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21 May 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Charl Devenish
Bloem Campus Open Day 2019
2020 Prospective Students get a taste of varsity life at UFS Bloemfontein Campus Open Day.


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Matric learners from all over South Africa, together with their parents, teachers, and some Grade 11 learners, attended the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus 2019 Open Day on 11 May, to investigate whether the UFS can meet their expectations and spark a dream concerning their careers.

A glimpse of what prospective first-years can expect in 2020

The UFS has seven faculties: Economic and Management Sciences, Education, Health Sciences, the Humanities, Law, Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Theology and Religion, and an additional Open and Distance Learning on its South Campus, and the Business School. On Open Day, learners had the opportunity to attend faculty exhibitions offering course information, teaching aids, models, and much more, demonstrating the high calibre of teaching and learning facilities at the UFS, as well as innovation and technology-based education. Learners were also exposed to interaction with academics and the deans of the faculties, motivational talks by senior students in the respective faculties, as well as members from the Student Representative Council (SRC), Kovsie FM, Student Wellness, the UFS Student Library, and Student Recruitment Services.

Why study at the UFS?

According to an honours lecturer in the UFS Department of Architecture (Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences), the UFS, just like any other South African university, would be an obvious choice of study for students interested in architecture, because it is accredited by the South African Council for the Architectural Profession, as well as internationally. However, what sets the UFS apart, is the fact that lecturers have close working relationships with their students in the department, allowing them to track and understand their students’ work, academic progress, and skills development. The Department of Architecture, just like other departments in the seven faculties of study offered at the UFS, pride themselves on selecting top-tier learners to pursue their studies and moulding them into competitive professionals who will thrive in the working world. 

The UFS prides itself on being a research-led, student-centred, and regionally engaged university that aims to produce globally competitive graduates through a renewed and transformed curriculum.
 
Seventeen-year-old Zwelethu Ndabezitha from Phoenix in KwaZulu-Natal, who wants to become a quantity surveyor, said: “I want to apply everything I’ve learned into rebuilding and transforming my home town”. Learners such as Zwelethu stand a chance to realise their dreams and develop by means of dynamic scientific education, as well as independent and critical thought-enhancing education provided by the UFS.

For more information about pursuing studies at the UFS, visit the UFS prospective students’ website where learners can also apply online.

 

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Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars Programme provides platform for next generation scholars
2015-12-08

Dr Rudo Ngara

“The PSP provides a platform for growth, where scholars get to interact with seniors and peers, giving much needed guidance as to where you are and what the next level of your work should be.” This is how Dr Rudo Ngara —a scholar of the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars Programme (PSP)—describes the initiative.

For young scholars, such as Dr Ngara, it can be difficult to generate sustainable funding externally for their research. These researchers are not yet established in networks and collaborations independent of their doctoral supervisors, which makes procuring funding even more challenging. This is where the PSP makes an invaluable contribution.

Through the support of PSP, Dr Ngara was recently awarded a substantial NRF (National Research Fund) grant. Dr Ngara is currently a lecturer in the University of the Free State (UFS) Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences on the Qwaqwa Campus. Her research is especially topical as it investigates how crops—particularly cereals—respond and adapt to a range of abiotic stress factors. These factors include drought, high salinity, and extremely high temperatures. Dr Ngara seeks to develop resilient crops that are better suited to produce under harsh environmental conditions. This research endeavour would have been far more complicated if not for the PSP.

Although the programme is not a funding agency, it does have an excellent record of support towards generating funding from outside sources such as Fulbright, the Commonwealth and, of course, the South African NRF.

 

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