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Qwaqwa Campus gears up to showcase research and scholarship at the 2022 research conference

15 September 2022 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo UFS Photo Gallery

Recent global happenings have challenged communities and humanity’s capability to solve immediate and major problems. Science has been one of the spaces in which the communities have looked for solutions regarding real threats to lives related to climate change, wars, as well as social and health pandemics. The Qwaqwa Campus will be showcasing Qwaqwa Campus research and scholarship at this year’s research conference, a two-day event which will be held in person, on 29-30 September 2022 at the Senate Hall on campus.

‘Scholarship, Innovation and Science: how can research be used as a tool for the betterment of society?’

Under this theme, the conference will be a space for intellectual debate and the processing of scholarship in innovation, said Prof Pearl Sithole, Vice-Principal: Academic and Research. “Some of the societal challenges have been urgent and pressing, yet some are slow dilemmas shattering the hope of generations for a better future. This conference will present the products of ‘disciplinary and scholarly crafts’, but it also seeks to explore whether science does (or should) have a strategic direction, and perhaps this is what the concept of innovation should entail. It will ponder on whether in the age-old binary between exploratory research and praxis there is a defeating taming of the entrepreneurial edge for the expanse of science in Africa,” she said.

Prof Sithole said the campus would also be launching its research strategy for 2022 to 2026.

Guest speakers include:

• Prof Percy Hlangothi is an Associate Professor of Physical and Polymer Chemistry at the Nelson Mandela University. He is also the inaugural Director of the Centre for Rubber Science and Technology, a research entity in the Faculty of Science at the same institution.

• Mr Lukhona Mnguni is a governance, politics, and development specialist and prolific political analyst specialising in Africa and international relations, as well as a PhD intern at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He currently serves as the Head of Policy and Research at the Rivonia Circle. His work includes a current affairs analytical show on eNCA dubbed On the Spot with Lukhona Mnguni.

• Prof Dipane Hlalele is a Professor of Education and a C2 NRF-rated researcher. He is a highly rated scholar in inclusive education, critical pedagogy, and educational psychology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Prior to joining UKZN as an associate professor in 2017, he was an assistant dean and senior lecturer at the UFS, a college of education lecturer, and a high school deputy principal and teacher.

To RSVP please click here on or before 19 September 2022.

News Archive

Qwaqwa campus upgrade begins

2005-06-23

Academic facilities, including lecture halls and the library, on the Qwaqwa campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) will be upgraded to the tune of R1,4-million.

An extra R100 000,00 has also been made available for the upgrading of four staff houses on campus.

The tender for this project was awarded to a local business in the Qwaqwa region, Mguni Enterprises. This phase is expected to be completed next month - July 2005.

This is the second phase of upgrading of the Qwaqwa campus, following the earlier upgrading of student residences to the tune of R6,2-million.

“The total capital injection to improve the infrastructure on the campus is R7,7 -million. The aim of the upgrading is to improve the infrastructure of the campus in order to provide an atmosphere conducive to learning, “said Prof Peter Mbati, Qwaqawa Campus Head.

The first phase of the upgrading - amounting to R6,2 million - comprised of the upgrading of the five student residences and mainly dealt with the maintenance backlog. Residences were painted, old furniture replaced, electricity rewired and the necessary alterations made to ensure sufficient hot water supply as well as a new look to the face of the residences.

According to Prof Mbati the student visiting areas, reception areas and rooms were also improved by the changes in the first phase. The renovated residences now also boast facilities such as kitchenettes, washing machines and tumble driers and computers rooms.

There are currently 754 students staying in the residences. Three residences accommodate female students and the other two are for male students. Students who are not accommodated on campus stay at the former Tshiya College of Education, approximately 5 kilometers from the campus. These students are bussed in to the campus on a daily basis.

“All these developments are a major step forward for the Qwaqwa campus as it once again shows our commitment to the campus to make it an attractive site of higher education in the Eastern Free State,” said Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

Media release

Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel: (051) 401-2584
   Cell: 083 645 2454
   E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za

23 June 2005

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