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27 December 2019
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Story Dr Cindé Greyling
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Photo Supplied
KovsieInnovation at the UFS is bridging the gap between industry and academics with a powerful force. For too long, research remained an academic pursuit, with many innovative ideas stuck between the pages of a thesis – only to come alive during exclusive, short-lived conference proceeds.
KovsieInnovation
Recently, Gerard Verhoef, Director in the Directorate: Research Development (DRD), and his team from KovsieInnovation finalised their Innovation and Commercialisation Strategy in order to create a structured pathway for good ideas. The primary objective of KovsieInnovation – the UFS Innovation and Entrepreneurship Office – is to achieve sustainable growth in third-stream income from innovative research activities stemming from the UFS. “Potential successful ideas must be feasible, viable, and sustainable, and we formulated an eight-step plan to facilitate this,” Verhoef explains. Ultimately, the DRD wants to attract new and continuous research as a renowned academic knowledge partner that can foster, drive, and successfully commercialise innovative research activities; and in doing so, foster an entrepreneurial culture at the UFS.
Liquid Culture
One such success story is the development of Liquid Culture into a business of choice, supplying liquid yeast to breweries and bakeries. Christopher Rothmann and Dr Errol Cason are the driving forces behind this company that produces their sought-after and stable yeast product in the Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Food Biotechnology at the UFS. With world-class equipment and laboratories, they house one of the largest yeast-culture collections in the world.
Both Rothman and Dr Cason were home brewers for many years before starting to produce commercial batches. They believe it would not have been possible without the help of KovsieInnovation. This project was also one of the finalists in the National Entrepreneurship Intervarsity.
Christo Strydom Nutrition (CSN)
Another innovative way in which the UFS generates third-stream income via the DRD, is by partnering with already successful commercial products. One such example is the recent successful royalty agreement with CSN. With this transaction, the university unlocked its brand potential to the benefit of both the industry partner and the UFS. Quality assurance remains the key success factor for deals like this.
School of Nursing receives a considerable grant
2011-06-01
Our School of Nursing once again became the proud recipient of a grant from the Atlantic Philanthropies, an international organization dedicated to “bringing about lasting changes in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people”.
Atlantic Philanthropies granted millions of rands to South African nursing training institutions via University Based Nursing Education (UNEDSA), which will provide six recipient institutions the opportunity to transform nursing academic programmes in South Africa over a period of four years.
We recently received a R3 100 000 grant for the school to transform nursing scholarship and clinical practice. This is but the latest installment in a total grant of R16 million.
The School of Nursing, under the leadership of Prof. Anita van der Merwe, former Head of the School of Nursing, submitted a proposal to UNEDSA and was selected as one of the six recipients of the award. The school is now at the beginning of the third financial year of the project.
According to Dr Annali Fichardt from the School of Nursing, the school established a unique Virtual Health Teaching and Learning facility for training students in a non-threatening, simulated environment and to prepare nurses to be capable and to function optimally in the dynamic health-care environment. This provides opportunities for experimentation and sharing of integrated teaching and learning in nursing education.
The project helped establish a new unit for continuing professional development and research capacity development to serve practicing nurses and staff members of the School of Nursing. These initiatives will result in a fully transformed and accredited portfolio of programmes at undergraduate, post-basic and postgraduate levels to meet the needs of a range of health-care settings and learners.
The School of Nursing hopes to create an innovative teaching and learning environment that empowers students and professional nurses to become clinically excellent, able to practice independently in both resource-poor and technology-rich areas, and manage such complexities in an innovative way.