Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
17 February 2022 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Sonia Small
UFS students

The University of the Free State realises that the registration period can be stressful and frustrating to students for various reasons. 

In an effort to ensure that as many students as possible can successfully register for the 2022 academic year, the University of the Free State (UFS) has introduced a number of financial concessions. These financial concessions are specifically intended to fast-track the registration process of students who are currently awaiting confirmation of funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

Students with challenges regarding the application of the N+ rule

Students who have previously registered for foundation programmes and those who have continued with mainstream programmes will be allowed to register without the prerequisite of a first payment. This is on condition that they apply with the N+ rule (an added year of funding) and that their respective foundation programmes are included in the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)-funded list. Only students who do not have outstanding debt will qualify for this concession. 

2022 NSFAS-funded students

In addition, students whose funding has been confirmed by NSFAS for the 2022 academic year, will be permitted to register without a first payment.

Students without NSFAS 2022 funding confirmation with outstanding debt

Students awaiting NSFAS funding confirmation for 2022 will be allowed to register provisionally if their debt does not exceed R25 000.
Approval has been obtained to increase the maximum debt carried forward from 2021 from R20 000 to R25 000 to enable students to register provisionally.

Provisional registration for continuing NSFAS students 

Furthermore, continuing NSFAS students who are currently awaiting funding confirmation for the 2022 academic year, will be permitted to register provisionally. These are students
• who have been funded by NSFAS in 2021; 
• whose funding reflects on the NSFAS Bursary Agreement Report for the year 2021; and
• who have passed 50% of registered modules in 2021 or are in their final year in 2022. 
• The offer for continuing students to register provisionally also extend to those who are in the N+1 period. 

The official registration of these students will be subject to funding approval from NSFAS for the 2022 academic year. To ensure that all students are in classes on 21 February 2022, the abovementioned group of students have until 31 March 2022 to confirm their funding. 

Conditional registration for first-time entering students

With registration an overwhelming experience for first-time entering students, the UFS is also looking at concessions for these students who will start their studies at the university this year. 

The university has given first-time entering students who have applied for NSFAS funding and are awaiting confirmation, until 28 February 2022 to finalise their registration. 

Permission to finalise registration a week after the UFS registration cut-off time is granted to all South African first-time entering undergraduate students who are admitted and term-activated for 2022 NSFAS-funded academic programmes, and whose funding has not yet been confirmed. 

The amount payable for conditional registration for first-time entering students (residential and non-residential) is R500.

The UFS is hopeful that these financial concessions will assist in calming anxiety around the ongoing registration process.


News Archive

Boyden Observatory turns 120
2009-05-13

 

At the celebration of the 120th year of existence of the UFS's Boyden Observatory are, from the left: Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS, Prof. Driekie Hay, Vice-Rector: Academic Planning at the UFS, Mr Ian Heyns from AngloGold Ashanti and his wife, Cheryl, and Prof. François Retief, former rector of the UFS and patron of the Friends of Boyden.
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

The Boyden Observatory, one of the oldest observatories in the Southern Hemisphere and a prominent beacon in Bloemfontein, recently celebrated its 120th year of existence.

This milestone was celebrated by staff, students, other dignitaries of the University of the Free State (UFS) and special guests at the observatory last week.

“The observatory provides the Free State with a unique scientific, educational and tourist facility. No other city in South Africa, and few in the world, has a public observatory with telescopes the size and quality of those at Boyden,” said Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS.

The observatory, boasting the third-largest optical telescope in South Africa, has a long and illustrious history. It was established on a temporary site on Mount Harvard near the small town of Chosica, Peru in 1889. Later it was moved to Arequipa in Peru where important astronomical observations were made from 1891 to 1926. “However, due to unstable weather patterns and observing conditions, it was decided to move the Boyden Station to another site somewhere else in the Southern Hemisphere, maybe South Africa,” said Prof. Van Schalkwyk.

South Africa's excellent climatic conditions were fairly well known and in 1927 the instruments were shipped and the Boyden Station was set up next to Maselspoort near Bloemfontein. Observations began in September 1927 and in 1933 the new site was officially completed, including the 60 inch (1.5 m) telescope, which was then the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. This telescope was recently refurbished to a modern research instrument.

The observatory has various other telescopes and one of them, the 13" refractor telescope, which was sent to Arequipa in 1891 and later to Bloemfontein, is still in an excellent condition. Another important telescope is the Watcher Robotic Telescope of the University College Dublin, which conducts many successful observations of gamma ray bursts.

“In the first few decades of the twentieth century, the Boyden Observatory contributed considerably to our understanding of the secrets of the universe at large. The period luminosity relationship of the Cepheid variable stars was, for example, discovered from observations obtained at Boyden. This relationship is one of the cornerstones of modern astrophysics. It is currently used to make estimates of the size and age of the universe from observations of the Hubble Space Telescope,” said Prof. Van Schalkwyk.

“The Boyden Observatory contributed to the university’s astrophysics research group being able to produce the first M.Sc. degrees associated with the National Space Science Programme (NASSAP) in the country and the Boyden Science Centre plays an important role in science and technology awareness of learners, teachers and the general public,” said Prof. Van Schalkwyk.

The Boyden Science Centre has also formed strong relationships with various institutions, including the South African Agency for the Advancement of Science and Technology (SAASTA) and the Department of Science and Technology. The centre has already conducted many different projects for the Department of Science and Technology, including National Science Week projects, as well as National Astronomy Month projects. It also serves as one of the hosts of SAASTA’s annual Astronomy Quiz.

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

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept