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02 July 2019 | Story Eloise Calitz | Photo Keagan Nkwaira
Entrepreneurship Intravarsity
Audience members listening attentively to the presentations at the Entrepreneurship Inter-varsity on the Bloemfontein Campus.

The UFS continuously creates opportunities for students to develop and explore platforms where they can showcase their talents and share their innovative concepts. In the light of this, it is important for the institution to become a preferred academic knowledge partner that can conceptualise, develop, and successfully commercialise research activities, and through this foster an innovative and entrepreneurial culture that aligns to its Integrated Transformation Plan.

This is why opportunities such as the Entrepreneurship Intervarsity Competition are so important, since it encourages students to demonstrate their entrepreneurial talent, and through this connect with investors and industry leaders to start up a business.

The competition

Student entrepreneurs across the 26 public universities in South Africa were invited to submit their innovative ideas as part of a competition supported by Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE), in collaboration with the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation. The opportunities created through this initiative are twofold:

     1. For student entrepreneurs to present their innovative ideas and businesses. 
     2. For universities to demonstrate their entrepreneurial talent and the ways in which              they support and grow the next generation of business leaders.

The competition takes place in five stages. The process started with each student submitting their short videos and applications on the official competition site. Each institution also had the opportunity to select student entrepreneurs to take part in the competition. Fifteen students pitched their ideas during internal rounds at the UFS on 30 May 2019. Of these students, four were selected to represent the UFS at the regional rounds of the Entrepreneurship Intervarsity, where the finalists will be chosen. 

The students were judged in four categories:

Category 1: Innovative Ideas
Category 2: Tech Businesses (existing businesses, formal or informal, undergrad or postgrad)
Category 3: Social Impact Businesses (existing businesses, formal or informal, undergrad or postgrad)
Category 4: General (existing businesses, formal or informal, undergrad or postgrad)

The following UFS entrants were selected to take part in the regional finals: 
Christopher Rothman for his liquid yeast culture that can be used in the fermentation of beer. 
Driaan-Lou Kemp for his patented water-saving device. 
Grace Mthembu for her electricity-saving system.
Martin Clarke for his idea to use drone technology for the mining industry


News Archive

Students selected for prestigious Stanford Sophomore College
2012-04-04

 

From the left are: Elri Marais, Palesa Mafisa, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, Goodwill Shelile and Foster Lubbe. Gabriela Schroder and Saeed Abdullah were absent when the photo was taken.
Photo: Hannes Pieterse
4 April 2012


As part of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) comprehensive suite of student leadership development programmes, a strategic partnership with Stanford University, USA has been forged.

Starting in 2012, selected cohorts of high-potential second-year students will annually participate in the Stanford Sophomore College Programme. The UFS and Oxford University in the UK are the only non-Stanford participants in this strategic and unique opportunity.

Following a highly competitive selection process based on both written and oral assessment, managed by the UFS Centre for Teaching and Learning and the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, the first group of six students was recently selected and will visit Stanford University from 1 – 14 September 2012.

The exclusive and high profile Sophomore College has been offered at the prestigious Stanford University on the West Coast of the US for a number of years. It takes the form of a residential summer programme for second-year students who participate and engage in intense academic exploration with peers and professors on a variety of innovative, multidisciplinary topics.

Depending on the course selected, students participate in a variety of intellectual and academic programmes, do research, work in labs, engage in readings of texts and develop presentation skills.

Some courses are held in part or entirely off campus. Advisory sessions to assist students in their preparation, academic orientation and intellectual development will be conducted prior to their departure to add value to the experience at Stanford.

The students will benefit from the programme in many ways, among others the intense academic exploration of topics with an eminent international scholar, immersion in and exploration of a field of interest, the opportunity to hone critical habits of mind, train to become a more engaged and entrepreneurial learners and collaborate and form relationships with friends and peers.
 

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