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UFS in 2019 Universities in Dialogue debates hosted by Motsepe Foundation

15 August 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Sonia Small

UFS debate — Join the UFS, University of Pretoria (UP) and the Motsepe Foundation in the upcoming Universities in Dialogue (UiD) conversation taking place on 20 August 2019.

Universities in Dialogue (UID) is an initiative driven by the Motsepe Foundation, which is aimed at promoting intergenerational, mixed-gender, and race conversations about socio-economic issues affecting South Africa.

The purpose of the debate is to discuss alternative measures to advance gender equality and likeness across society, provide a platform for the youth to voice their concerns and deliberate in solution-driven conversation with renowned professors, and to create a space for students to collaborate among one another in order to solicit, drive, and fast-track transformation and nation-building in our country.

According to research conducted by the Motsepe Foundation, the average age of the South African population is 26 years, which is why the initiative aims to generate debate among the youth on the most pressing concerns facing South Africa today.

The foundation invited Kovsies to join the 2019 UiD dialogue, together with students and professors from the University of Pretoria (UP), the University of Cape Town (UCT), and Wits University.

The dialogue/series is interlinked to the Motsepe Foundation Women’s Unit mandate, which aims to initiate interventions that will bring social, economic, and political empowerment to women and girls. The first debate, in partnership with the University of Pretoria, is scheduled for Women’s Month and will focus on the equal rights and participation of women.

The debate motion states: South Africa requires a feminist government to advance gender equity and equality across all sectors of society.

Event details are as follows:

Date: Tuesday, 20 August 2019
Time: 16:00–19:00
Venue: Access the dialogue live on 20 August 2019 here

For more information about the UiD, contact news@ufs.ac.za or call +27 51 401 9300 or +27 51 401 3735.

News Archive

Meet Dr Olihile Sebolai, Prestige Scholar

2013-07-15

Dr Olihile Sebolai
Photo: Sonia Small
15 July 2013

Dr Olihile Sebolai, lecturer in the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, was selected to the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars Programme (PSP) in 2011. Dr Sebolai recently returned from a six month research visit to the University of Birmingham at the invitation of Professor Robin May, Lister Reader and Chair of Infectious Diseases.

This enabled Dr Sebolai to acquire and develop necessary pathobiological skills pertinent to his work on the pathogenesis of Cryptococcus neoformans. “During my time in Birmingham, I benefitted from the experiences of three senior post-doctorates and a principal investigator, who were all working in (Prof May’s) laboratory,” says Dr Sebolai.

“By way of observation, I was greatly impressed by the level of collaboration between Prof May and his network, which enables him to move out of a silo and effortlessly create a global footprint."

The next phase of Dr Sebolai’s early career development takes him as Fulbright Scholar to the University of Missouri in Kansas City, in September 2013. Here Dr Sebolai will spend time in the laboratory of Alexander Idnurm. The purpose of this visit is to study virulence mechanisms in fungi, which are a low order of eukaryotic organisms, and to identify potential drug targets.

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