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UFS part of another successful Tritech National Science and Technology Fair in 2023

10 November 2023 | Story Ouma Ngoepe | Photo SUPPLIED

Liezl Geldenhuys (ZZ2), Mellisa Pringle (Lasec), Ouma Ngoepe (CMBG), Prof Maryna de Wit (SFSD), Dr Mariana Erasmus (CMBG), Bernadine Taljaard (ZZ2), Khezwo Nematshema (SFSD), Shahiëda Cloete (SFSD), Jan Andries Viktor (SFSD), Vuyelwa Nkoi (SFSD).

The Centre for Mineral Biogeochemistry (CMBG) at the University of the Free State (UFS) was part of another successful Tritech National Science and Technology Fair 2023 – an exciting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) research competition.

The UFS has partnered with Tritech and other sponsors since 2021 to bridge the gap between high school and tertiary education. Tritech, which started in 2008 and is open to all Grade 7-12 learners, aims to equip them for tertiary education by introducing them to scientific research and incorporating modern technology in research. This is an annual competition that starts at the regional level and goes all the way to the national level, with the national competition held at the Merensky High School, in Tzaneen, Limpopo from 20-21 October 2023.

Schools from across the country take part in the fair, but learners compete in groups rather than schools.

Every year the Tritech Nationals are divided into four main activities over the weekend:

On the Friday afternoon the learners present their STEM projects in which they have identified a problem in a community, do research to find a solution, do experiments to test if the solution will solve the problem, then test the solution in the community, and lastly, present their findings to a group of judges and learners in similar fields. Fields include Life Sciences, Engineering and Design, Maths, Science and Technology, Environmental and Social Sciences, Health Sciences and Agricultural Sciences.
Friday evening is usually a fun activity for the learners.
On Saturday morning the learners are exposed to work-related activities that give them insight into professions they could pursue in the science field. This activity is sponsored and presented by the UFS.
The last activity of the weekend is the prize-giving on Saturday afternoon where the learners get rewarded for the quality of their projects and honour, celebrate, and encourage excellence.

“Every year the CMBG includes different departments from the UFS in alignment with the theme for the event, to ignite a lasting passion for innovation toward promising careers in the STEM fields. In 2022 the theme for Tritech was “Crime Scene Investigators” and the CMBG team created a very realistic crime scene and laboratory setup to teach the learners about Forensic Science. The learners scored our CSI activity as the best for the weekend and we knew that for the 2023 Nationals, we had our work cut out to do even better,” says Dr Erasmus.

Learning about food health and safety

This year, Prof Maryna de Wit and her students from the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development (SFSD) joined the CMBG team, to introduce learners to food health and safety, food preservation, food systems and development, as well as sensory analyses.

Island, shipwrecks, and wilderness survival

Dr Mariana Erasmus, Deputy Director of the Centre for Mineral Biogeochemistry (CMBG), spearheads the Tritech team from the UFS. CMBG, as part of its community outreach programme, is not only a sponsor of the event but is also the organiser of the main activity together with another UFS department.

Dr Erasmus says the theme for Tritech 2023 was “Survival MasterChef”, where for the two activity events, the Tritech learners were “stranded” on an island. This exercise was a great way to promote leadership qualities, encourage creativity and confidence, promote teamwork and active communication, and increase critical thinking in learners, while they got to know more about food health and safety practices.

“It was all island, shipwrecks, and wilderness survival at this year’s event where learners had to survive after being ‘stranded’ on an island. To escape, the learners had to build a boat and while they waited to be rescued, they needed to adapt to island life to survive by preparing healthy meals, as well as preparing meals and drinks to treat dehydration and scurvy,” says Dr Erasmus.

“During the prize-giving, some of the learners received shadowing opportunities at the UFS and other sponsors to advance their education. Bronze, silver, and gold medals, together with participation certificates, were awarded to other deserving learners.”

Learners taking part in the “stranded” on an island exercise during the Tritech National Science and Technology Fair 2023.

Panelists of the 2023 Tritech National Science and Technology Fair

Tritech National Science and Technology Fair in 2023

Learners took part in various activites.

News Archive

UFS honours young researchers

2006-02-10

Some of the guests attending the recognition function were from the left: Prof Magda Fourie (Vice-Rector: Academic Planning at the UFS), Mr Joseph Smiles (lecturer at the UFS Department of Political Science and Thuthuka grant holder), Prof Frans Swanepoel (Director: Research Development at the UFS) and Dr Carlien Pohl (lecturer at the UFS Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology and Thuthuka grant holder).
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

The guest speaker was Prof Jonathan Jansen, Dean: Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria (UP). He gave tips to young and promising researchers on how to be an outstanding scholar.
What is a Scholar

UFS honours young researchers

The University of the Free State (UFS) last night honoured 24 young researchers who are taking part in the National Research Fund’s (NRF) Thuthuka programme.

The recognition function is the first of its kind at the UFS. “The renewed focus on research development that was recently announced at the official opening of the UFS by the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Frederick Fourie, is an indication of the institution’s endeavour to create an environment in which research can be improved and flourish. This can only be obtained when researchers are being valued and that is why it is important to honour our young researchers,” said Mrs Annelize Venter, researcher at the UFS Research Development Directorate and coordinator of the programme.

The focus on research was also touched on recently by President Thabo Mbeki during the opening of Parliament when he said: “We will continue to engage the leadership of our tertiary institutions focused on working with them to meet the nation’s expectations with regard to teaching and research. For its part, the government is determined to increase the resource allocation for research and development and innovation, and increase the pool of young researchers."

According to Mrs Venter, research done in 2004 shows that the majority researchers who publish are white males above the age of 50. “Many students who undertake magister studies choose not to conduct research, but rather to do a thesis and additional subjects. This means that research is not stimulated. Students also find it difficult to obtain financial support for postgraduate studies,” she explained.
“Thutuka is a capacity building programme of the NRF that is aimed to
fund and support the qualifications of women and young black scientists and other researchers who do not have a rating for postgraduate research. It is based on a funding partnership between the UFS and the NRF,” said Mrs Venter.

Last night Prof Frans Swanepoel, Director: Research Development at the UFS, added to his by saying: “With the Thuthuka programme we aim to create and sustain a research culture at the UFS, promote international research and train researchers of a high quality and enhance the research capacity at the UFS by focusing on women, black researchers and other promising researchers.”

The programme was started by the NRF in 2001. At that stage only 17 grants were made countrywide. Last year 370 postgraduate students took part in the programme.

According to Mrs Venter the programme was implemented at the UFS in 2003. “At that stage we only had 5 grant holders. This year there are 24 Ph D and magister students on the programme,” she said.

A couple of young promising researchers, who will be participating in the programme in 2007, also attended last night’s recognition function.

The guest speaker was Prof Jonathan Jansen, Dean: Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria (UP). He gave tips to young and promising researchers on how to be an outstanding scholar.

Nine professors were also congratulated with their promotion to senior research professor, namely Proff Louise Cilliers (Department of English and Classical Languages), James du Preez (Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology), Johan Grobbelaar (Department of Plant Sciences), Dingie Janse van Rensburg (Centre for Health Systems Research and Development), Dap Louw (Department of Psychology), Philip Nel (Department of Afro-asiatic Studies and Language Practice and Sign Language), Louis Scott (Department of Plant Sciences), Dirk van den Berg (Department of History of Art) and Andries Raath (Department of Constitutional Law and Philosophy of Law).

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
10 February 2006

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