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11 February 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Leonie Bolleurs
Prof Liesl van As
Prof Liesl van As, Academic Head of the Department of Zoology and Entomology, is passionate about equal rights for parasites.

As a research-led institution, the university has 1 600 female researchers (2019 statistics), with 63 boasting ratings from the National Research Foundation (NRF). Four of the UFS SARChI Research Chairs are also headed by women. 

One of the scientists at the University of the Free State (UFS) who gets excited about research is Prof Liesl van As, Academic Head of the Department of Zoology and Entomology. 

She was part of the UFS team that established Africa’s largest digital laboratory, equipped with 227 microscopes, to ensure that undergraduate students from Zoology and Entomology, as well as Plant Sciences (Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences), have access to hi-tech equipment for a cutting-edge teaching experience.

The good and the bad 

But she also has a passion for her own research – that of fish parasites. Her most recent research work is about the biodiversity of fish parasites in natural river systems, with a focus on the Orange River and its tributaries, as well as the Okavango River and Delta in Botswana.

A few years ago, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries expanded their mandate for fisheries management by adding inland fisheries and aquaculture to their list of responsibilities. 

Prof Van As believes her research will add value to this process. “If we are going to expand inland fisheries, we need to expand our knowledge of what is happening in natural systems. It is important that we know and understand what potential problems might arise in aquaculture conditions.”

Equal rights for parasites

“We also need to understand that not all so-called parasites are bad, some have co-evolved with their hosts and they are part of our overall biodiversity. If the hosts are going extinct, so does this amazing spectrum of symbionts,” says Prof Van As, who is enthusiastic about promoting ‘equal rights for parasites’ (Wilson, 1995). 

When it comes to the future of women in research, Prof Van As – inspired by life itself, believes the possibilities are endless. “If you can dream it, you can do it. Ex Africa Semper Aliquid Novi (out of Africa there is always something new),” she states. 




News Archive

UFS releases draft charter to accelerate transformation
2007-02-02

The University of the Free State (UFS) today released a draft Institutional Charter which is intended to enhance and accelerate the ongoing transformation of the institution towards a non-racial, non-sexist future.

Speaking at the official opening of the university today, the Rector and Vice-chancellor, Prof Frederick Fourie, said the draft Institutional Charter, was an important milestone in the transformation debate for the university and the country.

“The draft charter acknowledges that black people, women and people with disabilities have been marginalised from job and developmental opportunities, within the higher education sector and at this university,” Prof Fourie said.

The charter commits the university to meeting the challenges of a transforming higher education institution in a developing society, in particular the challenges of nation-building, reconciliation, redress, non-racialism and non-sexism – and ultimately normalisation – within a high-quality academic institution.

The principles of the draft charter firmly signal the university’s commitment to diversity – attaining and maintaining substantive and sufficient diversity (including multiculturalism and multilingualism) – in its quest for quality and excellence. 
Prof Fourie said the draft charter seeks to build consensus among staff and students at the UFS about the ultimate goals of transformation at a higher education institution.

The charter proposes several basic values and principles that should guide the transformation process and at the same time serve as a basis for a future, normalised university - a promised land to transform towards.

The discussion document says academic quality is intrinsically linked to transformation and it commits the university to strengthening the core competencies of research, teaching and learning as well as community service so as to ensure a robust university for future generations.

“Indeed the thousands of matriculants, black and white, who apply to study at the UFS want to study at a good university, and a good university wants to attract the best black and white students and the best black and white staff, male and female,“ Prof Fourie said.

He said the draft charter also seeks to safeguard academic freedom and institutional autonomy as the foundation of critical inquiry and scholarship.

Regarding the critical issue of creating a new institutional culture, the draft charter commits the UFS to creating a sense of belonging for all members of the university – black and white, male and female, of whatever language, religious, cultural or economic background, as well as people with disabilities.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:  (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl@mail.uovs.ac.za
02 February 2007

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