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Looking ahead: UFS unveils cutting-edge electron microscopy equipment

23 March 2023 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Stephen Collett

Microscopy read more — From left: Hanlie Grobler, Senior Officer at the CFM; Prof Koos Terblans, Head of the Physics Department; Nonkululeko Phili, Assistant Officer at the CFM; and Edward Lee, Junior Lecturer and Researcher at the CFM. Photo: Stephen Collett

The Centre for Microscopy (CFM) in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) unveiled a sophisticated JEOL High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM) during a two-day microscopy conference on 14 and 15 March 2023. The microscope is part of a larger investment into research equipment worth R65 million.

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Prof Corli Witthuhn, out-going Vice-Rector: Research and Internationalisation, said the microscope purchase “is a significant milestone in the university’s bid for cutting-edge research”. The HRTEM is part of a larger consignment of JEOL equipment at the UFS and, according to Dr Sarah Harper from JEOL UK, it places the UFS in a unique position.

UFS at the forefront in using electron microscopes

The HRTEM microscope can be utilised across disciplines and will give the UFS an advantage in uncovering new solutions and creating national and international interdisciplinary research collaborations. “The UFS is at the forefront in this field in SA and continues to push the boundaries,” Prof Witthuhn said. This move will also positively impact the training of honours, master’s, and doctoral students.

Prof Danie Vermeulen, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, reiterated Prof Witthuhn’s sentiments by saying that this equipment will set the faculty apart from its competitors. “The faculty already reached the goals of Vision 130 by being proactive,” he said. In the past seven years more than R300 million worth of equipment was acquired by the faculty, but he added that to be the best is not just about the best equipment – “the data coming from using this equipment is what will make the real difference”.

Prof Koos Terblans opens the conference on 14 March 2023. Photo: Stephen Collett .

Road to the JEOL HRTEM started in 2018

The process of acquiring a HRTEM microscope started in 2018 and was concluded with the purchasing of the JOEL microscopes in March 2020, a few weeks before the first COVID-19 lockdown. The purchase was made possible through the collaboration between the faculties of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and Health Sciences. Thanks to the dedication of staff members in the Centre for Microscopy and Physics, it was possible to accept delivery of the new HRTEM in June 2021. Prof Koos Terblans, Head of the Physics Department and the Centre for Microscopy, who led the entire project, said this was one of the “proudest moments in my career”.

Installing the equipment involved various university resources, including the University Estates Department, which had to make additional structural changes to the room where the equipment is housed. This included digging two metres into the existing floor and placing the HRTEM on a 70-tonne solid concrete block, to ensure that the equipment was secure and vibration free.

Prof Terblans said now that the HRTEM from JEOL and its supporting equipment – the final piece of the R65 million research investment puzzle – is part of the faculty’s resources, it is up to the scientists and academics to utilise it for innovative research, enhance research productivity, and foster new collaborations.

Edward Lee shows the new HRTEM electron microscope to colleagues and conference attendees.Photo: Stephen Collett

In front from the left; Dr Molapo Qhobela, Vice-Rector: Institutional Change, Strategic Partnerships, and Societal Impact; Prof Corli Witthuhn; Prof Koos Terblans. Back from the left; Prof Jannie Swarts, and Prof Danie Vermeulen.

From the left; Prof Jannie Swarts, Prof Danie Vermeulen and Prof Koos Terblans.

Ribbon cutting: Prof Corli Witthuhn together with Prof Koos Terblans,left, and Prof Danie Vermeulen

News Archive

Free State Receives R7 Million Grant from the Mellon Foundation for Arts Innovation

2015-11-30

Man in the Green Blanket, Lesiba Mabitsela.
Photo: Karla Benade

Bloemfontein will experience a flood of new, experimental art over the next four years as a result of R7 million that has been received to develop experimental art projects in central South Africa. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation recently awarded the grant to the University of the Free State (UFS) for the Programme for Innovation in Artform Development (PIAD). Initiated jointly by the UFS and the Vrystaat Arts Festival in 2014, PIAD was established as a programme to promote the exploration of the arts to advance interdisciplinary research and to impact on human development.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is a New York-based, non-profit organisation which endeavours to strengthen, promote, and, where necessary, defend the contributions of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing, and to the well-being of diverse and democratic societies.

“The Innovation in Artform Development initiative will provide an important contribution to the ways in which the university hopes to broaden and deepen research and dialogue about the humanities in South African society. Using the arts as a vehicle to engage communities around issues of social significance, makes for an exciting endeavour, and we are happy to have Mellon’s financial and partnership investment in this initiative,” said Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

“This substantial support from the Foundation will play a pivotal role in facilitating collaborations with national and international artists to explore new, innovative modes of artistic practice and creative production in South Africa,” said Angela de Jesus, UFS Art Curator and Co-Director of PIAD.

“A series of First Nations projects, arts/science research and artist residencies, arts laboratories for creative practitioners, the production of exciting new work for Bloemfontein, and critical debates/forums is expected over the next few years,” she added.

PIAD focuses on supporting cross-cultural, experimental art programmes that can assist South African society creatively. For this process, PIAD is engaging the skills and expertise of South Africa artists in collaboration with several international partners, who are recognised as global leaders in this field, to develop a mutually- beneficial programme of engagement.

Innovation, technology, and new forms of art will be explored and international collaborations that have the potential to attract benefits for the creative industries in Bloemfontein and beyond will be introduced.

“The artistic landscape of the Free State - in fact the whole South Africa - will be forever changed because of this extraordinarily generous grant. Rarely does a regional community get a chance to lead innovation on a national scale, and also impact on experimental art internationally. We are in for an incredible artistic journey,” said Dr Ricardo Peach, Director of the Vrystaat Arts Festival and Co-Director of PIAD.

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