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UFS ready to welcome 2023 first-year students

10 February 2023 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo Lunga Luthuli

Volunteer Gateway Amigos, a University of the Free State initiative to assist first-entering students during Gateway First-year Orientation and the transition to life at the institution.

The University of the Free State (UFS) will be hosting welcoming ceremonies – which include the 2023 UFS Dream Walk event – for first-year students on the Bloemfontein and South Campuses on 18 February 2023, and on the Qwaqwa Campus on 25 February 2023.

The Dream Walk – also known as Kovsie Dream – is an annual event, with the first being hosted in 2022. With the event, the UFS welcomes first-year students to the university community, placing an emphasis on their individual dreams and aspirations. The event is also an opportunity for new students to familiarise themselves with the university, facilities, available opportunities, and to make new friends.

The UFS recognises the importance of helping students set and pursue their dreams, especially in their first year. During the event, students will have an opportunity to interact with university staff, as well as current students who will share their experiences of pursuing their dreams and overcoming obstacles.

Students participating in the Dream Walk will have the chance to explore their potential, identify their passions, and by completing their dream cards, they will be able to set goals for their individual futures.

Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, will officially welcome students to the UFS on both days – on the Bloemfontein Campus on 18 February 2023, and on the Qwaqwa Campus on 25 February 2023. The welcoming messages on the two campuses will be followed by a Dream Walk. Students participating in the Dream Walk will move along the same route that students follow on the day of graduation.

The Division of Student Affairs believes that building a strong support network is crucial for students to succeed in their academic and professional lives. By connecting with staff and seniors, first-year students will gain valuable insight into their chosen courses and receive advice on how to achieve their academic goals.

Dr WP Wahl, Director: Student Life within the Division of Student Affairs, said: “The UFS is committed to providing its students with the support and resources they need to pursue their dreams. The Rector’s Welcoming, coupled with the Dream Walk, is an exciting opportunity for first-year students to start their university journey on the right foot and to set themselves up for success.”

For more information on the Welcoming, the Dream Walk event, and the programme, please

click here.

News Archive

Famous mineralogists visit UFS Geology

2017-04-25

From the left: Prof Marian Tredoux, Associate
Professor at the UFS Department of Geology;
Prof Giorgio Garuti; from the University of Leoben,
Dr Federica Zaccarini, also from the
University of Leoben and Dr Freddie Roelofse,
Head of the Department of Geology at the UFS.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin

Years of academic friendship and collaboration is what makes Prof Giorgio Garuti and Dr Federica Zaccarini return to the University of the Free State (UFS) every so often.

The world-renowned academic duo from the University of Leoben in Austria were guest lecturers at the UFS Department of Geology. “We are here because we have known Professor Marian Tredoux and the Geology Department, for a long time. We are really happy to be here, and to be given the opportunity to present talks,” said Dr Zaccarini. The two are experts in platinum-group element mineralogy and each has given their surname to minerals namely, the Garutiite and Zaccariniite minerals.

Visit great advantage for research
They are acclaimed experts on very small minerals (smaller than a hundredth of a millimetre) with emphasis on platinum group elements in chrome-rich rocks. “Their visit is a great advantage for us. We also conduct research on these minerals and can learn from them,” said Prof Marian Tredoux, affiliated researcher at the Department of Geology.

Dr Zaccarini gave a lecture on Chromitites, and associated platinum-group elements, in ophiolites on Wednesday 5 April 2017 and Dr Garuti presented a lecture on Uralian-Alaskan complexes: a puzzling source of platinum, on Thursday 6 April 2017. During the talks they examined the association of the platinum-group minerals with chromite, rather than sulphide, and how this association can lead to the formation of unusual platinum-group element ores.

Collaboration on various academic papers
They and Prof Tredoux have collaborated on various research articles over the past four years, which have been published in various important international scientific journals. “These journals play an important role in calculating the H-scale which measures how important a researcher’s work is on an international scale,” said Prof Tredoux.

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