Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

New principal exhorts South Campus students to ‘unlock their future’

07 February 2020 | Story Eugene Seegers | Photo Charl Devenish

Dr Madiope UFS South Campus Welcoming 2020 — Dr Madiope welcomes students to the UFS South Campus.

“Now that you have joined the university, you have an obligation to yourself and your parents to get your degree. To the public, you have an obligation to change society.” The new South Campus Principal, Dr Marinkie Madiope, directed these words to students and their family members during the first-year welcoming ceremony in Bloemfontein, held in the campus’s Madiba Arena on Friday 31 January 2020. Dr Madiope assumed her duties on the South Campus at the beginning of January this year.

Dr Madiope concluded: “Your journey to realise your wildest dream has indeed commenced. Welcome, and hold on; the future is bright, and the time is now to unlock your future!”

The right choice

In his welcoming address, Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, thanked the students for choosing the University of the Free State. He said that although the three campuses of the UFS make up one university with the same values and inclusivity, each campus contributes something unique and ‘distinctly different’ to the institution. In the case of the South Campus, he said that the student leadership under the auspices of the campus SRC, as well as the campus management under the guidance of Dr Madiope, provided a welcoming atmosphere for new students coming to the UFS from all parts of the country, allowing them to ‘feel that they belong’ at our university.

Prof Petersen further reassured parents and guardians that they had made the right choice in coming to our university. “Our staff are excellent, and they care about your child. They will be the ones who will support and guide your child, so you don’t have to worry about that.” He further advised students to become involved with co-curricular activities to build their experience, while managing their time well and making good choices.

“Ngwana a thotseng
o shwella thabeng ...
Remember to speak up
so that you can be helped.”
—Phehellang Ralejoe,
South Campus SRC President

Student leadership support

Adding to points made by both Dr Madiope and Prof Petersen regarding student safety, the SRC President for the South Campus, Phehellang Ralejoe, told the gathered audience, “The South Campus prides itself on prioritising the safety of its students, and we can say that you are leaving them in safe, capable hands.”

She also told students to rely on the support systems available on campus, such as Academic Advising, the Office for Gender and Sexual Equity, Student Representative Council, and Student Counselling, and warned against taking mental-health issues lightly. Ms Ralejoe closed with a Sesotho proverb: “Ngwana a thotseng o shwella thabeng, which translates to ‘a quiet child dies on the mountain’. Remember to speak up so that you can be helped. Make this a great, memorable year!”

News Archive

International Year of Crystallography attracts science experts from across the globe

2014-10-13

Video: Discover what Chrystallopgraphy can do for you
Video: Celebrating Crystallography: An Animated Adventure

Summit programme

The third world summit in the International Year of Crystallography (in Africa) will be hosted by the UFS Department of Chemistry here on the Bloemfontein Campus. Prof André Roodt, Head of the Department of Chemistry, was elected as the President of the European Crystallographic Association in 2012. Earlier this year he unveiled the Max von Laue 'Plaque' in Posnan, Poland.

The Pan-African Meeting of the International Year of Crystallography consists of a congress and summit. The details are as follows:

Congress
12–15 October 2014
CR Swart Senate Hall, UFS Bloemfontein Campus

Summit
15–17 October 2014
CR Swart Senate Hall, UFS Bloemfontein Campus
Summit opening: Wednesday 15 October 2014 at 14:00 in the CR Swart Senate Hall

This event will be opened and attended by:
•   the UFS Rector and Vice-Rector – Profs Jonathan Jansen and Corli Witthuhn;
•   the acting Director-General of the Department of Science and Technology – Dr Thomas Auf der Heyde;
•   the acting CEO of the National Research Foundation – Dr Gansen Pillay;
•   the UNESCO Vice-Director for Science Extension – Dr Jean-Paul Ngome-Abiaga (Paris, France);
•   the representative of the Executive Committee for the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) – Prof Santiago Garcia-Granda (Oviedo: Spain);
•   the marketing director of the IUCr – Prof Michele Zema (Pavia, Italy);
•   the President of the European Crystallographic Association (ECA) – Prof André Roodt, who will officially open the summit on Wednesday 15 October 2014 from 14:00–15:30.

Presenters from across Africa and Europe will deliver papers at this event which will be attended by more than 100 delegates from twenty-plus countries, including Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Germany, Russia and India.

Numerous crystallographic research areas will be covered. This includes:
•   powder diffraction,
•   small molecule crystallography,
•   biological crystallography,
•   industrial crystallography,
•   surface crystallography,
as well as techniques such as
•   electron microscopy and
•   synchrotron work.

“At this event we hope to establish an African Crystallographic Association,” said Prof Roodt.

The United Nations declared 2014 as the International Year of Crystallography. It was recently officially opened at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, by the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon.

The International Year of Crystallography celebrates the centennial of the work of Max von Laue and the father and son, William Henry and William Laurence Bragg. More generally, it celebrates what crystallography can do for humanity – which proves to be a significant amount.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

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