Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
16 July 2020 | Story Andre Damons | Photo Supplied
Prof Paul Oberholster and Prof Zakkie Pretorius

Two staff members from the University of the Free State (UFS) are nominated for the Science Oscars for their outstanding work and contributions to science over the years. 

Prof Pretorius is nominated in two categories, namely the Special Annual Theme Award: Research and development (R&D) and innovation in Plant Health as well as the Lifetime category.  The Special Annual Theme Awards are made in recognition of the International Year of Plant Health (2020), as declared by the United Nations.

Prof Oberholster is nominated for the NSTF-Water Research Commission Award. This award is for an outstanding contribution to science, engineering, and technology (SET) and innovation in South Africa in terms of sustainable water management, knowledge generation, and solutions over the past five to ten years, and is awarded in recognition of demonstrated leadership and impact.

Science Oscars of South Africa

The NSTF-South32 Awards are referred to as the ‘Science Oscars’ of South Africa and are the largest, most comprehensive, and sought-after national awards of its kind in the country. It was also the first science awards in South Africa.

Prof Oberholster says it is a privilege to be nominated and selected as a finalist in his specific field of interest.
“I always believe the best person will win the award. At this level of competition, it can go both ways. I was nominated by the university for my scientific contribution to water resource management in South Africa over the past 10 years, with special reference to the field of passive wastewater treatment,” says Prof Oberholster.

Although this is the first time that he has been nominated for the NSTF-Water Research Commission Award, Prof Oberholster has previously been nominated in the Innovation category.

Prof Oberholster, whose research focus area is the use of freshwater algae to treat acid mine drainage or domestic wastewater, has previously also won the Excellence Award: CSIR:NRE Outstanding team contribution: Project Leader: Coal tech, WRC and SANBI, Wetland restoration project; and the Excellence Award: CSIR:NRE Innovation: Algae technology for sewage treatment in South African rural areas.

Innovative technology 

This innovative, low-cost green technology assists in the effective and efficient removal of nutrients and bacteria in effluents discharged from wastewater treatment works to improve human health risk, create economic opportunities, and protect downstream ecosystem services. This technology is currently being rolled out to other SADC countries by the African Development Bank. In the case of acid mine drainage treatment, the technology provides a ‘walk-away’ solution for the mining industry. These systems are largely self-sustainable, using no electricity or chemicals, and can be maintained by a semi-skilled workforce.

Prof Pretorius, who has extensive expertise in diseases of field crops – more specifically the rust diseases of small grain cereal crops, has recently been awarded Honorary Membership by the Southern African Plant Breeders’ Association (SAPBA). His colleague, Prof Liezel Herselman, Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, was presented with a Fellow Award.

• A new, specially arranged virtual Awards Gala Event will be livestreamed on Thursday, 30 July 2020 at 18:45 for 19:00 until 20:30 to honour the finalists and announce the winners.

News Archive

Suspension of the South African Doping Control Laboratory (SADoCoL) by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
2016-05-04

The senior leadership of the UFS and the management of the South African Doping Control Laboratory (SADoCoL) take note of the decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to suspend the laboratory’s accreditation to perform doping control analysis on biological samples of athletes and sportsmen and -women until 30 September 2016. During this time of suspension, all sport-related samples will be sent for analysis to the WADA accredited laboratory in Qatar until the accreditation of SADoCoL is re-established. Analysis according to WADA accreditation will therefore not be interrupted during the period of the suspension of the accreditation of SADoCoL.

The announcement by WADA on 3 May 2016 follows a voluntary decision by SADoCoL in March 2016 to temporarily close the laboratory for some of its routine analytical duties for six months, as from 1 April 2016. The decision was taken in consultation with the senior leadership of the UFS and other role players, especially the Department of Sport and Recreation of South Africa (SRSA) and the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS). SADoCoL is a specialised service laboratory of the University of the Free State (UFS) and has been in existence for more than thirty years.

Due to the ever-increasing demands on the number, variety and analytical sensitivity of compounds to be analysed according to the Prohibited List of WADA, technical and infrastructure adaptations need to be implemented in the laboratory continuously to keep up with the demands. Over the last year, SADoCoL has drastically increased its capacity in both personnel and infrastructure, to a point where these changes can be implemented for optimal performance of the laboratory.  This has to be done while normal routine analysis continues, and it became clear that at present, implementation cannot be successfully accomplished together with the workload from normal routine analyses.

The time of suspension will be utilised to implement and test these new systems in order to achieve the standard presently required by WADA, as well as to perform development and improvements.  This development will be performed in close collaboration with other role players in the anti-doping movement in South Africa, such as SAIDS and SRSA. Scientific development aid will also be acquired from other doping control laboratories worldwide in order to assure that the high analytical quality is maintained and expanded to meet the fast growing challenges in this field. The progress of the process will be closely monitored, and the upgraded methodologies will then, after rigorous testing, be implemented to ensure that the required analytical quality is maintained so as to obtain re-accreditation by WADA at the conclusion of the suspension period.

Issued by: Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Telephone: +27(0)51 401 2584 or +27 (0) 83 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 (0) 51 444 6393

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