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01 October 2019
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Story Prof Francis Petersen
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Photo Pixabay
During October, the national focus is on mental health. Mental Health Awareness Month also coincides with a time when our students prepare for the end of the year exams, making it a particularly valuable time for us to think about how we can continuously assist them during their time at university. The value of peer support and genuine care can never be overstressed; that is why I want to encourage our students to reach out to their support networks such as our Department of Student Counselling and Development, as we move towards the end of the year.
Mental health is an equally important matter for our staff. During this month, I want to encourage our staff to also take cognisance of their own well-being. There is a lot of wisdom in the old adage: Healthy body, healthy mind. Many of the initiatives of our Division of Organisational Development and Employee Wellness are focused on the value of physical activity and the negative impact that inactivity can have on one’s productivity and mental health. They also present regular lunch-hour sessions for our staff, where experts share information and practical tips for mental wellness. I want to encourage our staff to attend these sessions and to make use of the services the university has to offer in this regard. It is important to note that suffering from mental and anxiety disorders is not weaknesses and it is not always indicative of a deeper psychological issue; it is an illness and hence can be treated.
On 20 September 2019, a 21-member team was sent off on their run of 1 075 km to Stellenbosch to raise awareness for mental health. The run was organised by the Division of Organisational Development and Employee Wellness and the Faculty of Health Sciences. The team ran in relay format throughout the night and handed the baton of hope to Stellenbosch University on 25 September 2019. I admire and thank them not only for their commitment and stamina, but also for addressing this crucial matter in the public domain and for raising awareness in the many towns and communities along the way.
This is an excerpt from a message by Prof Francis Petersen.
UFS mathematician rates as top reviewer
2017-09-27
Prof Abdon Atangana is a professor at the
Institute for Groundwater Studies at the University
of the Free State.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin
South Africa was included in the top 30 countries in terms of researchers who added the most pre-publication peer reviews.
Prof Abdon Atangana, a professor of Applied Mathematics at the Institute for Groundwater Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS), is included in the list of top reviewers from top countries, as determined by the number of verified pre-publication peer reviews added to Publons for Publons Peer Review Awards 2017.
Producing the most verified peer reviews
He rated in the top 1% of reviewers (9th), in all fields, who performed the most verified pre-publication peer reviews at Publons for Publons Peer Review Awards 2017. In 2017 he also received the following awards:
- Top reviewers for UFS in the category Mathematics, rating in eighth place. In this category Stanford University rated second. Rating in ninth place is the University of Luxembourg.
- Top reviewers for Mathematics (rating 1st). In this category the Southern Illinois University and the Johns Hopkins University in the US rated in 27th and 25th place respectively.
- Top reviewers for Engineering (rating 47th)
Prof Atangana’s research interests are methods and applications of partial and ordinary differential equations, fractional differential equations, perturbation methods, asymptotic methods, iterative methods, and groundwater modelling.
Passion for the development of science
Key to his success as peer reviewer is his passion for the development of science, his ability to write fair reports about a given manuscript, as well as his knowledge of what has been done and what the challenges are in a given field to be able to give a report that will help the advancement of science.
“Due to the impact of my research papers in the field of mathematics and applied mathematics and also my international recognition in the field of applied mathematics, many editors in more than 100 journals of applied mathematics trust my opinion to assess whether a submitted paper in a given journal of mathematics and applied mathematics can be published or not,” said Prof Atangana.