Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
25 August 2020 | Story Andre Damons | Photo Pierce van Heerden
Prof Felicity Burt is a passionate virologist with more than 25 years of research on medically significant viruses that cycle in nature and are transmitted to humans via mosquitoes, ticks, or animals.

Prof Felicity Burt, an expert in arbovirology in the Division of Virology, has been leading the University of the Free State (UFS) COVID-19 Task Team over the past five months. Prof Burt is a passionate virologist with more than 25 years of research on medically significant viruses that cycle in nature and are transmitted to humans via mosquitoes, ticks, or animals.

As the UFS is celebrating its champion women this Women’s Month, Prof Burt gives us some insight into who she is. 

Please tell us about yourself

I am an arbovirologist from the Division of Virology in the Faculty of Health Sciences, and the National Health Laboratory Service. Who am I? I am a mum, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a sister-in-law, a friend, a scientist, a colleague, a professor.  I am passionate about my work and have spent more than 25 years researching medically significant viruses that cycle in nature and are transmitted to humans via mosquitoes, ticks, or animals. 
My research group investigates the various mechanisms that viruses use to cause disease, and I am particularly interested in how our bodies respond to infection that can help us develop vaccines or therapies. Raising awareness of these viruses, profiling disease associated with different viruses, and developing tools for surveillance programmes all contribute towards understanding pathogens and the public-health implications. I am so grateful for the opportunities my career has provided me, which includes travelling all over the world for conferences and meetings and participating in outbreak responses in Africa.   
   
Is there a woman who inspires you and who you would like to celebrate this Women’s Month, and why?

I am inspired by all women who set goals and work to achieve them. The goals may vary, but they are important and challenging to each individual.  Hence, I would like us to acknowledge and celebrate all women who achieve their goals through hard work, dedication, and of course, plenty of passion. 

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in your life that have made you a better woman?

I have always been quite a shy person and still find it challenging to stand up in front of an audience. I was born in Zimbabwe and when I finished school, I moved to South Africa to study at the University of the Witwatersrand. Moving on my own to Johannesburg at the age of 18 was definitely a challenge for a quiet, reserved girl from Harare. Compared to home, Johannesburg was a mammoth city; however, I absolutely loved university life, met people who became lifelong friends, and pursued a career in science. I try to learn from my many mistakes and treat others how I would like to be treated, especially with kindness. 

What advice would you give to the 15-year-old you?

Dream on girl, and it doesn’t matter if they don’t all come true; life isn’t going to turn out as expected, but as long as you enjoy the journey. You don’t have to be the best, but you have to do your best – with passion of course. 

What would you say makes you a champion woman [of the UFS]?

To be honest, I wouldn’t call myself a champion, but I am quite proud of what I have established at the UFS. With hard work and passion, contributions from colleagues, support from management, and never forgetting a whole bunch of wonderfully enthusiastic students, we have built an active postgraduate research group, graduated multiple students, published scientific articles in international journals, presented our research at conferences, contributed to community engagement, had fun, and still have plenty more to achieve!  

 

News Archive

Sesotho dictionary to be published
2008-04-15

 
Mr Motsamai Motsapi,  editor-in-chief.

A comprehensive bilingual Sesotho dictionary will be published in the 2008/2009 financial year, thanks to the efforts of the Sesiu sa Sesotho National Lexicography Unit hosted by the University of the Free State (UFS). ”Sesiu” is a Sesotho word meaning ”a reservoir for storing grains”.

According to the Editor-in-Chief of the Sesiu sa Sesotho National Lexicography Unit, Mr Motsamai Motsapi, the unit intends to continuously develop and modernize the Sesotho language so that its speakers are empowered to express themselves through Sesotho without any impediments, in all spheres of life.

The unit is one of the 11 nationally established Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) structures representing South Africa’s 11 official languages.

Their main objective is to preserve and record the various indigenous languages by compiling user-friendly, comprehensive monolingual dictionaries and other lexicographic products, and to develop and promote these languages in all spheres of life.

The Minister of Arts and Culture, Dr Pallo Jordan, has lamented the fact that it is virtually impossible to find a bookstore in any of the country’s shopping malls that distributes literature in the indigenous African languages.

The minister said the capacity to both write and read in one’s home language gives real meaning to freedom of expression.

Therefore the publication of this Sesotho dictionary should be seen in the context of the development of the indigenous languages, as encapsulated in both the minister’s vision and that of the Sesiu sa Sesotho National Lexicography Unit.

The pending publication of this dictionary is the culmination of years of hard work invested in this project by the Sesiu sa Sesotho National Lexicography Unit.

“I believe that slowly but surely we have made some strides, as we have produced a Sesotho translation dictionary draft in 2006 covering letters A to Z. We have also built a considerable Sesotho corpus. But we still have a mammoth task ahead of us, because the work of compiling a dictionary does not end”, said Mr Motsapi.

“All Sesotho speakers should be involved, as the language belongs to the speech communities, and not to certain individuals”, he added.

He said given the reality that the UFS is situated in a predominantly Sesotho-speaking province and is part of its general community, it will always benefit the university to be part of the efforts of the South African nation to address the past by ensuring the development of the Sesotho language.

The unit is located in the African Languages Department of the Faculty of the Humanities at the UFS, and collaborates closely with the Language Research and Development Centre (LRDC) at the UFS to further the development of the Sesotho language. It is funded by PanSALB.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt.stg@ufs.ac.za  
15 April 2008
 

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