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UFS communication campaigns recognised by IABC and MACE

09 December 2022 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Barend Nagel

Web read more — From the left: Rulanzen Martin, Lacea Loader, Dr Nitha Ramnath, and Martie Nortjé.

Another year, another round of national and international awards for the Department of Communication and Marketing’s (DCM) campaigns and projects. This year saw DCM pick up an International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Africa Silver Quill Award of Excellence for Communication Research for Narrative Building Storytelling. This project and subsequent award were in partnership with Development Communication Solutions (DevCom), led by Lacea Loader, Director: Communication and Marketing.

During the 2022 annual Marketing, Advancement and Communication in Education (MACE) Excellence Awards, DCM won four excellence awards. Dr Nitha Ramnath, Deputy Director: Corporate Relations, won a Silver Award of Excellence for the 2021 Rector’s Concert, and a Bronze Award of Excellence for the 2022 Rector’s Concert.

Lacea Loader and Martie Nortjé, Manager: Reputation, Brand and Marketing Management, won a Bronze Award of Excellence for the project ‘UFS – Our Story: The building and implementation of a brand narrative.’ Rounding up the UFS’ winning tally was Website Editor, Rulanzen Martin, who won a MACE Bronze Award of Excellence for the 2021 UFS Deaf Awareness Month (DAM) Campaign. The DAM campaign also received recognition during the 2021 IABC Silver Quill awards, where it won a Silver Quill Award of Excellence.

Awards a perfect opportunity to benchmark

“The awards give recognition to the communication efforts and endeavours undertaken by DCM as the strategic communication partner at the UFS; it also serves as a perfect opportunity to benchmark against peers and the industry. I am extremely proud of what the team has achieved,” says Loader. “It is an honour when our projects receive awards, given the calibre of entries submitted for both the IABC and MACE awards programmes. The IABC awards programme is for all industries, while the MACE awards only recognise higher education institutions,” she says.

For the 2022 MACE Excellence Awards, a total of 95 awards were awarded to 12 institutions from a total of 171 entries.

News Archive

UFS receives R3,284 million to research biosafety of genetically modified crops

2009-03-17

A testing facility at the University of the Free State (UFS), which is the only one of its kind in South Africa and a leader in its field in Africa, has received a grant of R3,284 million from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) to do research on the biosafety of genetically modified crops in South Africa.

Prof. Chris Viljoen of the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Testing Facility at the UFS says the grant forms part of a collaborative agreement between South Africa and Norway on the biosafety of GMOs.

The grant also makes provision for two M.Sc. bursaries as well as a regional biosafety workshop.

The research will focus on gene flow between genetically modified (GM) maize and non-GM maize and the potential impact thereof on the development of insect resistance.

Prof. Viljoen, who is head of Human Molecular Biology in the Department of Haematology and Cell Biology, says it is an honour to be selected to take part in the project and is groundbreaking in terms of GM maize on the environment. The project was initiated in 2009 and will run until the end of 2010.

The multi-institutional research include partners from the UFS, research groups from the University of North-West, the University of Fort Hare as well as SANBI and GenØk, the Norwegian centre for Gene Ecology. The GMO Testing Facility at the UFS was established in 2003 to perform routine GM detection for grain and food products in South Africa. The activities also include research into GM detection and biosafety of GM crops.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za
17 March 2009

Prof. Chris Viljoen of the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Testing Facility at the UFS.
Photo: Supplied

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