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UFS implements interventions to increase diversity of researchers

03 January 2022 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied

Seven supported academics from the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) on the Qwaqwa Campus saw an increase in their H-indices (Google Scholar) during 2020.

Over the past few years, the university has implemented special interventions to increase the diversity of UFS researchers, including targeted appointments and focused research capacity development and support. Strategic interventions relating to National Research Foundation (NRF) rating resulted in the UFS having a well-established cohort of rated researchers.

According to the recent internal research report, the UFS has 144 researchers in the A, B and C categories (established according to NRF criteria), and 57 researchers under the age of 40 who are considered emerging researchers in the P and Y categories. This brings the total to 201 rated researchers in 2021, compared to 188 in 2020, and 164 in 2019. The university also has 57 Y-rated researchers.

Furthermore, the university submitted 51 applications to the NRF under the 2020 rating call, including 21 first-time applications (of which four were unsuccessful) and 26 who were invited to reapply to keep their ratings active (of which all were successful).

Prof Corli Witthuhn, Vice-Rector: Research and Internationalisation, says the UFS has been able to appoint outstanding young researchers over the past eight years. “Not only did these exceptional individuals contribute to our scholarship and research productivity, but they also increased our diversity. The increase in the diversity of our NRF-rated academics is an aspect of the research portfolio that I am most proud of,” says Prof Witthuhn.

Highlighted trends regarding NRF-rated researchers

• There has been a constant growth in the number of rated researchers, from 127 in 2016 to 202 in 2021.
• The majority of NRF-rated researchers (186 in 2021) are from the Bloemfontein Campus. The number of rated researchers from the Qwaqwa Campus increased from 4 in 2016 to 13 in 2021. The South Campus increased its number of rated researchers by two in 2021, with a current total of three rated researchers.
• The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences has the highest percentage of rated researchers (45%) in 2021, followed by the Faculty of the Humanities (29%).
• The percentage of rated white researchers declined from 92% in 2016 to 78% in 2021, and the rated black researchers increased from 6% in 2016 to 17% in 2021.
• The percentage of rated female researchers increased from 27% in 2016 to 34% in 2021.
• Rated researchers in the C2 and C3 rating categories declined slightly, from 52% in 2019 to 47% in 2021. There is still positive growth in the number of young (Y1/Y2) rated researchers – from 14% in 2016 to 27% in 2021.

Ratings and promotions

The university hosts a total of six South African Research Chairs (SARChI) funded by the NRF / Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), of which four are held by women. Three chairs are appointed in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and the Faculty of Education, while the faculties of Economic and Management Sciences and Health Sciences appointed one chair each. Two research chairs have been renewed for 2021-2025.

Seven supported academics from the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) on the Qwaqwa Campus saw an increase in their H-indices (Google Scholar) during 2020, while one new Y1 NRF rating was awarded and another was increased to C2 level. Two ARU-supported academics achieved professorial status in the same year.

Twenty-five young academics on the cusp of NRF rating and promotion to the rank of Associate Professor are participating in the Future Professoriate Mentoring Programme, while the 25 participants of the ESAP group have completed their doctorates over the past three years and are working towards obtaining a Y-rating. As a result of the outstanding progress of the first cohort of the mentoring programme during 2020, a second cohort of ESAP scholars was selected in March 2021. More than 80% of the 75 group members are younger than 40 years.

Drs Frans Kruger and Lodewyk Sutton also received NRF Y-ratings in November 2020. The ESAP programme currently has three recipients of the FirstRand NRF Black African Advancement Fellowship Programme: Dr Eugene Baron (Practical Theology), Dr Mirriam Moleko (School of Mathematics and Science Education), and Dr Neo Pule (Psychology). Dr Lizemari Hugo from the School of Nursing also received a FAIMER (Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research) fellowship. Dr Mikateko Höppener (Centre for Development Support) has been selected to participate in the national DHET Future Professoriate Programme.

Publication output units show significant increase

The publication output units (books, conference proceedings, and journal articles) by UFS researchers, as measured and reported to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), show consistent growth from 2016 to 2020. The output units increased significantly in 2019 and 2020 after a slight decrease in 2017.

There has also been a notable increase in books/chapters since 2018. Journal articles also showed constant growth from 2017 onwards, especially from 2019 to 2020, with a 20% growth in journal outputs visible; however, conference proceedings declined last year.

Main contributors

The faculties of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, the Humanities, and Theology and Religion remain the main contributors to the university’s publication output. Four faculties (Economic and Management Sciences, Education, Health Sciences, and Theology and Religion) increased their share of units in 2020 compared to the 2016-2019 period.

The journal output units generated from scholarly articles published in internationally indexed journals remained more than 80% (82% in 2017, 85% in 2018, 81% in 2019, and 85% in 2020). Only 15% of journal articles were published in South African indexed (DHET) journals (compared to 24% in 2016). Since 2016, there has been a clear shift towards publications in internationally indexed journals.

The following nine in-house journals are being administered by the UFS:

Acta Academica (editor: Henning Melber), Acta Structilia (editor: K Kajimo-Shakantu), Acta Theologica (editor: Jan-Albert van den Berg), Communitas (editor: Willemien Marais), Journal for Juridical Science (editor: Bradley Smith), Journal for Translation Studies in Africa (editor: Kobus Marais), Perspectives in Education (editor: Jan Nieuwenhuis), Southern Journal for Contemporary History (editor: Neil Roos), and Town and Regional Planning (editor: Maléne Campbell).

All are DHET-accredited, except for the Journal for Translation Studies in Africa, a new KovsieJournals title.

News Archive

Research by experts published in Nature

2011-06-02

The members of the research group are, from the left, front: Christelle van Rooyen, Mariana Erasmus, Prof. Esta van Heerden; back: Armand Bester and Prof. Derek Litthauer.
Photo: Gerhard Louw

A research article on the work by a team of experts at our university, under the leadership of Prof. Esta van Heerden, and counterparts in Belgium and the USA has been published in the distinguished academic journal Nature today (Thursday, 2 June 2011).

The article – Nematoda from the terrestrial deep subsurface of South Africa – sheds more light on life in the form of a small worm living under extreme conditions in deep hot mines. It was discovered 1,3 km under the surface of the earth in the Beatrix Goldmine close to Welkom and is the first multi-cellular organism that was found so far beneath the surface of the earth. The worm (nematode) was found in between a rock face that is between 3 000 and 12 000 years old.

The research can shed some new light on the possibility of life on other planets, previously considered impossible under extreme conditions. It also expands the possibilities into new areas where new organisms may be found.

These small invertebrates live in terrestrial soil subjected to stress almost for 24 hours They live through sunshine, rain, scorching temperatures and freezing conditions. Through time they developed a means to cope with harsh conditions. Terrestrial nematodes (roundworms, not to be confused or related to earthworms) are among those very tough small invertebrates that deal with those conditions everywhere. After insects they are the most dominant multi-cellular (metazoan) species on the planet having a general size of 0,5 to 1 mm and are among the oldest metazoans on the planet, Nature says in a statement on the article.

They inhabit nearly every imaginable habitat form the deep seas to the acid in pitcher . Some nematodes simply eat bacteria and these are the ones we study here. Terrestrial nematodes have developed a survival stage that can take them through hard times (absence of food, extreme temperatures, too little oxygen, crowding, and more).

At the head of the research was Prof. Gaetan Borgonie of the Ghent University in Belgium and a world leader in the discipline of nematode research. He was brought into contact with the South African research leader, Prof. Esta van Heerden, who set up a cooperation agreement with the University of Ghent and Prof. Borgonie. Prof. Van Heerden manages the Extreme Biochemistry group at the UFS and the research was funded by several research grants.

The search for worms began in earnest in 2007, but it was soon clear that the sampling strategy was insufficient. A massive sampling campaign in 2008-2009 in several mines led to the discovery of several nematodes and the new nematode species Halicephalobus mephisto. It is named after the legend of Faust where the devil, also known as the lord of the underworld is called Mephistopheles.

Nature says special filters had to be designed and installed on various boreholes. Unfortunately, there is no easy way of finding a magic formula and designs had to be adapted by trial and error; improving existing designs all the time. The work of the UFS Mechanical Workshop, which manufactured, adapted and helped design it, was crucial in this respect. Filters were left on the holes for varying periods, sometimes for a few hours and sometimes for months. Prof. Derek Litthauer from the UFS played a big role in sampling, filter designs and coming up with ideas for names for the new nematode with Prof. Borgonie.

Research showed that the nematodes can live in the deep for up to 12 000 years. Three students – Armand Bester, Mariana Erasmus and Christelle van Rooyen from the UFS – did the work on this.

The importance of multi-cellular animals living in the ultra-deep subsurface is twofold: The nematodes graze on the existing bacterial population and influence their turnover. Secondly, if more complex multi-cellular organisms can survive in the deep subsurface on earth, this may be good news when looking for life on other planets where the surface is considered too inhospitable (e.g. Mars). Complex life forms can be found in ecosystems previously thought to be uninhabitable. Nature says this expands the possibilities into new areas where new organisms may be discovered.

Future research will focus on selective boreholes to look for more metazoans, so that a better idea of the complexity of the ecosystems there can be obtained. It will also look for metazoans in the deep subsurface on other continents to determine similarities and differences.

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