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Prof Tomas Vetrik, addicted to maths research

27 May 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Charl Devenish

Prof Tomas Vetrik, Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of the Free State (UFS), recently delivered his inaugural lecture on the Bloemfontein Campus.

His research area is graph theory, and he mainly focuses on the degree-diameter problem, graph indices, and metric dimension of graphs.

Research focus

According to Prof Vetrik, mathematics was always his favourite subject in school. He also excelled in maths at university and decided to enrol for a course on graph theory while working on his master’s degree. “I liked it, so I also chose topics from graph theory for my PhD thesis,” he says.

In 2014, at the age of 32, he was appointed Associate Professor at the UFS, after postdoctoral research at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and working at the University of Pretoria. An NRF-rated researcher, he has published close to 75 research papers, a third of that as a single author in some of the most well-known journals in his area. Moreover, he was also research supervisor of three PhD and three master’s students.

International collaborations

In the eight years since his appointment at the UFS, Prof Vetrik has made research visits to universities from 14 different countries that have invited him for research collaborations.

“I am often overseas. I like working from different places. It is interesting to me, and it helps me to be productive,” says Prof Vetrik, explaining some of the inspiration behind his mathematical ideas.

In the next two years, he would like to study more general mathematical problems beyond his current research area.

He says he is addicted to his research. “It overshadows all my other interests.”

On the rare occasion when he is not working on his research, Prof Vetrik states that he has to keep himself busy. Unable to relax and do nothing, he likes to do sports of some kind or to travel.

“I am a simple person. I do not even have a TV at home. I use an old-fashioned mobile phone that cannot access the internet,” he says.

News Archive

Shimlas now second on Varsity Cup log

2015-02-25

After scoring nine tries to none to establish a 57-0 win over the Central University of Technology’s (CUT) Ixias in round three of the 2015 Varsity Cup Rugby Tournament, the UFS Shimlas are now second on the overall log.

Despite thunder showers in Bloemfontein on the evening of Monday 23 February, the match at the CUT Rugby Stadium continued. Shimlas’ Arthur Williams opened the scoreboard early with the first try of the evening, after getting his hands on a loose ball to break through the CUT defense line. Only four minutes later, Shimlas’ flank Gerhard Olivier scored another try. Both of these tries were successfully converted by Niel Marais, putting Shimlas in a 16-0 lead within less than seven minutes.

By halftime, the Shimlas’ lead had increased to 39-0. Daniel Maartens started the second-half scoring for the UFS when he crossed the try line in the 46th minute to secure Shimlas’ seventh try. After another successful conversion kick by Marais, the scoreboard read 47-0.

The match began to lose its spark as handling errors and ill-discipline became the order of the day. CUT were reduced to 14 men for the second time in the match, when Boetie Makethlo was sent to the sin bin in the 75th minute for an infringement at the breakdown, inches away from his try line.

Maartens went over the try line again in the 78th minute, scoring Shimlas’ eighth try in the match and taking his team’s score beyond the 50 mark. Shimlas managed yet another try in the last minute, with Niell Jordaan diving over the try line for old time’s sake.

Although the Shimlas’ 2015 Varsity Cup started off with a 29-29 draw against the University of Pretoria’s Tuks in Bloemfontein, they returned the following week to clinch a 24-0 win against the University of Johannesburg at the UJ Stadium. Apart from Tuks, who is at this stage on top of the log, no team has scored against Shimlas thus far in the 2015 Varsity Cup.

Up next, Shimlas will face the Stellenbosch University’s Maties side at Shimla Park in Bloemfontein for round four of the tournament on Monday 2 March 2015.

Our Player that Rocks: Niell Jordaan

Shimlas’ point scorers:

Tries: Arthur Williams, Gerhard Olivier (2), Marco Klopper, Vuyani Maqina (2), Daniel Maartens (2), Niell Jordaan
Conversion kicks: Niel Marais 4

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