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05 May 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Prof Hennie van Coller and Prof Hendrik Swart
Prof Hennie van Coller, left, received the the NP van Wyk Louw medal, and Prof Hendrik Swart, right, received the Havenga Prize for Physical Sciences.

The board of the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SAAWK) recently (22 April) announced the winners of the 2022 prizes. The academy, which was established in 1901, aims to promote the use of Afrikaans in science and the arts.

Havenga Prize for Physical Sciences

Prof Hendrik Swart, NRF B1-rated researcher, SARChI Research Chair in Solid-state Luminescent and Advanced Materials, and Senior Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of the Free State (UFS), received the prestigious Havenga Prize for Physical Sciences.

He says it is an honour to receive this award. “When I look at the list of names that have received the award in the past, I am very humbled and surprised to receive such an award.”

The Havenga Prize, for which candidates are specifically judged on research publications and evidence of their promotion of Afrikaans, has been awarded annually for the past 77 years for original research in the natural sciences or a technical field. 

A collaboration with researchers from the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) on semiconductor materials that improve the efficiency of solar cells, resulted in Prof Japie Engelbrecht (Emeritus Professor, NMU) nominating Prof Swart for this award. He is involved in an NRF collaborative research project with NMU and Linköping University in Sweden.

Prof Swart has played an important role in the acquisition of numerous research devices for analysing the thin layer of phosphor, and the semiconductor devices that can be made from such materials. His research and zeal for his work led to the establishment of the national nano-surface characterisation facility (NNSCF) containing state-of-the-art surface characterisation equipment. 

The PHI Quantes XPS system, for instance, is the first in Africa and one of only 20 in the world. The Quantes XPS system uses X-rays to determine the chemical composition of molecules on the surface of a sample. The system is unique in the sense that it also has an extra X-ray source that can determine the chemical state below the surface, which was not possible in the past. This will help to dictate the position of defects in phosphor materials, which will consequently enable the department to create better phosphor for solid-state lighting as well as solar cell applications.

The most meaningful for him, however, was the production of several well-trained postgraduate students and the generation of high-impact, well-cited scientific publications.

This award, one of several awards he has received during his career, does not signify the end of the road. On the contrary, he is looking forward to improving solar cells by using the phosphor materials they have manufactured, applying it on glass windows doped with phosphors to generate electricity.

NP van Wyk Louw Medal and Alba Bouwer Prize for children's literature

The NP van Wyk Louw Medal was awarded to Prof Hennie van Coller, a researcher who is also affiliated to the UFS. Prof Van Coller, currently an emeritus outstanding professor and research fellow at the university, was a former Head of the UFS Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French, as well as Chairperson of SAAWK. He is known for his impact on the literary world, both locally and internationally, through the quality of his scientific articles and books. 

According to SAAWK, the body awards the NP van Wyk Louw Medal for a person’s creative contributions to the exploitation, organisation, and continuous development of a section of the humanities, significantly contributing to the advancement of the humanities.

Jaco Jacobs, the children’s author of more than 170 books who recently presented the 35th DF Malherbe Memorial Lecture at the UFS, was also awarded for his work. Jacobs, also a UFS alumnus, received the Alba Bouwer Prize for children's literature. The prize, which is awarded every three years, was presented to Jacobs for the book Die boekwinkel tussen die wolke, written during the COVID-19 lockdown period. 

SAAWK will present the awards later this year during two virtual award ceremonies in July. 

News Archive

Researcher uses NRF funding for studies to conserve plant and animal life
2017-04-18

Description: Butterfly Tags: Butterfly

It is difficult to survey all different types of
plants and animals and is therefore necessary to
choose one representative group. Butterflies are
relatively cheap and easy to sample. They are
known to be linked to specific habitats and to
respond to human pressures, such as farming.
Photo: Dr Falko Buschke


Earth is the only planet we know of that contains life. The variety of different plants and animals is remarkable: from the giant whales that swim our oceans, to the tiny mosses that grow on the shaded sides of rocks.  Many of these plants and animals are important to humans. For example, trees provide us with oxygen to breathe, bees pollinate our crops and owls control pests. More importantly though, we can tell a lot about society from the way it cares for nature. Humans are the custodians of the planet and the way we care for nature reflects the way we value life.

Dr Falko Buschke, Lecturer at the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State, is interested in understanding how the distribution of biodiversity [the variety of living things in nature] in time and space influences the way we should conserve and manage nature.

Earth is losing biodiversity faster than at any time in human history

The planet is losing biodiversity faster than at any time in human history. “There is an urgency to conserve plants and animals before they are lost forever. Nature is complex, so the way we study it should embrace this complexity. We should not rely on limited data on one type of species from one place and assume that it will also apply elsewhere. Instead, it is important that biodiversity research is comprehensive in the types of plants and animals while also considering that ecological and evolutionary processes vary through time and across geographic space,” he said.

To conduct his research, Dr Buschke uses a variety of research tools, including biological data surveyed directly from nature, spatial data from satellite remote sensing and geographic information systems databases, and data generated though custom-built computer simulations.

"There is an urgency to conserve
plants and animals before they
are lost forever."

Field work in the eastern Free State
Although parts of the eastern Free State are considered a global priority for biodiversity conservation, it is mainly privately owned commercial farmland. This means that it is important that plants and animals can survive despite living side by side with agricultural production.

“My project investigates whether the sandstone outcrops, known as inselbergs (island-mountains), are safe havens for plants and animals. Because it is difficult to survey all the different types of plants and animals, it is necessary to choose one representative group. That is where butterflies come in. Butterflies are relatively cheap and easy to sample. They are known to be linked to specific habitats and to respond to human pressures, such as farming,” he said. “Once this butterfly data is collected, it can be linked to satellite information on plant growth patterns. This will provide a clearer picture of whether plants and animals can persist side-by-side with commercial agriculture”.

Dr Buschke has just begun surveys that will carry on until the end of this year. “This 12-month project is funded under the Foundational Biodiversity Information Programme through the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and the National Research Foundation (NRF).

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