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01 July 2020

The composition of the UFS Council is stipulated in the UFS Statute, which was published in the Government Gazette on 26 January 2018 and amended by publication in the Government Gazette on 29 March 2019.

The Convocation has to elect one (1) external (neither employee nor student of the UFS) representative to the Council to represent the Convocation and Alumni on Council, following the expiry of the term of office of the current representative on 23 November 2020. The elected representative will serve for a period of four years on Council.

The Convocation comprises all persons who obtained a formal qualification from the UFS, as  well as all permanent academic staff members.

Members of the Convocation are invited to submit written nominations by using the Nomination Form attached hereto.
 
Every nomination form must be signed by 4 (four) members of the Convocation and must contain the written acceptance of the nomination by the nominee under his/her signature, as
well as an abridged CV and a motivation of ± 200 words.

All nominations must reach the office of the Registrar no later than 16:30 on 4 September 2020.
 
If more than one person is nominated an election will be held as stipulated in the Institutional Rules.  More information regarding this process will follow at that stage. 


Nominations are to be submitted to:
 
• or by post (strongly advised not to use this method due to delays):
Mr NN Ntsababa  
Registrar
University of the Free State
PO Box 339
Bloemfontein
9300

• or hand-delivered to:   (depending on the lockdown level and the regulations that are in place).
Mr NN Ntsababa
Room 51, 1st Floor
Main Building
UFS Bloemfontein Campus
 

For enquiries, please contact Mr NN Ntsababa at registrar@ufs.ac.za or +27 51 401 3796.

Kindly take note that late or incomplete nominations will not be accepted or considered.
Every nomination must be submitted separately.

News Archive

DNA sequencer launched at the UFS
2013-11-25

Dr Gansen Pillay, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Research Foundation, explaining to the scholars what will be expected of them.

The University of the Free State (UFS) can now collect immensely valuable data on drug resistance in HIV/Aids and TB with the new DNA sequencer that was launched recently at the International workshop on HIV/AIDS and TB drug resistance at the Bloemfontein Campus.

The DNA sequencer will allow the Free State province to produce viral and bacterial genetic data to fight the local development of HIV/ Aids and TB drug resistance.

The HIV and TB epidemics have expanded very fast and South Africa now has the largest HIV and TB treatment programme in the world, with over 2 million patients on treatment. However, these successful treatment programmes are now being threatened by the appearance of drug resistance.

The Free State province has been at the forefront of fighting HIV drug resistance in South Africa and has one of the most advanced treatment programmes for the management of resistance strains in the country. In addition, researchers at the University of the Free State are leading partners in the Southern African Treatment and Resistance Network (SATuRN; www.bioafrica.net/saturn), a research network that has trained over 2 000 medical officers in the treatment of drug resistance strains.

The Department of Medical Microbiology and Virology in the Medical School at the UFS has partnered with the provincial department of health, the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Delegation of the European Union to South Africa to fund a dedicated DNA sequencer machine that will be used to generate HIV and TB drug-resistance results. This new machine will enable cutting-edge research to take place, using the data in the province and, importantly, support patients with resistance strains to have access to advanced genotypic testing techniques.

“HIV drug resistance is a very serious problem in South Africa, and the recent advances in DNA testing technology allow clinicians in the province to access drug resistance testing, which enables them to manage patients appropriately who fail treatment, and use the results to cost-effectively extend and improve patients’ lives,” says Dr Cloete van Vuuren, Specialist in Infectious Diseases at the UFS’s Faculty of Health.

Dr Dominique Goedhals, pathologist from the Department of Medical Microbiology and Virology at the UFS, adds: “We have been looking forward to expanding our work with the clinicians and researchers, using DNA sequencing to shed light on the causes and consequences of drug resistance in urban and rural settings in the province.”

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