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Ofhani Mavhungu receives prestigious Prof Rob Gous Scholarship

14 December 2021 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

Ofhani Mavhungu was recently awarded the Professor Rob Gous Scholarship by the Animal Feed Manufacturers Association (AFMA) of South Africa.

From a very early age, Ofhani Mavhungu knew he wanted to be involved in agriculture one day. Fast forward a few decades and you find Ofhani enrolled for the MScAgric Animal Science degree at the University of the Free State (UFS).

As a goal-orientated person who is open to new ventures, he reckons this degree will broaden his knowledge and understanding of the industry. “I believe Animal Science is an interdisciplinary field of study that enables students like me to pursue various career opportunities, ranging from primary animal production to secondary product processing, retail, and quality assurance. This motivates me to be part of the team that will ensure food security for the future generation,” says Ofhani.

Opening doors to a career in Animal Science

The Professor Rob Gous Scholarship for 2020/2021 that was jointly awarded to him and Victor Makofane of the University of Limpopo by the Animal Feed Manufacturers Association (AFMA) of South Africa, is for Ofhani a step closer to realising his dreams.

“Diligence and hard work have always been the driving force throughout my studies, and I am delighted that my hard work was rewarded. This award further reflects on the Department of Animal Science’s dedication and commitment to build and mentor strong candidates who are recognised by the industry,” he says.

With increasing animal feed costs, the search for more cost-effective feed utilisation techniques – without compromising the nutritive value or feed quality – becomes critically important for intensive broiler producers.

Ofhani’s study, which aims to evaluate the effect of increasing levels of a nutritional fat emulsifier with a high HLB on the (i) diet digestibility and (ii) production performance of broilers, will provide some insight into the possible energy-saving effect of dietary emulsifiers with a high HBL in broiler diets with moderate lipid inclusion levels.

“A digestibility study will give more information on the emulsifier effect at metabolic level, and a production study will provide information on growth characteristics and carcass composition.”

An opportunity to compete with other candidates in the industry

“Few studies have been conducted on lipid emulsifiers under South African conditions, which necessitates the need for further research in this field,” he says.

Ofhani, whose motto in life is to stay humble and accept positive criticism – as it is meant to enlighten you – wants to pursue a career in the animal feed industry. “My qualification will give me an opportunity to compete with other candidates of our generation in the industry, as well as on a research/academic level. By completing my MScAgric, I will broaden my own skill set so that I can continue with industry-related research in the future and provide mentorship to prospective animal scientists,” he adds.

News Archive

Harvard couple to present lectures on Biostatistics and Mathematics at the UFS

2015-12-07

Professor Donald Rubin

Prof Donald Rubin (John L. Loeb Professor of Statistics at Harvard University) and Elizabeth Zell (MStat - mathematical statistician in the Division of Bacterial Diseases) will visit the University of the Free State (UFS) where they will present lectures on their respective work.

Over his prestigious academic career, Prof Don Rubin’s 400 publications and 13 books have earned him around 180 000 citations at an h-index of 113. He is one of the most cited statisticians/mathematicians/economists/psychologists in the world over the last 10 -15 years. He has supervised 35 PhD candidates as sole-supervisor, 17 more as co-supervisor, with a further eight in the pipeline.

Prof Rubin who will meet with UFS academics in the Department of Mathematics and Actuarial Sciences will also deliver a lecture: Rerandomisation to improve covariate balance in experiments.

Randomised experiments are the “gold standard” for estimating causal effects, yet in practice, chance imbalances often exist in covariate distributions between treatment groups. If covariate data are available before units are exposed to treatments, these chance imbalances can be mitigated by first checking covariate balance before the physical experiment takes place. Provided a precise definition of imbalance has been specified in advance, unbalanced randomisations can be discarded, followed by a rerandomisation. This process can continue until a randomisation yielding balance according to the definition is achieved. By improving covariate balance, rerandomisation provides more precise and trustworthy estimates of treatment effects.

Prof Rubin received an honorary professorship from the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS.

Elizabeth Zell

The lecture will take place on:
Date: Tuesday 8 December 2015
Time: 16:00
Venue: Albert Wessels Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus

Zell earned her Master’s degree in Statistics at North Carolina State University, and for more than two decades, was an active bio-statistical researcher in various offices of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Since 2013, she has been the Principal Statistician and President of Stat-Epi Associates, Inc. Her 150+ publications have earned her 14 500 citations at an h-index of over 50. She is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, and, in 2010, she received the Statistics Section Government Award for outstanding contributions to statistics and public health by the American Public Health Association. During her career at the CDC, she earned more than 20 CDC research awards and honours.

She will deliver two lectures at the UFS. The first is entitled A Potential Outcomes Approach to Documenting the Public Health Impact of the Introduction of PCV13 for the Prevention of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease. The topic of her second lecture is: Assessing the Effectiveness of Intrapartum Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Prevention of Early-Onset Group B Streptococcus Disease through Propensity Score Design

Elizabeth’s lectures will take place on:
Date: Wednesday 9 December 2015
Time: 10:45 and 13:00
Venue: West Block 111, Bloemfontein Campus

For more information, please contact Dr Michael von Maltitz at VMaltitzMJ@ufs.ac.za.

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