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
24 September 2020 | Story Bulelwa Moikwatlhai | Photo Supplied
The third edition of the UFS International Cultural Diversity Festival took place on 24 September 2020, organised annually by the UFS Office for International Affairs in Heritage Month. As part of the South African Heritage Day celebrations, the event honours the different heritages at the UFS. The entire day is dedicated to the expression of diverse cultural experiences from all over the world. “Even during this uncertain time, it is important to find time to celebrate our uniqueness and to appreciate one another’s heritage and culture in the spirit of our humanity”, says Bulelwa Moikwatlhai, Coordinator of the International Cultural Diversity Festival. 

Connecting cultures

This year’s theme was ‘Connecting the Cultures’. It focused on the digital ways of connecting the world while sharing different cultural experiences and celebrations, as well as embracing Heritage Day. The day consisted of a lot of virtual activities, messages being shared, a collaboration of songs that brought light and laughter during this time of a world pandemic. “Individuals from different cultures have been invited to share their favourite cultural cuisines, regalia, songs, and dances, and last words of encouragement and support during these times in their home language while providing translation,” says Prof Corli Witthuhn, Vice-Rector: Research and Internationalisation. 

The programme included artistic presentations by the UFS Arts, Culture, and Dialogue office in the Students Affairs Division, coordinated by Angelo Mockie. 

International Cultural Diversity

Director of the UFS Office for International Affairs, Cornelius Hagenmeier, explained that cultural diversity is central to the university’s internationalisation process. He emphasised that the university actively strives to increase its international diversity, which nurtures intellectual cross-fertilisation and the incubation of new ideas. Central is that everyone, irrespective of culture and origin, should feel welcome at the UFS, he says.
The virtual festival allowed students and staff to share and celebrate who they are while learning from each other. This enhances the international and intercultural competencies of the transforming UFS community.

News Archive

Dr Abdon Atangana cements his research globally by solving fractional calculus problem
2014-12-03

 

Dr Abdon Atangana

To publish 29 papers in respected international journals – and all of that in one year – is no mean feat. Postdoctoral researcher Abdon Atangana at the Institute for Groundwater Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS) reached this mark by October 2014, shortly before his 29th birthday.

His latest paper, ‘Modelling the Advancement of the Impurities and the Melted Oxygen concentration within the Scope of Fractional Calculus’, has been accepted for publication by the International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics.

In previously-published research he solved a problem in the field of fractional calculus by introducing a fractional derivative called ‘Beta-derivative’ and its anti-derivative called ‘Atangana-Beta integral’, thereby cementing his research in this field.

Dr Atangana, originally from Cameroon, received his PhD in Geohydrology at the UFS in 2013. His research interests include:
• the theory of fractional calculus;
• modelling real world problems with fractional order derivatives;
• applications of fractional calculus;
• analytical methods for partial differential equations;
• analytical methods for ordinary differential equations;
• numerical methods for partial and ordinary differential equations; and
• iterative methods and uncertainties modelling.

Dr Atangana says that, “Applied mathematics can be regarded as the bridge between theory and practice. The use of mathematical tools for solving real world problems is as old as creation itself. As written in the book Genesis ‘And God saw the light, that it was good; and divided the light from the darkness’, the word division appears here as the well-known method of separation of variables, this method is usually employed to solve a class of linear partial differential equations”.

“A mathematical model is a depiction of a system using mathematical concepts and language. The procedure of developing a mathematical model is termed mathematical modelling. Mathematical models are used not only in natural sciences, but also in social sciences such as economics, psychology, sociology and political sciences. These models help to explain systems and to study the effects of different components, and to make predictions about behaviours.”

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