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Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences receives funding from European Union

06 April 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo Supplied

Dr Johan Coetzee_web read more — 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

Training symposium draws cardiothoracic surgeons from the continent to the UFS

2015-07-15

The University of the Free State hosted its annual Hannes Meyer Registrar Symposium at the Bloemfontein campus from 10 to 12 July 2015. This symposium was a collaborative effort by the UFS, the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgeons of South Africa (SCTSSA) and the European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgeons (EACTS). Young surgeons in training (registrars) from all over the continent attended this two and a half day conference.

The delegates include the heads of the departments of, or a senior consultant from, every department of Cardiothoracic Surgery in South Africa as well as two or three registrars and three perfusionists. In addition, delegates from other African countries were welcomed to our shores as well.

Unlike traditional conferencing, this symposium will feature a wet lab session, where surgeons perform a range of heart operations in a laboratory setting, using pig hearts.

The symposium is organised by Prof Francis Smit, (Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, UFS) and Prof Tony Linegar, (part-time lecturer-UFS).

“This is a truly remarkable training symposium. It is supported internationally by EACTS, nationally by SCTSSA, and locally by the UFS. It is the largest training symposium in Africa, and Bloemfontein/UFS is proud to host this event on an annual basis, having coordinated and organised this event since 2004.”

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