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04 February 2020 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Charl Devenish
Kovsie Eco vehicle parade
A highlight for first-year and senior students is the ACT eco-vehicle building and parade through the streets of Bloemfontein.

Sunny skies, cheerful faces, and an overall great atmosphere surfed the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus on Saturday, 1 February 2020 for the final series of events in the Kovsie ACT 2020 line-up.

The eco-vehicle parade kick-started the activities for the day and saw various student teams displaying their personalised pit-stop ‘sculptures’ along the streets of Bloemfontein.  UFS residence teams Sonverlief (Houses Sonnedou, Veritas, Madelief); Soetmarmentum (Houses Soetdoring, Marjolein, Armentum); and Beykasium (Houses Beyers Naudé, Akasia, Imperium) came in first, second, and third respectively, obtaining the highest scores out of nine teams for their pit-stop sculpture constructions. 
 
Following the parade, there were a number of fun but competitive eco-vehicle races between the teams. This included the Drag Race, Obstacle Course Race, Formula E Race, Endurance Race, and the Slalom Course Race that took place on the Mokete Square. 

In the evening, students were serenaded by artists such as Early B and Spoegwolf. They danced to performances from the latest Amapiano music sensation, Kabza de Small, and legendary deep-house music duo, Black Motion, at the Rag Farm. 

Assistant Director of UFS Student Life and Director of the Kovsie ACT office, Karen Scheepers, earlier urged students to get more involved in student-life programmes such as Kovsie ACT, in order to equip themselves with a variety of skills and a fulfilling university experience.

A number of senior and first-year students who were part of the action on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus this past Saturday, can attest to Scheepers’ advice.
“I’ve been looking forward to starting university for the longest time, and I am glad that I ended up at the UFS. I don’t feel alone, I feel like I can actually do this,” said first-year Psychology student, Thulisa Shezi.

“University isn’t as bad as everyone thinks it is, it’s just a matter of staying motivated, doing your work, and surrounding yourself with the right people in the process.” – Fourth-year Business Management student, Earl van der Westhuisen.

News Archive

Young academics empowered in research environment
2009-05-05

 
Young academics who attended the workshop are, from the left, Mr Lehlohonolo Mathengtheng, Department of Medical Virology; Dr Annelize Venter, Research Directorate; Mr Ferdi van der Walt (Facilitator), University of Johannesburg; Ms Telishia Flusk, Research Directorate; and Mr Dirk Strydom, Department of Agricultural Economics.
The Research Capacity Development Office under the auspices of the Directorate for Research Development Office endeavours to empower young academics at the University with skills to enable them to be established within the competitive mainstream of research. The Office recently organised a series of thematic workshops aimed at assisting young academics to acquire the “know-how” in terms of developing and writing proposals including, writing for funding. Such strategic support has lead to the University recording an increase in funding from the Thuthuka Programme of the National Research Foundation over the past five years. Thuthuka grants are made available on a competitive basis where applications are subjected to a peer-review process. This suggests that the quality of applications from the University is of a high quality.

The recent thematic workshops were facilitated by Prof. L Lategan, Dean for Research at the Central University of Technology as well as Mr Ferdi van der Walt, from the Research Office at the University of Johannesburg.

Young academics who attended the workshop are, from the left, Mr Lehlohonolo Mathengtheng, Department of Medical Virology; Dr Annelize Venter, Research Directorate; Mr Ferdi van der Walt (Facilitator), University of Johannesburg; Ms Telishia Flusk, Research Directorate; and Mr Dirk Strydom, Department of Agricultural Economics.

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