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Nomination to serve on the Finance Committee of the UFS Council

15 November 2021 | Story Elna Van Pletzen

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) is seeking to co-opt a suitable candidate to serve for a period of four (4) years on the Finance Committee of Council. To this end, nominations for suitably qualified and experienced candidates are invited.

The Finance Committee of Council exercises oversight over the financial and investment portfolio of the UFS.

Candidates must be suitably qualified with requisite knowledge and experience of financial matters (including investments and acquisitions that are material to the UFS’s business). An appropriate qualification in the financial field is required, as is registration with the relevant professional bodies.

Nominations must be submitted on the prescribed Nomination form, together with detailed curricula vitae, to the Registrar of the UFS at registrar@ufs.ac.za before 16:30 on 12 January 2022.

The Nominations Committee of Council will consider all the nominations and make a recommendation to the Council, which will decide whether to co-opt any of the candidates.

The Finance Committee meets at least four times per year, or more frequently as may be necessary.

The Council may decide not to co-opt any of the candidates.

For enquiries, you may contact Mr NN Ntsababa at registrar@ufs.ac.za or telephone number +27 51 401 3796.

News Archive

UFS boasts with world class research apparatus

2005-10-20

At the launch of the diffractometer were from the left Prof Steve Basson (Chairperson: Department of Chemistry at the UFS), Prof Jannie Swarts (Unit for Physical and Macro-molecular Chemistry at the UFS Department of Chemistry), Mr Pari Antalis (from the provider of the apparatus - Bruker SA), Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS), Prof André Roodt (head of the X-ray diffraction unit at the UFS Department of Chemistry) and Prof Teuns Verschoor (Vice-Rector: Academic Operations at the UFS).

UFS boasts with world class research apparatus
The most advanced single crystal X-ray diffractometer in Africa has been installed in the Department of Chemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS).

“The diffractometer provides an indispensable technique to investigate compounds for medicinal application for example in breast, prostate and related bone cancer identification and therapy, currently synthesized in the Department of Chemistry. It also includes the area of homogeneous catalysis where new compounds for industrial application are synthesised and characterised and whereby SASOL and even the international petrochemical industry could benefit, especially in the current climate of increased oil prices,” said Prof Andrè Roodt, head of the X-ray diffraction unit at the UFS Department of Chemistry.

The installation of the Bruker Kappa APEX II single crystal diffractometer is part of an innovative programme of the UFS management to continue its competitive research and extend it further internationally.

“The diffractometer is the first milestone of the research funding programme for the Department of Chemistry and we are proud to be the first university in Africa to boast with such advanced apparatus. We are not standing back for any other university in the world and have already received requests for research agreements from universities such as the University of Cape Town,” said Prof Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS.

The diffractometer is capable of accurately analysing molecules in crystalline form within a few hours and obtain the precise geometry – that on a sample only the size of a grain of sugar. It simultaneously gives the exact distance between two atoms, accurate to less than fractions of a billionth of a millimetre.

“It allows us to investigate certain processes in Bloemfontein which has been impossible in the past. We now have a technique locally by which different steps in key chemical reactions can be evaluated much more reliable, even at temperatures as low as minus 170 degrees centigrade,” said Prof Roodt.

A few years ago these analyses would have taken days or even weeks. The Department of Chemistry now has the capability to investigate chemical compounds in Bloemfontein which previously had to be shipped to other, less sophisticate sites in the RSA or overseas (for example Sweden, Russia and Canada) at significant extra costs.

Media release
Issued by:Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
19 October 2005

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