Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

UFS scholar first to participate in the University of Michigan fellowship programme

04 October 2022 | Story Samkelo Fetile | Photo Supplied

Dr Sevias Guvuriro from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) is the first UFS candidate to participate in the University of Michigan African Presidential Scholarship (UMAPS) fellowship programme. Dr Guvuriro is also a member of the Future Professoriate Group participating in the Transformation of the Professoriate Programme.

About the project

Dr Guvuriro’s main project during his five-month stay at the University of Michigan was on hazardous drinking and economic preferences among urban youth in South Africa. The project recognises that lifestyle behaviours in early life are important drivers of chronic disease later in life, and that harmful use of alcohol is among the main risk factors for non-communicable diseases in the world. According to Dr Guvuriro, persuasive behaviour-change approaches could be useful, especially in the context of developing countries, where the World Health Organisation’s non-communicable diseases ‘Best Buys’ interventions on alcohol use could be ineffective. Behavioural economics and experimental economics techniques could also be beneficial. "With the assistance of my host, Prof Erin Krupka from the University of Michigan School of Information, academics and other staff members, I have made very strong progress in analysing my survey and experimental data on the subject, which I obtained here in South Africa,” said Dr Guvuriro.

Unpacking UMAPS

UMAPS offers African scholars drawn from across Africa the opportunity to spend five months at the University of Michigan, working and interacting with faculty members who are leaders in their fields. Each year, applications for the fellowship open on 15 August and close on 15 October. The programme started in 2009, hosting a single cohort each year. From 2020, the programme hosted two cohorts of about 15 African scholars each. These scholars are selected annually from an application pool of about 600.

"It was an amazing experience, one that I wish all of my colleagues in the faculty and the institution at large could have," Dr Guvuriro said. “Other than meeting the faculty staff at the University of Michigan – who are amazing – I got to meet and interact with world leaders in the economics subdiscipline of my interest.”

He concluded by stating that this is a rare opportunity for scholars, and although competitive, he believes it is worth applying for. “Although I was the first from the UFS to attend, I know that the August to December 2022 cohort has another UFS staff member, which is great. My wish would be for our university to be represented annually.”

News Archive

New SANRAL Chair in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education

2014-09-19

MEC: Butana Khomphela
Photo: Jerry Mokoroane

The University of the Free State (UFS) in partnership with the South African National Roads Agency launched the SANRAL Chair in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education on the Bloemfontein Campus on 11 September 2014. Prof Loyiso Jita has been appointed as the first SANRAL Chair. He is a professor in the School of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Technology at the UFS, where he shares his expertise in science teaching, which has been influenced by his broad and deep intellectual and experiential engagements both internationally and domestically.

Speaking at the event were Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS; Dr Choice Makhetha, Vice-Rector: External Relations; Prof Jita, the inaugural SANRAL Chair; the Free State MEC for Police, Roads and Transport, Mr Butana Komphela and Mr Nazir Alli, CEO of SANRAL.

At the event, Prof Jansen celebrated that “SANRAL has rewarded the faith in our children to do well in science and mathematics with this Chair.”

This SANRAL Chair in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education will help to improve the quality of teaching in these vital subjects at schools in the province. It complements the university’s School Partnership Project (SPP) – a flagship initiative launched by Prof Jansen.

The SANRAL endowment will enable the university to hone in on the ‘gateway subjects’ of mathematics and natural science. At school level, it will help to train teachers, support student-teacher interns, and incentivise education results so that participating schools become centres of excellence. At an academic level, the SANRAL Chair will supervise a cohort of doctoral and masters students, while also guiding research and publications in mathematics, science and technology education.

Through the endowment, SANRAL will assist the UFS in producing education leaders who can turn around maths and science education in disadvantaged schools throughout Southern Africa.

For the full text, read: New SANRAL Chair in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept