. 
No team submissions are allowed. (only one person per audition video)

News Archive

Department celebrates 50th anniversary
2009-03-25

 
The first Departmental Head and the subsequent Departmental Chairpersons at the dinner on 14 March this year. From left: Proff Bernard Prior (1991-1998), Piet Lategan (1962-1990), Derek Litthauer (1998-2002) and James du Preez (2002-). These are all the Heads/Chairpersons of the Department since its founding in 1959, with the exception of Prof Hans Potgieter who acted as Head during 1959-1962.
Photo: Stephen Collett
 
Department celebrates 50th anniversary

On 13 March the Department Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology at the University of the Free State (UFS) celebrated its 50th anniversary in a splendid fashion with a lecture entitled, The origin of life: Exactly how did life begin? as part of the Darwin commemorative lecture series, followed by a reunion of current and former staff members and postgraduate students of the department with a barbeque on the following day.

The proceedings were concluded on 14 March with a gala dinner in die Centenary Complex at the UFS attended by 153 staff members, post-graduate students (current and former) and other guests. During the dinner the guests were treated to a presentation of historical photos of the founding and development of the department. Currently the department is one of the largest departments in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences in respect of the number of staff members and students as well as research outputs. This is the result of entrepreneurial actions to increase student numbers and research activities, as well as the merging with the smaller Department of Biochemistry in 1988 and more recently with the Department of Food Science in 2002. The department comprises 20 academics, 24 support staff and 65 postgraduate students. It also boasts 12 lecturers with ratings from the National Research Foundation (NRF), which include three academics with a B-rating, an indication of international recognition for their research. The department has the largest number of lecturers with an NRF-rating at the UFS. 

“It was interesting to learn during the reunion of the variety of professions occupied by former students of the department, i.e. at other tertiary educational institutions, the CSSIR, SAPPI, Sasol and a multitude of other industries, as well as at research institutions in the USA and Australia,” said Prof. James du Preez, Head of the Department.

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