Latest News Archive
Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
18 October 2021
|
Story Dr Nitha Ramnath
Our podcast guest
Prof Jeandrew Brink holds the post of Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Applied
Mathematics within the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of the Free State. Her areas of interest include an analytical interest in Einstein field equations, dynamical systems, algorithms for testing general relativity
and the no-hair theorems, black holes, and gravitational waves. Prof Brink registered for a Bachelor of Sciences in 1998, continued with honours studies in 1999, and completed her master’s degree in 2000. Prof Brink’s research is on various
theoretical aspects of testing general relativity. She is a member of the MeerKAT telescope team that times and detect pulsars. She is also working with members of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) to find ways of using
gravitational waves to test Einstein’s theory.
Prof Brink was involved in the compilation of a video of geodesic orbits around a Manko-Novikov singularity, selected to be part of a Starmus 3 concert, the proceeds of which went towards promoting the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication and
to support the charitable activities of the Stephen Hawking Foundation. It could also be part of a subsequent documentary.
Listen to the podcast at
François van Schalkwyk and Keenan Carelse,
UFS alumni leading the university’s United
Kingdom Alumni Chapter, have put their voices together to produce and direct the podcast series. Intended to reconnect alumni with the university and their university experience, the podcasts will be featured on the first Monday of every month,
ending in November 2021. Our featured alumni share and reflect on their experiences at the UFS, how it has shaped their lives, and relate why their ongoing association with the UFS is still relevant and important. The podcasts are authentic
conversations – they provide an opportunity for the university to understand and learn about the experiences of its alumni and to celebrate the diversity and touchpoints that unite them.
For further information regarding the podcast series, or to propose other alumni guests, please email us at
alumnipodcast@ufs.ac.za
For all Voices from the Free State podcasts,
click here.
Distinguished academic bids farewell to UFS
2008-09-05
Prof Nel and his wife, Olivia |
|
The Director of the Centre for Africa Studies (CAS) at the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof Phillip Nel, is leaving the University after 33 years of service.
Prof Nel has decided to scale down his involvement with the UFS and CAS to spend more time with his wife, Olivia, and his family and doing more research.
“There comes a time that one must go and this is it for me, but from time to time I wonder whether I have done all that I was meant to do”, said Prof Nel. “I strongly believe that no one is irreplaceable and I know that the Centre for Africa Studies is in good hands.”
His successor, Prof Anwar Osman, an internationally renowned academic himself, assumed the directorship of CAS on 1 September 2008.
“My intention is to build on the groundwork done thus far and to broaden the teaching and research base of the Centre to include the natural sciences as well, truly making CAS a beacon for multidisciplinary study”, said Prof Osman.
“The future success of this centre will be a lasting testament to Prof Nel’s visionary leadership.”
Although he will be leaving the ranks of the full-time employed at the UFS, Prof Nel will still be involved with CAS’s research programme and still has a number of active research projects, such as the SANPAD Project, entitled Communities in Communion, which involves the dynamics of sacred sites and individual and community cultural and spiritual identity construction.
He launched CAS in 2007 to promote a stronger focus on African issues in all activities at the UFS and to fulfil an academic role by linking the realities of Africa to education, research and community service programmes.
Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt.stg@ufs.ac.za
4 September 2008
|