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.
Beyers Naudé challenge still stands – Dr Allan Boesak
2011-09-14
|
|
|
Dineo Babili, a first-year Foundation-phase Education student, reading out her winning essay during the final Beyers Naudé Memorial Lecture held last Friday. Dineo and Siphesihle Mavundla (poetry) both won R3 000,00 each from Kagiso Trust.
Photo: Thabo Kessah
|
The eighth Annual Beyers Naudé Memorial Lecture Series reached its climax with the third and last lecture being presented by Dr Allan Boesak at our Qwaqwa Campus on Friday, 9 September 2011. The first two lectures were presented by our Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, and Prof. Kwandiwe Kondlo who heads our Centre for Africa Studies, respectively.
In his address, Dr Boesak posed hard-hitting questions, such as ‘'What kind of society do we want to be? At what price are we willing to sell the noble history of the struggle, the ideals and hopes of our people, the meaning of the freedom we sacrificed for?'’ He spoke fondly of his former friend and colleague who had appealed to the government of the day in 1973 to understand that the future security of our country did not lie with a consensus of white opinion, but rather ‘'a consensus of white and black opinion'’.
Dr Boesak said that Oom Bey had asked white people ‘to speak and act before it was too late’ and that he appealed to black people to prepare for the day on which they would be truly free.
‘'That was his hope. When he died, democracy had come, but this hope had not been realised and today we are in serious danger of losing it altogether. We have the matchless Freedom Charter; we have a most progressive Constitution; we have an impressive body of laws and we have enviable policy positions. However, the challenge from Beyers Naudé still stands and it comes to a new generation: it is time to transform words into deeds. The time for pious talk is over,'’ said Dr Boesak.
The lecture was well received by students and staff, as well as leaders and representatives from various sectors in the community. Learners and educators from a number of schools in the region also attended. Next year’s series will be hosted on the South Campus in Bloemfontein.