Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
27 September 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Tania Allen
Netball
The Kovsies will face the Maties in the semi-finals of Varsity Netball in search of their fourth appearance in a final.

On Monday (30 September), the University of the Free State (UFS) netball team will have an ideal opportunity for revenge for what happened in this year’s Varsity Cup. In the semi-finals of the Varsity Cup back in April, the Shimla rugby team received a decent hiding from the Maties.

Now the UFS and Maties will face each other in another semi-final, this time in the netball version of the Varsity Cup, called Varsity Netball. The teams square off in the Callie Human Centre at 17:00.

Since losing to Tuks in the opening round, Kovsies have built up good momentum and confidence with six consecutive victories, including one over the Stellenbosch students on Monday (23 September). The score was 65-61.

The other wins were against UJ (69-35), TUT (64-20), NWU (59-55), Madibaz (70-41), and UWC (99-18), earning them the second spot on the log behind Tuks. The 99 goals against UWC were their best ever in the competition.The Free State women also won their encounter against Maties at this year’s USSA tournament by 38-31.

A victory would earn the team a shot at another Varsity Netball title. They have never lost a final, having appeared in three previous finals (2013, 2014, and 2018). Kovsies have won three of their previous five Varsity Netball semi-finals. They had met Maties only once before in a semi-final. This was last year in Bloemfontein when Kovsies prevailed by 56-45.
Khomotso Mamburu, goal defence of Maties, and Adéle Niemand, their assistant coach, both represented the Kovsies for many years.

News Archive

UFS praised for hosting international research development programme
2013-03-05

 

At the farewell function were, from the left: Dr GansenPillay (deputy executive officer of the NRF), Emile Goofo (Cameroon), his son Tylio in the arms of Prof Nicky Morgan (Vice-Rector: Operations), Avelino Mondhane from Stockholm University (originally from Mozambique) and Prof Neil Heideman (Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences).
Photo: Leatitia Pienaar
05 March 2013

“I must congratulate the University of the Free State on doing something like this,” Dr Gansen Pillay said at the farewell function for the participants in the Southern African Young Scientists Summer Programme (SA-YSSP) at the UFS.

The 19 young scientists from 16 countries completed their three-month programme at the end of February 2013. As another step in the process the participants must write articles for reputable journals and complete their doctoral studies. Their performance in the research world will also be tracked.

Dr Pillay, deputy executive officer of the National Research Foundation (NRF), said an investment was made in the researchers to secure the future of the programme. A lot of persuasion and proof was necessary to convince the Austrian Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) that a programme of this nature could be presented in Africa.

The SA-YSSP was hosted and managed by the UFS. The programme was developed by the NRF in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and IIASA into a novel and innovative initiative.  The official launch was by the Minister of Science and Technology during November 2011.

The SA-YSSP will be an annual three-month education, academic training and research capacity-building programme. Aligned with the YSSP model, annually presented in Austria, the SA-YSSP offered scientific seminars covering themes in the social and natural sciences, often with policy dimensions, to broaden the participants’ perspectives and strengthen their analytical and modelling skills, further enriching a demanding academic and research programme.

Prof Martin Mtwaeaborwa, SA-YSSP deputy dean, said the academic performance of the young scientists superseded the expectations. “I hope the scholars will look back at the programme as the moment their careers began.”

The added, “The UFS received positive remarks for organising the programme and we hope to get it again in future.”

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept