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Department of Chemistry strengthens international ties through International Chemical Symposium

30 June 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath

organic chemistry_web read more — Dr Charlene Marais, Prof Vladimir Azov and Prof Ulrich Hennecke

The Department of Chemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS) held a successful online International Symposium on Organic Chemistry on 15 June 2021. The symposium brought together scientists from several South African and foreign universities and created a virtual platform for a long-awaited discussion stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic. About 20 participants from universities in South Africa, Belgium, and Germany presented their lectures during the symposium. In addition, this symposium was directed at the postgraduate students in the Department of Chemistry at the UFS, allowing them to present their results to an international audience and to foster their engagement in scientific research.

For more than a year, the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented the common personal communication avenues for the researchers: face-to-face (F2F) conferences, symposia, and workshops. To bridge this gap, Prof Vladimir Azov and Dr Charlene Marais from the Department of Chemistry organised the online meeting for the researchers from the UFS and several other local and foreign universities, all working in the field of organic chemistry.

Online material from the International Symposium on Organic Chemistry is available at here

Collaborative project between the UFS and VUB towards the development of gel-based drug release systems

The symposium also served as a long-awaited inception meeting for the collaborative project between the Organic Chemistry group at the UFS and the Organic Chemistry (ORGC) group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). This project is jointly funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and FWO (Research Foundation – Flanders); it is aimed at the development of new peptide-based materials with properties controllable by precisely tuned interactions of unnatural amino acids included in the peptide sequence. Such peptides can, for example, be used as smart materials for precisely controllable drug release. The South African team members, directed by Prof Vladimir Azov, will specialise in the development of the new amino acid building blocks, whereas the VUB team, headed by Prof Ulrich Hennecke, will focus on peptide preparation and studies on their properties.

This kick-off meeting was initially planned as a F2F event in June 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 travelling restrictions and finally migrated to a virtual space. This provided an opportunity to present the project proposals and to discuss the initial results in a much broader circle than would have been possible within the common F2F meeting framework.

News Archive

Ms Beatrice Marshoff praise documentary on the life and legacy of King Moshoeshoe

2004-10-14

The Premier of the Free State , Ms Beatrice Marshoff, has praised the University of the Free State for the initiative to produce a documentary on the life and legacy of King Moshoeshoe, the founder of the Basotho nation.

“The University of the Free State could not have chosen a better subject to celebrate its centenary. The life and legacy of King Moshoeshoe is indeed a befitting demonstration that this is Africa ’s century,” Ms Marshoff said in a statement.

The documentary called “The Renaissance King” was shown last night ( Wednesday 13 October 2004 ) for the first time at the UFS. It was commissioned by the UFS as part if its Centenary year and was produced by journalist Max du Preez.

“We wish to congratulate the producers and the university, for such a brilliant idea,” the premier said.

She called on other institutions to also get involved in nation-building projects such as this one.

“Your desire and intention as an institution to take up a new but deserved role in our social transformation agenda, is highly commendable,” Ms Marshoff said in her statement.

Because the premier had to attend to urgent government business she could not attend the function,but her statement was read on her behalf by the MEC for Arts, Sport and Culture, Mr Joe Mafereka.

Dignitaries in the appreciative audience included the Lesotho Minister for Communications, Science and Technology, Dr Mamphono Khaketla, Queen Mopeli, the MEC for Education, Ouma Tsopo, the MEC for Safety and Liaison, Tate Makgoe, the Director General of the Free State, Dr Khotso de Wee, the Senior Private Secretary to King Letsie III, Mr Mabotse Lerotholi, the Vice-chancellor of the National University of Lesotho, Dr Mothibe, Acting Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture, Mr Jobo Molapo, Chairman of the Council of the University of the Free State, Judge Faan Hancke, Rector and Vice-chancellor of the University of the Free State, prof. Frederick Fourie.

The documentary on the life and legacy of King Moshoeshoe will be screened on SABC 2 on Thursday 4 November 2004 .

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