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Festival celebrates growing global footprint at UFS

17 September 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Valentino Ndaba

There are 195 countries in the world and the University of the Free State (UFS) officially has a personal relationship with 24 of them. Be it through exchange inbound or outbound programmes or research collaboration, Kovsies is growing its global footprint.

The 2019 International Cultural Diversity Festival brought a mix of music, dance, and poetry to the Bloemfontein Campus on Friday 13 September 2019. The aim of the festival was to recognise, appreciate and celebrate the diverse cultures represented on all our campuses.

Reeling in and rolling out the best talent pool

As stated in the 2018 Internationalisation Report, “Kovsies currently has about 50 international collaboration agreements, and collaboration with 1 584 institutions,” in terms of research. The plan is to widen researchers’ international networks, with a special focus on the African continent.

Finding strength in diversity

“Diversity within groups at the UFS necessitates that we foster a culture of tolerance and a spirit of mutual acceptance and appreciation at our university,” says Chevon Slambee, Chief Officer at the Office for International Affairs (OIA).

Slambee spoke on behalf of the Vice-Rector: Research and Internationalisation, Prof Corli Witthuhn, and the Director of the OIA, Cornelius Hagenmeier, commending the diversity reflected in our international students and staff community.

She mirrored the views of the Kovsie community at large in calling for an end to division and violence based on “othering”. Referring to the upsurge in violence directed against women and people from other countries that we saw in South Africa last month, Slambee remarked: “We are shocked and speechless in light of these events, which are contrary to the spirit of embracing one another’s humanity, which we believe in and want to promote.”

Content photo International
The International Cultural Diversity was filled with entertainment.

A coming together

The festival theme this year was the Boma which is a traditional space created back in the day where a community would sit around the fire, drumming, singing, dancing and listening to tales told by the elders. The UFS strives to be a similar space – growing the current number of international relationships and immersing the institution in the global village – the African way.

News Archive

Chemistry postgraduates tackle crystallography with eminent international researcher

2017-04-04

Department of Chemistry senior lecturer, Dr Alice Brink(left),
hosted outstanding researcher, Prof Elspeth Garman (right)
from the University of Oxford in England to present a
crystallography lecture.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin

“Crystallography forms part of everyday life.” This is according to Prof Elspeth Garman, eminent researcher from the Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford in England, who was hosted by Dr Alice Brink, Department of Chemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus. Prof Garman presented a lecture in the Department of Chemistry, titled ‘104 years of crystallography: What has it taught us and where will it lead’. She also taught the postgraduate students how to refine and mount protein structures in cold cryo conditions at about -173°C.

What is Crystallography?
Crystallography is the scientific technique which allows for the position of atoms to be determined in any matter which is crystalline.

“You cannot complete Protein Crystallography without the five key steps, namely obtaining a pure protein, growing the crystal, collecting the data, and finally determining the structure and atomic coordinates,” said Prof Garman. Apart from teaching, she was also here to mentor and have discussions with UFS Prestige Scholars on how to face academic challenges in the professional environment.

Discovery of the first crystal structure of a TB protein
Prof Garman successfully determined the first crystal structure of a Tuberculosis protein (TBNAT), a project that took about 15 years of research. In partnership with the Department of Pharmacology at Oxford University and an outstanding PhD student, Areej Abuhammad, they managed to grow only one TBNAT crystal, one-fiftieth of a millimetre. They also managed to solve the structure and publish it.

Dr Alice Brink, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, says, “It’s an incredible privilege to have Prof Garman here and to have her share her wisdom and knowledge so freely with the young academics.”

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