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13 May 2022 | Story Alicia Pienaar
Prof Vetrik
Prof Tomas Vetrik.

The Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Prof Danie Vermeulen, has the pleasure of inviting you to the inaugural lecture of Prof Tomas Vetrik. 

Topic: Extremal graph theory 

Event Details:
Date: 19 May 2022
Time: 17:30
Venue: Equitas Auditorium, UFS Bloemfontein Campus

RSVP:  Ms Marinda Venter on +27 51 401 2691 or email: VenterSM@ufs.ac.za  on or before Tuesday 17 May 2022.

Light refreshments will be served after the inaugural lecture. 


More about the speaker:

Tomas Vetrik received two scholarships from foreign countries during his PhD study. He spent one semester of his PhD study at the Vienna University of Technology in Austria, and two semesters at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He was the only postgraduate student from Slovakia to receive a scholarship from the Israeli government in 2006. Tomas Vetrik joined the University of the Free State in 2014, after his postdoctoral research at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and working at the UniversityPretoria. His research area is graph theory. He is mainly focusing on the degree-diameter problem, graph indices, and metric dimension of graphs. He is an NRF-rated researcher and has produced about 75 research papers (approximately 25 of them as a single author).

Three PhD students and three MSc students have completed their studies under his supervision. He has presented seminar talks at 24 universities from 15 different countries. Please take note of our COVID-19 health and safety protocols (https://www.ufs.ac.za/return-to-campus ) when visiting the UFS campuses.


Please take note of our COVID-19 health and safety protocols (https://www.ufs.ac.za/return-to-campus ) when visiting the UFS campuses. 

News Archive

Letter to students from Prof Jonathan Jansen about student protest action at the UFS
2015-10-21

Dear Students

Student protest action at the University of the Free State

I wish to make clear that the senior leadership of the University of the Free State understands and supports the demands from students and their leaders that higher education be accessible to all students, especially the poor. For the past six years we have done everything in our power to meet that commitment to students who are academically talented, but simply cannot afford to pay; that is why our tuition fees remain among the lowest in the country. Our efforts to raise private funding have enabled thousands more students to study at the UFS than would have been possible on the government subsidy only. Whether it is the Staff Fund contributions (yes, our staff empty their pockets to support student fees) or the No Student Hungry (NSH) bursary programme (yes, we raise funds for food bursaries), we will continue our drive to fund students who cannot afford higher education. Let me repeat, no student with a solid academic record will be denied access to studies simply because they cannot pay.

Now, to the matter at hand. There is a national demand from students for a 0% fee increment for 2016. The Minister’s response, after consultation with stakeholders, was that universities should cap their 2016 fee increases at 6%. Despite this initiative from government, the protests continue on virtually all campuses across South Africa for the ‘no fee’ increase.

Our response, as the UFS leadership, is to continue engaging the SRC as the chosen leadership of our students in trying to negotiate a settlement on the matter. We have worked around the clock to be available to student leaders to find some resolution on 2016 fees. While we understand the demands of students, as university leaders, we can only work with the government subsidy we receive. Any agreement reached, cannot and must not place the university at academic and financial risk in its ability to deliver public higher education to the country - if that happens, everybody loses. Still, no matter what happens in terms of the response from government, the leadership door at the UFS remains open to finding a mutually acceptable solution to all parties in these deliberations.

Students, we are deeply concerned by the violence, intimidation and threats from the small group of protesting students. These dangerous and demeaning behaviours, like disrupting classes and verbally abusing students and staff, undermine the legitimate quest of students for relief concerning tuition fees. Such behaviour is completely unacceptable and the university will take action where required. We must also remember that we have an obligation to all 30 000 students whose right to learn without fear of violence and intimidation must be respected.

In conclusion, over the past few years we have worked hard to build a culture of mutual respect and embrace as we worked through some very difficult challenges on campus. You would have noticed that the university leadership responded quickly and sympathetically to reason and respect in difficult situations of rage and demonstration. A minority of students, with some outsiders, have come onto the campus to break down that culture in which, while we might disagree, we continue to work on the basis of mutual respect. I urge all students that, as we engage of this important problem of enabling greater access to higher education, we continue to remain true to the core values of our Human Project.

Best Regards

Prof Jonathan Jansen
Vice-Chancellor and Rector
University of the Free State


Letter to students from Prof Jonathan Jansen about student protest actions at the UFS (Pdf format)

 

 

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