Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Launching the South African Chapter of the SANRAL Chair alumni programme

25 October 2023 | Story Dr Kwazi Magwenzi | Photo supplied

SANRAL Chair launch — The SANRAL Chair in Mathematics and Science , Prof Loyiso Jita with the Programme graduates, the PhD and Masters SANRAL Alumni at the event held on 28 September 2023 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The South African Chapter of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) Chair alumni programme at the University of the Free State (UFS) was recently launched at the Silverstar Hotel and Casino in Johannesburg. The event aimed to showcase and celebrate the achievements made and lessons learnt in the programme, highlight the key elements and outputs to the Faculty of Education stakeholders and reimagine the future. The Faculty of Education has increased its footprint in Engaged Scholarship activities, aligning itself with the UFS Vision 130. Multiple stakeholders and community partners were invited to witness the outstanding achievements of this programme.

Since its inception in 2014, the SANRAL Chair has produced over 40 PhD graduates in three countries, namely South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. One of the key goals of Vision 130 is for the UFS to be regionally engaged and to contribute to pressing societal needs. This involves knowledge generation that contributes to local and regional development and building sustainable partnerships. The PhD and Masters graduates have become a highly valued human resource in the South African education system and the region, and are now positioned as leaders in Institutions of higher learning in South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe.

The SANRAL Chair currently supervises a cohort of doctoral and master's students, providing guidance in mathematical research and publications. The internship programme represents SANRAL's commitment to building skilled capacity in communities, along with driving social and economic transformation. SANRAL has also identified common challenges faced by Small, Medium, and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs) in its projects and has implemented training programmes to address these issues.

South Africa has implemented a range of programmes designed to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG 1), which includes land reform, agriculture, free higher education and growth. Despite the significant progress made on South Africa’s developmental journey since the advent of democracy in 1994, the country remains one of the most unequal societies in the world. Achieving the SDGs is, therefore, in South Africa’s best interest as the country pursues the vision of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, and prosperous nation living in harmony with itself and the rest of the world.

As South Africa looks ahead to 2030, it seeks to build on the substantial progress achieved thus far, and on the robust policy, legislative, and planning foundation. The focus will be on consolidating and expanding the many areas where public welfare and development are at the forefront.

News Archive

Zoology and Entomology celebrates 100 years

2012-05-12

Dr Candice Jansen van Rensburg and Prof. Jo van As.

The Department of Zoology and Entomology is celebrating its hundredth birthday. To commemorate this, a series of lectures will be presented throughout the year. The lectures focus on the history of the department, as well as past and current research activities.

At the first lecture, Prof. Jo van As, Head of the Department, presented a comprehensive history of the academic background of the department, including information on all the preceding heads of Zoology and Entomology. He also gave an overview of the history of the Aquatic Ecology research group that he started in 1988 when he first became the Head of the Department.

In her lecture, Dr Candice Jansen van Rensburg outlined the activities of the newly established Nematology study group. She stressed the importance of establishing this field of expertise in an effort to address the lack of trained nematologists in South Africa.

Future lectures will be presented by the department’s various study groups and will be held on a quarterly basis. The lectures are held in the Biology 1 lecture hall (BL1) and are open to all. The celebrations will culminate in a centenary banquet later in the year. – Prof. Linda Basson.

The dates for future lectures are as follows:

10 May: Arachnology and Acarology
2 August: Eco-Ethology and Environmental Entomology
15 November: Herpetology and Insect-Plant Interactions

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept