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29 March 2023 | Story Samkelo Fetile | Photo Simba Matema
MoU Latest News
From left to right: Prof Jean Bernard Lekana-Douki, Director General at the CIRMF; Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS; and Prof Jean-Fabrice Yala, Scientific and Technical Director at the CIRMF.

The University of the Free State (UFS) recently welcomed senior members from the International Centre for Medical Research in Franceville (CIRMF), Gabon to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two entities.

CIRMF is a non-profit medical research centre that was established in 1974. Its primary focus is on diagnosing infectious diseases that pose immediate problems in Gabon and the Central African sub-region. The centre is dedicated to improving public health through various initiatives, including the training of Gabonese health executives in doctoral and post-doctoral education.

“The signing of the MoU with CIRMF is a step in the right direction as the UFS continues to strengthen its footprint on the African Continent. This is seminal in driving the university’s internationalisation processes and opening an avenue to expanding research networks, especially in the African continent,” said Bonolo Makhalemele, Coordinator of strategic projects at the Office for International Affairs, UFS.

In the interest of developing broader research collaborations, the CIRMF delegation met with some UFS academics in a series of engagements, particularly in the Health Sciences Faculty and the Natural and Agricultural Sciences Faculty. “The integration of knowledge and practices that emanate from the continent provides opportunities for the co-creation of knowledge that can be shared with the rest of the world,” said Kagiso Ngake, Coordinator for Partnerships, Collaborative Degrees, and Outgoing Mobility at the Office for International Affairs, UFS.

A concrete roadmap was established to formalise the collaborations that resulted from these engagements and will commence as soon as April 2023. “We have laid a solid foundation and are on the way to a strong and rich partnership!” exclaimed Prof Jean Bernard Lekana-Douki, Director General at the CIRMF.

Prof Francis Petersen, Rector, and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, further highlighted how the newly established partnership with the CIRMF aligns with the mandate of the UFS Vision 130 of expanding the UFS Africa research network.

News Archive

Staff attended Language Congress
2005-08-17

Ten staff members and students of the University of the Free State (UFS) recently attended the annual Language Congress of South Africa at the University of Pretoria (UP).

At the congress the prize for the best first paper delivered at a linguistics conference was awarded to Ms Susan Lombaard from the  Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment (ULFE) at the UFS for her paper titled ”Translation from one medium to another: The translation of Biblical parts into South African Sign Language”. 

This is the first time that a member of the UFS has been awarded this prize at a linguistics congress, and it is also the first time that the prize has been awarded for a paper dealing with Sign Language. 

Some of the UFS staff members who attended the congress are standing from left Mr Philemon Akach, lecturer at the Department of Afro-asiatic Studies and Language Practice and Sign Language; Prof  Theo du Plessis, Director: ULFE; Prof Jakkie Naudé, from the Department of Afro-asiatic Studies and Language Practice and Sign Language and Prof Alf Jenkinson, from the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French.

In the front from left are Ms Stephanie Cawood, from the Department of Afro-asiatic Studies and Language Practice and Sign Language; Dr Angelique van Niekerk, from the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French and Ms Susan Lombaard, from the ULFE.

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