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29 March 2022
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Story Teli Mothabeng
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Photo Supplied
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Philmon Bitso, Student Recruitment Officer, with the top-10 cohort of the class of 2021 Free State Star of Stars.
The Department of Student Recruitment Services at the University of the Free State (UFS) hosted its annual Free State Star of Stars competition at the Amanzi Private Game Reserve during the first week of March. The event saw some of the brightest young minds in the Free State inducted as UFS first-year students into this year’s top-10 cohort for the competition. This marks the first Star of Stars event since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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This new cohort consists of a dynamic group of academically gifted students from Quintile 1-3 schools in the Free State who are currently enrolled for different UFS academic programmes, ranging from Medicine, Law, Education, and various Bachelor of Science courses. Many of these students had to overcome insurmountable challenges to perform as well as they did in their Grade 12 academic year and to become part of the top-10 cohort for the class of 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Student Recruitment Services was forced to take a different approach to celebrate these deserving students; consequently, a weekend-long induction camp was the substitute for the annual gala dinner.
Apply for the 2022 Free State Star of Stars competition
The UFS realised the need to establish a platform that recognises and celebrates the diverse and, in most instances, difficult circumstances that disadvantaged schools (Quintile 1-3) are facing. Consequently, the Star of Stars competition was developed and established in 2016. This competition provides disadvantaged Grade 12 learners from all districts in the Free State an opportunity to showcase their excellence, while motivating them to aspire to achieve more.
UFS researcher receives prestigious science award
2009-10-12
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Prof. Esta van Heerden from the University of the Free State's (UFS) Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology recently received the prize for the 2009 Young Scientist of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), the Department of Science and Technology and the Academy of Sciences of South Africa (ASSAf) during the award ceremony held at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria last week. The evaluation committee, which includes some of South Africa's top scientists, was particularly impressed by Prof. Van Heerden’s outstanding self-initiated research, her record of training postgraduate students, the potential contribution of her research to South African society and her involvement in furthering the public awareness of science. Prof. Van Heerden’s research is currently continued in the UFS BioPAD Metagenomics Platform. Here she is with Ms Naledi Pandor, Minister of Science and Technology and Prof. Robin Crewe, President of ASSAf.
Photo: Supplied |