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‘A Decade of Impactful Research and Internationalisation’ - Prof Corli Witthuhn

15 March 2023 | Story Prof Corli Witthuhn | Photo Sonia Small

‘A Decade of Impactful Research and Internationalisation’ - an apt description of Prof Corli Witthuhn’s tenure as Vice-Rector: Research and Internationalisation.

As my second term in the position of Vice-Rector: Research and Internationalisation comes to an end, I thought it fitting to summarise a few of the highlights of the past decade. Highlights were indeed many, and it is important to note that these are just brief extracts from some notable areas.

The past ten years have been a period of exceptional development and maturation in the portfolio of research and internationalisation at the UFS. It has also been a time of immense personal and professional growth for me, and truly represents the pinnacle of my academic career. I am humbled by the many highlights that have characterised the UFS research journey over this period, and am deeply indebted to a team of innovative, dedicated, and multi-talented academic and support staff members, as well as national and international stakeholders, without whom these achievements would not have been possible.

Developing excellent researchers

Nurturing young research talent and providing appropriate research mentorship has always been a passion and aspiration in my career. I am particularly proud of the strides made over the past ten years in attracting and developing research talent at the UFS, as reflected by

• the increased diversity of UFS researchers;

• support for emerging scholars;

• the expansion of our research capacity through the appointment of talented research fellows; and

• the increased number and quality of postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows who are drawn to the UFS.

During my term, I strongly advocated the principle that a doctoral degree should be a prerequisite for the appointment of academic staff. This has contributed to a shift in the number of academic staff holding doctoral degrees as their highest qualification – from 39,5% in 2012 to 58% in 2022. In turn, their appointment improves our capacity to supervise doctoral students.

In addition, support staff were encouraged to obtain postgraduate degrees, which facilitated access to career paths previously closed to them. Many staff members in the Directorate Research Development (DRD), the Centre for Graduate Support (CGS), the Library and Information Services (LIS), and the Office for International Affairs (OIA) have obtained master’s and even doctoral degrees.

The following development initiatives, established during my tenure, deserve special mention:

Prestige Scholars and Future Professoriate Mentoring Programmes

These two recent mentoring programmes follow a holistic development approach that includes personal, academic, and professional development strategies and interventions. The Prestige Scholars Programme has contributed to the development of NRF-rated researchers in the Y- and P-rating categories, and many of the participants have been promoted to professorial rank. This programme has been commended by external reviewers as a ‘best practice’ model for early career development in South Africa. It has directly led to fundable intellectual projects, extended international collaboration, and increased research output (e.g., the number of subsidised units rose from 566 in 2012 to 1 400 in 2021). The Prestige Scholars Programme has been invaluable in promoting the regional demographic profile of UFS staff.

The first cohort of the Future Professoriate Mentoring Programme completed the programme at the end of 2022. The individualised attention and group mentoring had a significant impact on the performance of these young academics. Twelve of the 28 participants have received NRF-ratings during the past two years. This cohort was also noteworthy for the publication of eight books with prestigious international publishers. Fifteen of the participants have been promoted to Associate Professor level and one to Full Professor at the time of writing. Five received teaching excellence awards in 2022. Two participated in the University of Michigan Presidential Scholarship Programme (UMAPS) in 2022, and four completed productive sabbaticals at international universities in America and Europe.

Staff productivity

Staff productivity has shown an encouraging upward trajectory over the past ten years, with the total number of publication units increasing from 566 in 2012 to 1 400 in 2021. The publication output units (books, conference proceedings, and journal articles) as measured by and reported to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) indicates consistent growth, especially over the past five years. The UFS excelled in the publication of books. Over an eight-year period, the institution produced the most subsidy-qualifying book outputs in the South African higher education sector.

NRF Ratings

NRF rating remains an important yardstick against which to measure the standard of our research activities. Over the past ten years, we have shown consistent, and in some categories (for example in the Y-rating, which refers to researchers 40 years and younger with the potential to establish themselves within a five-year period of evaluation), exceptional growth in the number of NRF-rated researchers:

2012 2022 increase

NRF RESEARCHERS 118 214 81%

Y-RATED RESEARCHERS 9 59 555%

A central platform of our research enterprise that has been important to me, is the need to identify, develop, and assist black and female researchers to excel and establish themselves in the competitive academic environment that characterises research-led universities. The number of rated black researchers increased from 7% in 2017 to 19% in 2022, and the number of rated female researchers rose from 29% in 2017 to 35% in 2022.

Research chairs

The UFS has doubled the number of SARChI Research Chairs over the past 10 years. The UFS currently hosts six SARChI Research Chairs funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI). Five of these have Tier 1 status and four are held by women researchers.

The UFS SARChI Research Chairs (and their holders) are:

• Solid State Luminescent and Advanced Materials (Prof Hendrik Swart)

• Higher Education and Human Development (Prof Melanie Walker)

• Disease Resistance and Quality in Crops (Prof Maryke Labuschagne)

• Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Pathogens (Prof Felicity Burt)

• Pathogenic Yeasts (Prof Carlien Pohl-Albertyn)

• Strengthening Urban Economies: People, Place, Production and Policy (Prof Ivan Turok)

The UFS also currently houses one SANRAL (Prof Loyiso Jita) and one ETDP SETA (Prof Pat Mafora) Research Chair in Mathematics and Science Education within the Faculty of Education.

The UFS Library and Information Services (LIS) has expanded its services during my tenure and is an invaluable resource that underpins our scholarship. Over the past ten years, we have embraced rapid technological advances and global trends in Information Science. The newly established Centre for Digital Scholarship provides a one-stop facility for academics, support staff, and students to access the many resources available at the university. It supports and develops the research and teaching needs of staff and students in the digital environment.

Postgraduate students

The growth in postgraduate student numbers during my tenure is particularly gratifying. The number of doctoral students has approximately doubled (from 531 in 2012 to 1 042 in 2022), and the number of postdoctoral fellows has more than tripled (from 64 in 2012 to 214 in 2021). Postgraduate students contribute significantly to the UFS’ research efforts, and our output and growth in postgraduate student numbers reflect the institute’s increasing visibility as a centre of innovation and competitive research.

The UFS Centre for Graduate Support (formerly Postgraduate School) has expanded and evolved over the past decade. It has taken on additional administrative and support functions that provide streamlined and comprehensive support to postgraduate students – from application to graduation. Its Research Capacity Development Programme assists master’s and doctoral students through academic writing interventions, funding, and the monitoring of student progress using the innovative Graduate Research Management (GRM) system. Five provincial outreach and seven international research capacity development workshops were held in the period under review, and 289 academic writing consultations took place.

International Affairs

During the past decade, we have developed a vision for comprehensive internationalisation at the UFS, with a specific focus on research and innovation. Internationalisation of the curriculum, virtual exchanges, and co-curricular internationalisation at home activities have become entrenched at the university. We focused on developing new partnerships and collaborations in Africa, while continuing to strengthen our ties with the Global North. International student services and administrative processes have been renewed and aligned under the leadership of the Office for International Affairs (OIA). The OIA was reimagined as a strategic enabling centre for the institutional internationalisation process.

Investment in equipment for flagship focus areas

The past decade has witnessed considerable investments in upgrading the infrastructure and equipment of UFS research facilities. These interventions have contributed to placing us at the forefront of several research disciplines. Recent developments and acquisitions (among others) include

• high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometer for the South African Doping Control Laboratory (SADoCoL) worth R10 million;

• X-ray system for the Department of Physics, representing the first of such equipment on the African continent;

• advanced electron microscopy instruments that make the UFS an undisputed leader in this field, worth R65 million;

• biosafety Level (BSL) 3 laboratory in the Department of Medical Virology for the study of zoonotic diseases;

• upgrading the laboratories and infrastructure of the National Health Laboratory Service and the Animal Research Centre; and

• development of an Innovation Hub on the Paradys Experimental Farm.

Increasing NRF and third-stream income

During my tenure, the university managed to more than double its income from NRF research activities, from R25 919 231 in 2012 to R65 811 564 in 2022.

Various innovative ways of generating valuable, sustainable third-stream income were also launched and expanded during this period, resulting in our generated income being recorded in 2022 at an impressive R107 537 743.

In conclusion, it has been a privilege to lead the Research and Internationalisation portfolio of the UFS over the past decade. I have enjoyed the support of a strong team central to our research development efforts. Their hard work has been pivotal in advancing the institutional vision of a student-centred and regionally engaged university that contributes to development and social justice through the production of globally competitive graduates and knowledge.

Prof Corli Witthuhn

Vice-Rector: Research and Internationalisation

April 2013-March 2023

News Archive

During 2011: Achievements at the UFS

2011-12-01

Sarah Shannon

Dr Alex Amtaika, Department of Political Science

During a conference at Khon Kaen University in Thailand, Dr Alexius Amtaika from our Department of Political Science was elected as Executive Director and Convener of the International Committee of Scholars of Local Government. This honour was bestowed upon Dr Alexius during the first International Conference on Local Government at Khon Kaen University.

Sarah Shannon

We all have heard stories about inspirational people, who defy the odds, fight circumstance every day and never give up. Sarah Shannon has cerebral palsy but has never stopped dreaming and achieving them.

Sarah is also a competitive swimmer, and is currently ranked seventh in the world in her class of disabilities.

She is currently completing her postgraduate certificate in Education, Foundation Phrase, through Unisa. She is also studying Sociology at our university.

DW Bester and Sannah Mokone, Rhodes Scholars

Of the four open Rhodes Scholarships available to students from all universities in Southern Africa, two of our students won these prestigious scholarships. DW Bester, B.Sc. Hons. Actuarial Science student, and Sannah Mokone, BPub-cum laude student, joined Oxford University in the United Kingdom in September 2011 to further their studies.

The Rhodes Scholarships, arguably one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world, were founded in 1903 in the will of Cecil John Rhodes and cover the full costs of study at Oxford University.

While academic excellence is a pre-condition for consideration for the Rhodes Scholarship, these scholarships are unique in that Rhodes Scholars are outstanding young students who excel academically, but very importantly, demonstrate leadership, are committed to making a difference in the world, and have the energy to fulfill their ambitions.

Dr Derik Coetzee, Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences

When you suddenly receive a call during a World Cup year and requested to come and assist in leading the Springboks, then you have to know, you have something to offer. This is what happened to Dr Derik Coetzee from our Department of Exercise and Sports Sciences. This year he once again became involved in the Springbok rugby team, after he had been die Bokke’s conditioning trainer from 2004 to 2007.

His primary task as conditioning head was to help in seeing to it that the Springboks reached their best level of play – psychologically, physically an emotionally. Amongst others, his duties included the optimisation of the players’ muscle and explosive power, speed, anaerobic ability and technical skills.

Jefferson J Dirks-Korkee en Mart Kotzé

Jefferson J Dirks-Korkee, from Willowmore in the Eastern Cape, and Mart Kotzé from Bloemfontein, recently made history by being the first students from our Department of Drama and Theatre Arts featuring in an Afrikaans South African film Skoonheid, the first ever to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

The movie won the Queer Palm Award at the 2011 Cannes International Film Festival, where Robert de Niro was the chairperson of the panel of judges.

Prof. Muriel Meiring, Department of Haematology and Cell Biology

Prof. Muriel Meiring, Specialist Scientist in our Department of Haematology and Cell Biology, is responsible for establishing the Specialised Haemostasis Laboratory at our university and the Universitas Hospital’s National Health Laboratory Service. She established this centre as a reference centre for Von Willebrand disease, a genetic bleeding disorder, in South Africa. This laboratory is internationally recognised for their research and as a reference laboratory.

Prof. Meiring develops and tests antithrombotic (anti-clotting) agents and her long list of publications, research awards and congress presentations has earned her a nomination for the Department of Science and Technology’s Distinguished Woman Scientist Award. She was one of two scientists of the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) to receive the award – Prof. Meiring being the only woman from our university.

Medical facilities from all over the country make use of her and her team’s expertise when testing for blood disorders and she hopes to expand the centre even further.

Melinda Jonker

Melinda Jonker, one of our third-year financial economic students, won the overall national competition of the prestigious Traders Trophy competition at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

The competition, sponsored by Nedbank Capital and Oxyor in Amsterdam, requires participants to trade actual JSE-listed shares against one another on a simulated platform. The winner is determined not only by the highest profit, but also by the technique used throughout the trading session.

Christopher Diab, also a student from our Department of Economics, won the regional UFS competition.

ASSAf members

Seven of our academic colleagues have been elected as members of the Academy for Science of South Africa (ASSAf). They are Proff. Hendrik Swart, Physics; André Roodt, Chemistry; Zakkie Pretorius, Plant Sciences; Max Finkelstein, Mathematics; James du Preez, Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology; Maryke Labuschagne, Plant Breeding; and Neil Roos from our Postgraduate School.

Due main objective of the Academy is to promote and apply scientific thought in the service of the society, in order to determine the quality and scope of the role that the Academy can plays in the country’s life and progress, and eventually apply it

Other colleagues who are currently members of ASSAf include Proff. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector; Johan Henning, Dean: Faculty of Law; and Frans Swanepoel, Senior Director: Research Development.

Samantha Renda-Dollman

Samantha Renda-Dollman, a BSc (Zoology) student on our Qwaqwa Campus, has obtained 19 distinctions out of the 22 modules she has written since 2009.

Her hard work earned Samantha the prestigious Dux Student award of our 2011 Annual Student Affairs Excellence Awards, held at our Qwaqwa Campus. This makes her the best overall academic performer of the entire student body on this campus.

Jaco Griessel

Jaco Griessel, an Honours student at our Odeion School for Music, received a prestigious Mandela Rhodes bursary for 2012 to study towards his Master’s degree next year.

Jaco, who is currently busy with his BMus Honours degree, is a performer par excellence, with many achievements to his name. In 2010, he received the Fanie Beetge Prize for the best undergraduate student in Systematic Music Studies. A year before, he received the same prize as best undergraduate student in Historic Music Studies. He shall continue his Master’s degree with Music Composition as field of specialisation at our university in 2012.

Prof. Helena van Zyl, UFS School of Management

Prof. Helena van Zyl, Director of the UFS Business School, was elected as President of the South African Association of Business Schools (SABSA). Since the beginning of 2010 she has been acting as president. Prof. Van Zyl is the first woman to occupy this position and also the first woman who is currently heading a business school in South Africa. She will serve SABSA as the president for the next two years.

Prof. Zakkie Pretorius, Department of Plant Sciences

Research by Prof. Zakkie Pretorius from our Department of Plant Sciences, has become part of Phase II of a mayor global project to combat deadly strains of a wheat pathogen that poses a threat to global food security.

Prof. Pretorius focuses on the identification of resistance in wheat to the stem rust disease and will assist breeders and geneticists in the accurate phenotyping of international breeding lines and mapping populations. In addition, Prof. Pretorius will support scientists from Africa with critical skills development through training programmes.

The Ug99 strain was discovered in Kenya in 1998, but are now also threatening major wheat-growing areas of Southern and Eastern Africa, the Central Asian Republics, the Caucasus, the Indian subcontinent, South America, Australia and North America.

Prof. Danie Strauss, research fellow in the Faculty of Humanities

Prof. Danie Strauss, a research fellow in our Faculty of the Humanities, won the Dooyeweerd Prize from the Board of the Association for Reformational Philosophies in Amsterdam. Prof. Strauss, former Dean of our Faculty of the Humanities and head of our Department of Philosophy, won the prize for his book Philosophy: Discipline of the Disciplines. The prize is awarded for work in the field of systematic philosophy.

Nida Jooste and Ryan Lamb, Abe Bailey Travel Bursary holders

Nida Jooste and Ryan Lamb are two of the proud recipients of Abe Bailey Travel Bursaries. Both students are academic achievers, but also excel in other fields. This is what set them apart from the rest of the applicants for the bursaries.

Ryan (23), a Medical Physics Honours student at our Faculty of Health Sciences, received the Senate’s Medal for the best Bachelor’s Degree student at the UFS. He was one of 100 students at the Brightest Young Minds Summit this year and was one of the 2008 delegates to the World Youth Forum, hosted by the International Association for Poetry and Solidarity in Italy.

Nida (21) is a very familiar face on our Bloemfontein Campus, as she served as the Deputy Chairperson of our Interim Student Council in 2011.

Loerie Award for Tarran Jacobs, Elizabeth Forson and Mafohlela Mahlatsi

The creativity of a group of students from our university was rewarded with a bronze Loerie Award after they won an internal competition. Tarran Jacobs, Elizabeth Forson and Mafohlela Mahlatsi, all third-year Marketing Communication students, won the award for an advertisement they designed for Cansa.

Each year, the third-year Marketing Communication students of our Department of Communication Science have the opportunity to flex their creative muscles in the Copy-writing class. The challenge is to design two advertisements for any charity organisation by applying the knowledge they gained from the subject in a practical way. The top three groups are then entered for the Loerie and Pendoring awards – two of the most prestigious awards in the South African advertising industry.

The top three groups designed advertisements for Cansa, the South African Blood Service and Crime Line.

Hendrik Kruger and Anke Malan walk away with awards at Pfizer UKZN Young Health Scientists Research Symposium

Two students in our Faculty of Health Sciences won awards at a Pfizer UKZN Young Health Scientists Research Symposium.

Hendrik Kruger, a medical student, represented his group, which won the clinical category with the paper “Injury patterns of occupants surviving motor vehicle accidents in the Free State”. This presentation was based on a study which is the first of its kind in South Africa.

The group with Anke Malan from our Department of Nutrition and Dietetics as presenter received the prize in the community-based category with the presentation ’Knowledge, practices and perceptions of undergraduate students at the UFS regarding the risk factors of osteoporoses’. Anke’s team was also nominated as the overall winner of the symposium. Presentations were delivered in three categories, namely clinical, community-based and laboratory research.

Prof. Louis Scott, Department of Plant Sciences

Prof. Louis Scott from our Department of Plant Sciences was formally rewarded the Fellowship of Royal Society of South Africa (RSSA).

Prof. Scott is an internationally recognised Palinologist at our university and a B-rated scientist.

Fellows of the RSSA are considered to be part of a very elite group of South African scientists who have achieved international acknowledgment.

Prof. Aldo Stroebel, International Academic Programmes in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor

Prof. Aldo Stroebel has been elected as a Founding Member of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS).

He is Associate Professor in our Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Development and Extension, as well as the Director of International Academic Programmes in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor.

The Young Academy has as its objectives to represent young scientists in advising the government on science and technology policy and human resource development. In addition, they will prepare the SAYAS to join the Global Young Academy (GYA) to engage with high-level international bodies, including the World Economic Forum.

Prof. Lodewyk Kock, Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology

Prof. Lodewyk Kock was a sought-after keynote speaker at various conferences and seminars around the globe on our nanotechnology breakthrough research.

He delivered keynote lectures at international conferences of repute in the USA, China and Greece. In the USA he delivered a the keynote address at the Conference & Exhibition on Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs (Pharma-2011), held in Baltimore, and was a keynote speaker at the 2nd World Congress on Biotechnology in Philadelphia. He was also invited to present various lectures abroad.

He posted two video lectures in e-conference format on his research on the web page of the journal Translational Biomedicine. He was also invited by the International Society of Translational Medicine (ISTM) to head their “Molecular Imaging” Division.

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