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06 April 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo Supplied
Dr Johan Coetzee, Senior Lecturer and researcher in the Department of Economics and Finance and the UFS Business School

Dr Johan Coetzee from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) is championing a collaboration with the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences (SUAS) in Austria, resulting in the receipt of a considerable grant from the European Union. 

In 2020, the decision was made to apply for Erasmus+ funding from the European Commission; after a successful grant, a formal inter-institutional agreement was signed in March 2021. The agreement is the culmination of a relationship between the Department of Economics and Finance at the UFS and the Department of Controlling and Finance at SUAS since 2008. More specifically, the relationship is built on the collaboration between the UFS’s Dr Coetzee and Prof Christine Mitter from the SUAS, who was recently appointed as a Research Fellow in Finance in the department. 

“I am extremely proud of the formalisation of the relationship between the two universities. In late 2019, a delegation led by the Dean of Economic and Management Sciences, Prof Hendri Kroukamp, together with Prof Philippe Burger and myself visited Salzburg to formalise and iron out the expectations regarding future collaboration,” says Dr Coetzee. 

“The Erasmus+ grant pays testament to not only on-boarding expertise from a foreign university with a strong niche in being practically relevant to the Austrian society, but also to affirming the relationship with like-minded scholars to provide students with a culturally rewarding university experience. This agreement brings together two departments with a history of working well together, and now it is a formal manifestation of years of mutually beneficial teaching and research efforts,” says Dr Coetzee.

“On the back of this agreement,” concludes Dr Coetzee, “our departments are also currently finalising a proposal to offer a consecutive degree exchange programme where prospective postgraduate students will obtain two master’s degrees in the broader field of finance and spend time on both campuses. We look forward to this becoming a reality in the not-too-distant future.”

In addition to their teaching and research collaboration, several additional academics from the Department of Economics and Finance are also involved in the teaching collaboration. Research projects have also been concluded in the past, with future projects in the pipeline.

News Archive

DB Prinsloo now Director of KovsieSport
2012-06-08

 

DB Prinsloo and a fellow athlete at the Free State Cross Country Championships.
Photo: Supplied

08 June 2012

DB Prinsloo has been appointed as Director of KovsieSport, effective from 1 April 2012. He has been acting in this position since 2010.

Apart from leading this division for some time, DB has been involved as a sport manager at KovsieAthletics since 2003. “Athletics is my speciality sport, but during the past two years as acting director, I have managed to create a balance and I was able to divide my time in order to serve all the sporting codes.”

He is very excited about his appointment. “It’s such a privilege. I have been a Kovsie since my first year in 1982, and I am really proud to be able to go the distance,” he says.

Regarding his vision for KovsieSport, DB says, “I would like to see Kovsies become the first choice university in South Africa for students who are interested in sport – be it performance sport or recreational sport.”

He finds students’ involvement in sport at university important. “I would like to see us increase our excellence, something we are already working hard to achieve. Participating in sport is a lifestyle choice and I would like to see all students participating in our recreational sporting activities. A healthy body is home to a healthy spirit,” he says.
 

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