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28 November 2023 | Story Valentino Ndaba
General Post, GRADS DEC 2023
It’s time for the UFS’s December graduation ceremonies!

Esteemed guest speakers

Tirelo Sibisi, Vice-Chairperson of the UFS Council, will be the distinguished guest speaker on the first day of graduations. Sibisi boasts an illustrious career, with over two decades of experience in human resource management, including notable roles at AngloGold Ashanti, the country's biggest cement manufacturer (PPC Cement), IBM, and Telkom. Her contributions extend to various boards and committees, showcasing her expertise and dedication to various fields.

Dr Anchen Laubscher, who also serves on the UFS Council, will take the stage as guest speaker on the second day. Dr Laubscher is currently the Group Medical Director of Netcare Ltd, leading the strategic oversight and operational execution of clinical and quality-related matters. Her commitment to healthcare excellence and leadership, coupled with being the first female President of the UFS Student Representative Council (SRC), exemplifies her remarkable achievements.

Chancellor’s Medallist

Professor Mattheus Lötter is set to finally receive the prestigious Chancellor’s Medal from the Faculty of Health Sciences. This conferral was postponed from the April 2023 graduation ceremonies due to a personal loss experienced by Prof Lötter. This will mark a pivotal point in his distinguished career, allowing him to celebrate a noteworthy accomplishment.

Details of the ceremonies

The festivities are set to commence on 7 December 2023, starting at 09:00 with the graduations for the Faculty of The Humanities, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, and the Faculty of Theology and Religion. The day concludes with ceremonies for the Faculty of Education, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, and the Faculty of Law, all beginning at 14:30.

The celebration continues on 8 December 2023, at 09:00, as graduands from the Faculty of Health Sciences proudly take the stage.

For further information and updates on the UFS 2023 December graduation ceremonies, click here

News Archive

Researcher in mathematics ranks among world’s top peer reviewers
2016-10-07

Description: Abdon Peer Review Tags: Abdon Peer Review

Prof Abdon Atangana, from the UFS Institute
for Groundwater Studies.
Photo: Johan Roux

Thirty-year-old Prof Abdon Atangana has received the prestigious Sentinels of Science Award 2016. This award honours the highest achievers in peer review across the world’s journals. The elite contributors to scholarly peer review and editorial pursuits internationally are also honoured with this award. Recipients have demonstrated an outstanding, expert commitment to protecting the integrity and accuracy of published research in their field.

Prof Atangana, who ranks number one in the mathematics discipline with a merit of 324, is a professor at the Institute for Groundwater Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS).

He is editor of 17 international journals, editor-in-chief of two international journals and also reviewer of more than 200 international accredited journals. He has been lead and guest editor of some special issues. He is also editor of 19 journals of applied mathematics and mathematics and has presented and participated in more than 20 international conferences.

Prof Atangana’s research interests are methods and applications of partial and ordinary differential equations, fractional differential equations, perturbations methods, asymptotic methods, iterative methods, and groundwater modelling.

“Editors in more than 100 journals
trust my opinion to assess
whether a submitted paper
can be published or not.”

Peer review requires a respected expert in a given field

According to the professor, reviewers play a central role in scholarly publishing. “In the academic field, peer review is the process of subjecting an author’s scholarly work, research, or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field, before a paper describing this work is published in a journal or as a book. The peer review process helps the publisher to decide whether the work should be accepted, considered acceptable with revisions, or rejected.

“Peer review requires a respected expert in a given field, who is qualified and able to perform the review in a given timeframe. Due to the impact of my research papers in the field of mathematics and applied mathematics, and also my international recognition in the field of applied mathematics, many editors in more than 100 journals of applied mathematics trust my opinion to assess whether a submitted paper in a given journal of mathematics and applied mathematics can be published or not. Only this year I was able to review more than 100 papers from different journals of applied mathematics, applied physics, mathematics, engineering and hydrology,” he said.

A successful peer reviewer displays passion for the development of science

Key to his success as peer reviewer is his passion for the development of science, his ability to write fair reports about a given manuscript, as well as his knowledge on what has been done and what are the challenges in a given field to be able to give a report that will help the advancement of science.

Currently he is developing new mathematics tools that will be used to accurately model statistical problems as well as physical problems with many layers.

“To be the number one peer reviewer in the world in mathematics is a product of love, patience and determination to enhance science,” Prof Atangana said.

His advice to young researchers is to put their trust in God and to work hard. “Not necessarily for money but for love because the future of Africa is in the hands of young Africans,” he said.

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