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International exchange students back on our campus

26 July 2022 | Story Bulelwa Moikwatlhai | Photo Supplied

UFS exchange students — Experiencing the UFS in person for the first time are from the left: Sandor Potjer (VU Amsterdam), Bulelwa Moikwatlhai (UFS OIA), Ricarda Kochems (Bremen University, Germany), Froukje Pronk (VU Amsterdam) and Matome Mokoena (UFS OIA)

As the UFS COVID-19 Regulations and Required Vaccination Policy has been lifted with immediate effect – allowing 100% capacity of both students and staff members and a fully operational campus – the Office for International Affairs welcomes its first physical exchange cohort after two years. The cohort of students hail from the various international partners of the UFS, namely the University of Bremen in Germany, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Sciences PO Bordeaux in France. The students will be hosted in the UFS faculties of the Humanities, Economic and Management Sciences, and Natural and Agricultural Sciences, respectively.

These students have been paired with Umoja Buddy Programme ambassadors to help ensure their smooth transition and integration into student life at the UFS. Furthermore, the students received an invitation from the President of the International Student Association (ISA), Courtney Madziwa, to join their association, thus exposing them to students from other countries to learn about the various cultures.

On 18 July, the Office for International Affairs (OIA) arranged a hybrid orientation programme for the exchange students, including those students who have not yet arrived on the Bloemfontein Campus. The students took part in an icebreaker activity, where they had the opportunity to learn from and teach other participants about their home countries. Dr Cornelius Hagenmeier, Director of the OIA, welcomed the exchange students to the Bloemfontein Campus, and expressed excitement to have physical exchanges again. Furthermore, the guest presenters ranged from student leadership, staff members, and service providers.

The presentations were practical, demonstrating, among others, how to create a password on the institutional website – presented by Mr Molemo Mohapi from UFS ICT. The presentation on how to fully utilise Blackboard was facilitated by Ms Vuthihi Mudau from the UFS CTL division. We take the safety of all our students seriously, so Ms Elise Oberholzer from the UFS Protection Services has given the students some tips on how to safeguard themselves.

News Archive

Famelab, the Pop Idols of science communication

2017-03-09

Description: Famelab Tags: UFS, CUT, Science, Competition, research, British Council, Famelab, NRF

Oluwasegun Kuloyo and Zanele Matsane proved to be
Bloemfontein’s young and wittiest science researchers.
They will represent the Free State at the Famelab
national semifinals in Johannesburg.
Photo: Oteng Mpete

Imagine sharks with laser beams attached to their heads and enzymes that wear coats, and yeasts that stage a coup d’état in your body when agitated. This was all explored at the FameLab Science Communication Competition.

Hosting the FameLab regional competition was a collaborative effort between Dr Mikateko Hoppener, from the University of the Free State’s (UFS), the Centre for Research on Higher Education and Development (CRHED), and Edith Sempe from the Central University of Technology (CUT), Research and Development Unit. Taking place for the first time in the Free State, the event was held at the UFS Centenary Complex on 2 March 2017.

Witty minds make science fun
FameLab is a competition that promotes science and technology by creating a space for scientists to find their voices and reach public audiences. The Free State regional competition had 18 contestants and two emerged victorious on the day. Contestants had to ensure their three-minute talks were fun, charismatic, clear and entertaining.

The two regional winners were Oluwasegun Kuloyo, a PhD student with the department of Microbial Biochemical and Food Biotechnology at UFS, and Zanele Matsane, a Construction Management PhD student at CUT.

Kuloyo's research deals with the management of the candida yeast which exists in most people’s bodies and which, with a healthy immune system can be kept under control, but when an immune system is compromised, the yeast reacts volatilely and can potentially lead to death in HIV/AIDS patients.

Matsane’s research is centred on collaborative construction management inspired by the Toyota manufacturing process. She hopes to resolve the silos of construction and bring about a more harmonious and fluid process to construction projects, thus ensuring their successful completion.

The panel of judges consisted of Oteng Mpete UFS Media Liaison Officer, Dr Elizabeth Conradie from the CUT Innovation Hub, and Prof Willie du Preez from the CUT Centre for Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing, as well as Robert Inglis from JiveMedia Africa.

Local scientists become jet-setters
The two regional winners will head to Johannesburg to compete at the FameLab national semifinals, and the South African winner will go on to compete against winners from over 30 countries on an international stage, at the Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK.

FameLab is a programme of the Cheltenham Science Festival and is implemented locally by the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA), the British Council, and JiveMedia Africa. The competition has been running in South Africa for the past five years.

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