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Prof Andreas Roodt receives prestigious prize from SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns

09 May 2023 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

Prof André Roodt — Prof Andreas Roodt was recently awarded the MT Steyn Prize for Natural Science and Technology Excellence from the SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns. He will receive the prize, sponsored by Sanlam, at a function scheduled for September this year.

Prof Andreas Roodt, former Head of the Department of Chemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS) and retired Distinguished Professor in the same department, was recently awarded the MT Steyn Prize for Natural Science and Technology Excellence from the SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns.

The prize, a major recognition of his life's work, was presented to him for his contribution to the exploration and sustained development of natural science and technology and the successful application thereof in broader society.

Impacting society

About receiving the prize, he says it was a big surprise, but he is very proud to be honoured with this special award, “being an Afrikaans kid from a ‘platteland’ school outside Bloemfontein.”

Prof Roodt’s research focuses on understanding the reaction mechanisms of mainly inorganic coordination chemical systems that are critical to different industrial, medical, environmental, and metal beneficiation processes.

His research, for instance, contributes to important compounds and processes relevant to nuclear medicine and potential cancer therapy. Not so long ago, he registered a patent on this in Europe, Japan, and the USA that could help to diagnose and potentially treat cancer-related tumours in the future.

In addition, he continues to work on several projects aimed at developing cleaner industrial processes in the South African petrochemical industry. He is also focusing on more efficient ways of accessing the country’s mineral resources.

Career highlights

Throughout his academic career, Prof Roodt has achieved many significant milestones. He was extensively involved in crystallography for more than 30 years. One of his career highlights was being elected as the President of the European Crystallographic Association from 2012 to 2015, an organisation with more than 35 member countries.

In this field, he established an X-ray crystallographic facility in the UFS Department of Chemistry, which was officially named the ‘Roodt XRD Lab’ at the end of 2021.

He also sees his journey with the diverse group of 41 PhD and 54 MSc students (Afrikaans, English, Sesotho, Setswana, and isiXhosa) as another notable achievement in his career.

Other outstanding moments in Prof Roodt's career were his collaborations with research leaders from countries such as the USA, UK, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, France, Croatia, India, Japan, Russia, the Netherlands, Germany, and Tunisia. These collaborations have allowed him to be recognised by peers worldwide and have demonstrated that Africa and South Africa can produce high-quality and relevant research that can compete on an international level.

The future

Despite his appointment as a Distinguished Professor and his commitment to finishing uncompleted work and assisting younger colleagues both in South Africa and abroad, Prof Roodt retired more than a year ago. He is now enjoying his retirement with his wife, children, and grandchildren, while also devoting time to his passion for collecting aloe plants and generating new hybrids.

News Archive

Central SRC constitution for UFS approved by Council

2005-07-20

University of the Free State Fact Sheet

1. The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) on 10 June 2005 unanimously approved the establishment of a Central Student Representative Council (CSRC) to constitute a legitimate basis for the democratic participation of students of all three of its campuses in the governance of the university.

2. In a major breakthrough and transformation step for student governance, the Central SRC will include representatives of the main campus in Bloemfontein, the Vista Bloemfontein campus and the Qwaqwa campus of the UFS.

3. The need to establish the Central SRC follows the incorporation of the Qwaqwa campus into the UFS in January 2003 and the incorporation of the Vista campus in Bloemfontein into the UFS in January 2004.

4. The constitution of the Central SRC is the outcome of a consensus reached during a lengthy process of negotiation between the SRCs of the three UFS campuses, indirectly involving diverse student formations such as Sasco, ANCYL, YCL, Pasma, SASO, SADESMO, AZASCO, SCO, HEREXVII, KovsieAlliance, ACDP, etc. Independent constitutional and political experts facilitated key parts of the negotiation process.

5. In this process, the UFS management went out of its way to ensure the participation of all student formations, especially Sasco and the ANC Youth League, as well as the duly elected SRC officials of the three campuses.

6. With the establishment of a Central SRC, the UFS has adopted a federal student governance model whereby the CSRC is the highest representative student body on matters of common concern for all students. The three campuses of the UFS will retain SRC structures for each campus with powers and responsibilities for matters affecting the particular campus.

7. The central SRC will have 12 members made up of delegates of the different campus SRCs, including the presidents of these three SRCs. In total, the main campus will have 5 representatives, the Qwaqwa campus will have 4 representatives and the Vista campus will have 3 representatives. This ratio ensures a strong voice for the smaller campuses in the central SRC.

8. This arrangement will be reviewed after a year to make allowance for the phasing out of undergraduate (pipeline) students at the Vista campus, as was agreed in the negotiations preceding the incorporation of that campus into the UFS.

9. From these 12 members a central SRC president will be chosen on a quarterly basis to represent the general student body at Executive Management, Senate and Council.

10. The historic official inauguration of the first Central SRC is scheduled to take place in early August 2005.

11. This event, like the adoption of a broadly negotiated new constitution for the main campus SRC, represents a breakthrough in that all three campus SRCs delegations and all relevant student organizations have been part of the process and have accepted the outcome of the process.

20 July 2005

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